What Are The Differences Between Personal & Bodily Injury?

The most common question people ask when it comes to collecting insurance or filing an insurance claim is – what is the difference between a personal injury and a bodily injury?

Even though these two sound almost the same, they are very similar but cover two separate things. Below is all the information you need to understand the basic difference between a personal and bodily injury, and how you can learn to tell the difference between the two.

Personal Injury

When an individual suffers injuries from accidents (car accident, truck accident, bike accident, slip, and fall accidents) or from defective products, that individual has the right to seek compensation for a personal injury. This also applies to the family of the deceased if the individual lost his/her life as a result of the accident. In that case, the surviving family has the right to file a wrongful death claim.

Personal injury is an element of civil law. In order to be able to file and collect a personal injury claim, the injured individual has to prove liability. If it can be proven that the other party (or parties) involved in the accident were at fault for causing the accident, then the plaintiff (the injured individual) has the right to seek compensation for:

• The lost wage
• The medical costs
• Pain and suffering

Negligence plays an important role in every personal injury claim. Every Los Angeles Personal injury attorney knows that proving negligence will win the case. To prove negligence, every attorney has to investigate the accident and collect enough evidence to support the plaintiff’s case. This involves:

• Proving that the accused had a breach of a duty of care
• Proving that the accused was distracted at the time of the accident
• Proving that the damages that the plaintiff suffered resulted from the accident

Bodily Injury

On the other hand, a bodily injury usually refers to a particular injury sustained in a motor vehicle or car accident.

It is way more limited, and it may also imply to injuries sustained by another person in a car accident. In a specific insurance context, a bodily injury is a type of an insurance policy which compensates the victim of an accident. The compensation is received through the at-fault party’s insurance company.

It is essential to go through the accident, police report and the medical report to find out what happened and who was responsible for causing the accident. After that, the insurance company will approach the plaintiff and try to settle outside the court.

If you are approached by insurance adjusters, you should call your attorney right away. If you do not have one, consult with personal injury attorneys in Los Angeles at JML Law immediately and seek their legal advice. They are your best shot at securing the highest compensation possible after sustaining a specific bodily injury.

Even though a personal injury and a bodily injury have a lot of in common, they are two separate types of injuries. For more information, feel free to call an attorney and schedule a free consultation today.