Casey is a founding partner at River Run Law Group. Casey has tried numerous cases across the Commonwealth in both General District Court and Circuit Court. He has earned millions of dollars for his clients through trials, mediations, and settlements.
An accident can lead to immediate expenses, such as hospital visits, medications, vehicle or property repair bills, and lost work time. You may hear the term economic damages in conversations about your situation, but it isn’t always explained.
So, what are economic damages? In Virginia, they represent the money you can claim for costs tied directly to your injuries. In this blog post, we’ll break down how they are defined, calculated, and applied in personal injury claims.
Examples of Economic Damages in Virginia Personal Injury Claims
Economic damages are losses that can be measured in specific amounts. The examples below illustrate the types of monetary damages in a personal injury claim that can be substantiated through bills, receipts, and other records.
Medical Expenses
If you’ve suffered injuries in an accident, medical bills are often the first thing you face. It might start with an ambulance ride or an ER visit, followed by hospital care, doctor appointments, or physical therapy. You may need medication, tests like X-rays or MRIs, or equipment like crutches or a brace. In some cases, care continues at home.
These costs add up quickly, and they don’t always stop when you leave the hospital. That’s why medical expenses are often a significant part of a personal injury claim. Every bill, receipt, and record helps show what the injury has already cost and what future care might still be needed.
Future Medical Costs
Initial treatment is only part of recovery. Depending on the injury, you may need care that continues after your claim is filed. That could include additional surgeries, long-term medication, physical therapy, or follow-up appointments spaced over months or years.
If your medical team expects this kind of care to continue, these projected costs can be included in the claim.
Lost Wages and Income
An injury can force you to take time off work, whether for a few days or several months. In that time, you may miss paychecks, overtime, bonuses, or other income you rely on. You may also use sick leave or vacation days that you didn’t plan to take. These losses can be counted as part of your economic damages.
Reduced Earning Capacity
An injury can change what you’re able to do for work and how much you can make. You may need to leave your field entirely, settle for reduced hours, or accept a job that pays less than you earned previously. Even if you’re still working, your future income may no longer reflect your skills or experience.
Take a physical laborer who suffers a spinal injury. Returning to the same kind of work may no longer be possible, and a desk job might not come close to replacing that income. This part of a claim often illustrates how profoundly an injury can impact long-term opportunities and overall quality of life.
Property Damage
Accidents can result in damage to personal property, including vehicles, electronics, tools, or other belongings. Your claim may list the cost to repair or replace damaged property, or its market value if you cannot recover it. If a damaged vehicle is unavailable during repairs, rental costs may also be recoverable.
Other Out-of-Pocket Expenses
Injury-related costs can extend beyond treatment and lost income. These may include transportation to medical appointments, paid support for household or childcare duties, or modifications to the home required during recovery. Even relatively small recurring costs can show how an injury changes daily routines and adds to the overall burden of recovery.
How to Calculate Economic Damages in a Personal Injury Claim
Economic damages in a personal injury claim are calculated by reviewing the evidence of financial loss and assigning a dollar value to each category. The total includes both past expenses and reasonable estimates of future costs.
For medical expenses, bills, receipts, and similar records show what treatment has already cost. Doctors or financial specialists may estimate future care needs based on the person’s condition and expected recovery time.
For lost income or reduced earning capacity, pay records show the amount of income missed during recovery. If an injury affects future work, experts may project long-term loss by comparing likely earnings before and after the injury.
Property damage is based on repair estimates, replacement costs, or the market value of items that cannot be repaired.
Once the total economic loss is calculated, it represents the amount a person may recover through their claim. In Virginia, there is generally no limit on economic damages, meaning you can seek full reimbursement for documented financial losses.
The main exception applies to medical malpractice cases, where state law places a combined cap on total damages. For injuries occurring on or after July 1, 2025, that limit is $2.70 million, increasing by $50,000 each year until it reaches $3 million in 2031.
Proving Economic Damages Under Virginia’s Negligence Rules
Understanding what economic damages are in a Virginia personal injury case and calculating them is only one step. In Virginia, you must also prove them under pure contributory negligence, a rule that prevents recovery if you are found even slightly at fault for the accident.
That standard leaves little room for error. An attorney can help you show how the accident happened, connect your financial losses to the injury, gather expert testimony, organize documentation, and respond if the other side tries to place blame on you. With strong legal support, your claim remains focused on the evidence that demonstrates the true cost of the injury.
Injured in Virginia? Call River Run Law
If you’re unsure how to document your financial losses or present them under Virginia’s contributory negligence rule, River Run Law can help. Our attorneys focus on building clear, well-supported claims for clients across the state. Best Law Firms® has ranked us among the top 4 percent of law firms nationwide in its 15th edition.
Reach out to River Run Law for a free consultation. We can review your situation, explain what evidence will matter most, and help you move forward with a claim that accurately reflects your losses.
