Compensation

Compensation or damages are payments made to the claimant in a personal injury lawsuit if they win their injury case. Payments can include reimbursement for medical expenses, lost wage compensation and payment for pain and suffering. Certain injuries may also allow for punitive damages if the defendant's actions were especially egregious.

Other types of injury claims such as workers' compensation and wrongful death claims also may offer compensation to injured or deceased claimants. Workers' compensation payments are offered to workers who are injured performing their normal job functions, and wrongful death claims are paid by employers through workers' compensation if the worker is killed on the job. In a workers' compensation wrongful death case the beneficiary of compensation can include the spouse, parents, minor child or estate of the deceased.

Compensation not related to personal injury can also refer to other sources of income such as payments from the Federal Government for disabilities through the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) programs. Compensation amounts vary for SSDI based on the worker's average wage while they were employed. Contact the SSA at 1-800-772-1213 or you can visit their website at www.ssa.gov for more information about SSI and SSDI benefits.