Serious Injury Questions & Answers

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A catastrophic injury is one that creates long-term or permanent consequences extending well beyond the immediate crash — such as traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, amputation, severe burns, or permanent impairment. These matters may need to account for years of future care, lost earning capacity, and the human cost of a life rearranged around a permanent limitation.

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A traumatic brain injury (TBI) claim seeks compensation for harm to the brain caused by a collision — concussions and more severe brain trauma. These claims can be challenging because some brain injuries are not immediately obvious on early imaging, so medical evidence and neuropsychological testing often play a central role.

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Because some brain injuries do not appear on standard early imaging. A concussion or mild TBI can produce real cognitive and emotional symptoms even when a CT scan looks normal. Documentation often relies on neuropsychological testing, provider narratives, and accounts from family who observed changes in behavior or ability.

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A spinal cord injury claim seeks compensation for damage to the spinal cord — which can include paralysis, reduced sensation, and loss of function. These injuries often require extensive medical care, rehabilitation, accessibility modifications, and long-term support, so future care needs and reduced earning capacity are central considerations.

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Future care needs are identified through medical evidence — a treating provider’s opinion about what ongoing treatment, therapy, medication, equipment, or long-term care will be needed — and projected by an economist who estimates what that care will cost over time. Because a settlement is usually final, identifying future needs before resolving the claim is critical.

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A life-care plan is a structured document, often prepared by a qualified planner, that itemizes the future medical and care needs anticipated over an injured person’s lifetime — future surgery, therapy, medication, equipment, and long-term care. It provides the foundation for projecting the cost of future care in a serious injury claim.

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Permanent impairment — lasting limitations on movement, cognition, or function — may be pursued as a category of damages reflecting the long-term consequences of the injury. It is established through medical evidence documenting the lasting limitation and its impact on work and daily life. The more severe and lasting the impairment, the greater its potential effect on the claim.

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A serious injury may permanently reduce the ability to work or earn at the same level. Reduced earning capacity addresses that long-term loss — the difference between what you likely would have earned and what you now can earn. It usually relies on vocational and economic evidence and is most relevant in catastrophic and permanent impairment cases.

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Because many issues in a serious claim are too specialized to evaluate without qualified opinion — medical causation, future care needs, vocational impact, and economic loss. Medical specialists, life-care planners, vocational experts, and economists translate complex questions into evidence-based answers that an insurer or jury can rely on.