You’ve been injured on someone else’s property because they didn’t maintain safe conditions. Now you’re dealing with medical bills, missed work, and pain that won’t quit. What can you actually recover in a premises liability lawsuit? Texas law lets injury victims pursue several types of damages. Understanding what’s available makes a real difference in how you approach your claim.
Medical Expenses And Future Treatment Costs
Your medical bills are the most straightforward part of your claim. Everything counts. Emergency room visits, hospital stays, surgery, physical therapy, prescription medications. If you paid for it or a medical provider billed for it, you can seek compensation, but it’s not just about what you’ve already spent. Future medical costs matter too, especially if your injury requires ongoing treatment, additional surgeries, or long-term care. Doctors can project what you’ll need down the road. An Arlington premises liability lawyer works with medical professionals to document these anticipated expenses and build them into your claim.
Lost Wages And Reduced Earning Capacity
Missing work because of an injury hits hard financially. You can seek compensation for those lost wages, whether you missed three days or three months. Pay stubs, tax returns, and employer statements prove what you’ve lost. What if your injuries are severe enough that you can’t go back to your old job? That’s where diminished earning capacity comes in. Maybe you can’t perform the same physical tasks anymore. Maybe you’ll never make what you used to make. Texas law recognizes this loss and allows you to recover damages for it.
Pain And Suffering
Injuries cause more than financial harm. You know this already if you’re living with constant pain or struggling emotionally after your accident. Pain and suffering damages compensate you for the non-economic losses you’ve experienced. These include:
- Physical pain and discomfort
- Mental anguish and emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Anxiety and depression related to the injury
- Permanent disfigurement or scarring
There’s no calculator for pain and suffering. Courts look at how severe your injuries are, how long recovery takes, and how the injury affects your daily life. A broken bone that heals in six weeks won’t generate the same damage as a spinal injury that changes everything about how you live.
Property Damage
If the accident damaged your personal property, you can recover those costs too. Your phone got destroyed? Laptop shattered? Clothing ruined? These claims are usually smaller than injury claims, but they’re still part of what you’re owed.
Loss Of Consortium
Sometimes your spouse has a separate claim for loss of consortium. This compensates them for losing your companionship, affection, and support because of your injuries. It’s not available in every case. But if your injuries have significantly affected your marriage and your spouse’s life, it’s worth exploring.
Punitive Damages In Extreme Cases
Texas allows punitive damages in premises liability cases, but only under specific circumstances. These don’t compensate you for your losses. They punish property owners for particularly reckless or intentional conduct. The bar is high here. You’ve got to prove the property owner acted with gross negligence or malice, which means showing way more than simple carelessness. According to Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 41.003, there are also caps on punitive damages in most situations. Think of these as reserved for the worst cases where someone knew about a dangerous condition and just didn’t care.
How Comparative Negligence Affects Your Recovery
Texas follows a modified comparative negligence rule. If you’re found partially at fault for your accident, your compensation gets reduced by your percentage of responsibility. Let’s say you’re awarded $100,000 but found 20% at fault. You’ll receive $80,000. But if you’re more than 50% at fault? You can’t recover anything at all. This rule makes building a strong case absolutely necessary. You need to show that the property owner’s negligence was the primary cause of your injuries, and an Arlington premises liability lawyer can help build a case that does that.
Getting The Compensation You Deserve
Understanding what damages you can recover is just the starting point. Actually obtaining fair compensation requires thorough documentation, proper valuation of your losses, and skilled negotiation with insurance companies who’d rather pay you less. Brandy Austin Law Firm helps injury victims throughout Texas pursue the full range of damages available under state law. If you’ve been hurt on someone else’s property, we can evaluate your case and help you understand what your claim might actually be worth.