What’s the difference between compensatory and punitive damages? If you’ve been injured, you probably don’t care too much; as long as you get the money you need, you may not be concerned about where it comes from.
However, if you want to maximize the value of your personal injury claim, it’s useful to understand the various potential sources of compensation. Punitive damages don’t apply in every case – where they are available, though, they can massively inflate claim values.
If you’ve been hurt because of someone else’s negligence, you may as well try to get as much money as possible from them. Punitive damages can allow you to do just that.
Compensatory damages aim to make you whole again after you’ve had an accident. They’re divided into two categories: economic damages and noneconomic damages.
Economic damages cover your measurable, out-of-pocket expenses. These are losses with a clear price tag, such as:
Noneconomic damages compensate for intangible losses that cannot be measured in direct financial terms. They include:
Punitive damages aren’t about making you whole—they’re about punishing the defendant in your case. In Pennsylvania, they’re reserved for cases involving intentional or extremely reckless conduct. Even this high bar is more liberal than that in some other states, where only deliberate, malicious conduct will suffice.
Punitive damages are designed to deter the wrongdoer and others from repeating similar behavior.
To access punitive damages as a plaintiff, you must be able to show that the defendant’s conduct was willful, wanton, or malicious. Ordinary negligence isn’t enough.
The result of a negligent act isn’t relevant when it comes to the decision around whether to award punitive damages. The mindset of the defendant is all that matters. This means that an intentional act that causes only relatively minor damage could entitle you to punitive damages, while a merely negligent act causing much more serious harm might not qualify.
Punitive damages can be significant when they are available. So, even though they’re relatively uncommon, it’s worth considering whether you might be entitled to them based on the facts of your case.
Here, we’ve looked at examples of cases in which they might attach.
The majority of car and truck accidents give rise only to compensatory damages. Things like speeding, running red lights, and switching lanes without proper observation are negligent, but not to the extent required for punitive damages. Also, road accident cases involving intentional malice are quite rare.
However, there are exceptions, such as:
Punitive damages apply in medical negligence cases only when a healthcare provider’s actions are particularly egregious. Examples include:
It’s worth noting that there is a cap on punitive damages in most medical malpractice cases, per state legislation. The provision also requires that 25% of any punitive damages in medical malpractice cases go to the Medical Care Availability and Reduction Error Fund.
Large-scale product liability cases often involve punitive damages. When a company knowingly puts dangerous products on the market and fails to provide adequate warnings about them, or deliberately misleads consumers about their risks, this can satisfy the standard required for punitive damages.
Some of the biggest class action settlements in U.S. history have contained significant punitive damages. In the 1990s, for example, a Miami court ordered five major tobacco companies to pay $145 billion in punitive damages in a class action suit filed on behalf of smokers in the state of Florida.
Premises liability cases, like slip-and-fall accidents, rarely involve punitive damages. However, they may apply when the property owner’s behavior is exceptionally reckless, such as if they deliberately ignore a hazard that has repeatedly caused safety issues.
Unlike most of the other categories of tort we’ve discussed, punitive damages are relatively common when it comes to cases of this nature.
It’s worth noting that, while intentional torts (such as assault, fraud, or sexual offenses) are typically criminal offenses as well, any lawsuit you file in relation to an act like this will unfold separately from any criminal case related to the same act.
In fact, it’s not uncommon for a criminal case to end in acquittal and a civil lawsuit related to the same incident to result in liability and damages for the plaintiff. This is because of different standards of proof in each case. For a criminal conviction, a prosecutor must prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In a personal injury lawsuit, you need to show only that the defendant is more likely than not to be responsible for the harm you suffered (this is called the “preponderance of the evidence” standard).
If you’d like to learn more about your likely range of damages entitlements, contact the Cochran Firm in Philadelphia today to schedule a free initial consultation. You can reach us via our website or over the phone at 800-969-4400.
