What Is the Difference Between Bodily Injury and Personal Injury?

If you’ve been in an accident, you may find yourself wondering, “What is the difference between bodily injury and personal injury?” Personal injury refers to any injury that occurred in an accident, including physical, mental, or emotional damage, whereas bodily injury more specifically refers to physical injury to one’s own body.

An experienced personal injury lawyer on our legal team at The Kryder Law Group, LLC Accident and Injury Lawyers can make all the difference in winning personal injury claims.

Bodily Injuries

A bodily injury is any physical harm that a person injured in an accident suffered.

This could include:

• Cuts: Lacerations that break the skin, potentially requiring medical stitching.
• Bruises: Discolorations on the skin, commonly caused by blunt force trauma.
• Broken bones: Fractures or complete breaks in the bone structure.
• Whiplash: Neck injury due to rapid back-and-forth movement.
• Traumatic brain injuries: Damage to the brain from an external mechanical force.
• Spinal cord injuries: Damage leading to loss of function or mobility.
• Other serious injuries: Various other significant injuries requiring immediate attention.

Personal Injuries

A personal injury, on the other hand, can include bodily injuries as well as any type of mental or emotional harm that a victim suffered in an accident.

This could include things like:

• Anxiety: Overwhelming feelings of worry and fear disrupting daily life.
• Depression: Persistent deep sadness, leading to significant impairment in daily activities.
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Severe anxiety after witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event.
• Other Psychological Injuries: Various emotional or cognitive disturbances following an accident.

Both bodily injury and personal injury can be compensated for in a personal injury claim.

What Is Personal Injury Coverage vs. Bodily Injury Coverage?

• Personal injury protection (PIP) insurance coverage includes payment for medical and rehabilitation expenses, loss of income, and funeral and burial expenses.
• Bodily injury liability coverage includes payment for any physical injuries from an accident you cause.

Understanding these two factors and how much coverage you have will help when you pursue financial compensation and calculate your economic and non-economic damages after suffering an accident.

Minimum Insurance Coverage for Bodily Injuries

By law, every driver in Illinois is required to carry car insurance. The Illinois Department of Insurance requires bodily injury liability insurance minimums of:

• $25,000 per person
• $50,000 per accident

These personal injury and bodily injury insurance minimums are put into place to ensure a driver who causes an accident is responsible for the financial impact of the injuries on the accident victims.

How are Bodily and Personal Injuries Calculated in an Insurance Claim?

Assessing the compensation for bodily and personal injuries involves various factors. The insurance company evaluates the severity of the injury, the amount of medical expenses, and potential lost wages due to the accident. Documentation, medical bills, and expert testimonies play crucial roles in substantiating the claims.

In calculating personal injury cases, the emotional distress caused by the incident is also taken into account. This delicate calculation of non-economic damages ensures fair compensation for economic as well as non-economic damages like pain and suffering.

What Is Pain and Suffering?

The pain and suffering caused by personal injuries can be significant and should be taken into account when negotiating a settlement. These may include depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and more.

Assessing Personal Injuries in an Insurance Claim

Accurately calculating your personal injuries can also be a complex process. Tangible personal injury expenses like the lost income you experience while you are in the hospital or recuperating at home can be relatively simple to calculate. Intangible personal injuries like pain and suffering are another matter, and can be much more difficult to assign a monetary value to.

Summing up the value of future income you have not earned yet and physical, mental, and emotional anguish that might not be as readily visible as bruises and broken bones can be tricky to assess on your own. A personal injury lawyer may be able to help you value these portions of your auto insurance claim to ensure they, too, are covered by the at-fault driver’s car insurance policy.

What If I Am Partially Responsible for the Accident?

Determining liability in an accident where you’re partially at fault is complex. Illinois follows a “modified comparative negligence” rule 735 ILCS 5/2-1116, meaning you can still recover damages if you’re less than 50% at fault, but your compensation will be reduced by your percentage of the blame.

The Kryder Law Group, LLC Accident and Injury Lawyers is Here to Help You After an Accident

If you’ve been seriously hurt in a car accident caused by someone else’s negligence, we can help. Our experienced personal injury attorneys have helped scores of clients recover compensation for their injuries and losses including medical expenses, lost wages or earning potential, pain and suffering, loss of quality of life, and more.

Call Us for a Free Initial Case Review

In your free consultation, you have the opportunity to discuss your case with an experienced attorney from our firm without any financial obligation. This meeting serves to evaluate the merits of your claim, understand your circumstances, and outline possible legal strategies for you.

How Do I Pay for Legal Representation?

Importantly, our law firm operates on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay legal fees only if compensation is successfully recovered on your behalf. Fees are a percentage of the settlement or award, freeing you from financial concerns as you recover from your injuries.