What Are Economic Damages in a Personal Injury Case?

Economic damages are the measurable financial losses you suffer because of an injury, including medical bills, lost wages, property damage, and any other expense you can document with receipts, invoices, or pay records. They are one of two main categories of compensation in a personal injury case, alongside non-economic damages, which cover losses such as pain and suffering that do not have a price tag.

If someone else’s carelessness left you injured, economic damages are usually the foundation of your claim. They are the numbers an insurance company cannot argue with, as long as you can prove them.

The Most Common Types of Economic Damages

Every personal injury case is different, but most injury claims in Missouri and Kansas include some combination of the following:

• Medical expenses: Emergency care, hospital stays, surgery, medication, physical therapy, medical equipment, and follow-up appointments.
• Future medical care: Ongoing treatment you will need after your case ends, such as additional surgeries or long-term rehabilitation.
• Lost wages: Income you missed while recovering, including hourly pay, salary, tips, commissions, and bonuses.
• Reduced earning capacity: The difference between what you could earn before the injury and what you can earn now.
• Household services: The cost of hiring help for childcare, cleaning, yard work, or other tasks you can no longer do yourself.
• Out-of-pocket costs: Mileage to medical appointments, parking fees, prescription copays, and similar expenses.

Small costs add up fast. A claim that starts as an emergency room bill often grows into months of therapy, missed paychecks, and expenses you never expected.

How Economic Damages Are Calculated

Past losses are calculated by adding up what you have already spent and lost. Your medical bills, pay stubs, and receipts do most of the work.

Future losses are harder. If your injury requires care for years to come or keeps you from returning to your old job, your claim must account for costs that have not happened yet. That usually involves:

• Treatment plans from your doctors projecting future care
• Life care planners who estimate the cost of long-term needs
• Economists who calculate lost earning capacity over your working life
• Vocational experts who assess what work you can still perform

Insurance companies routinely lowball future damages because they are projections rather than receipts. Strong documentation and credible expert testimony are what force them to take those numbers seriously.

Economic vs. Non-Economic Damages

The two categories work together in the same claim, but they are proven differently. Economic damages rely on documents and math. Non-economic damages, such as pain, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life, rely on testimony about how the injury changed your daily life.

Missouri has no cap on non-economic damages in most personal injury cases, though caps still apply in medical malpractice claims under Missouri Revised Statutes § 538.210. Kansas also has no cap on non-economic damages in standard personal injury cases, following the Kansas Supreme Court’s ruling in Hilburn v. Enerpipe Ltd., which struck the cap down as unconstitutional in that context. Whether the cap in K.S.A. § 60-19a02 still applies specifically to medical malpractice claims is a separate and unsettled legal question.

There are no caps on economic damages in a standard injury case. If you can prove the loss, you can claim it.

How Shared Fault Affects What You Recover

Shared fault does not sink a Missouri claim, but it can wipe out a Kansas one entirely. Missouri Revised Statutes § 537.765 simply shrinks your award in proportion to your share of the blame, no matter how large that share is. Kansas draws a hard line instead: under K.S.A. § 60-258a, you can still recover as long as you’re found under 50% at fault, but cross that line and you recover nothing. 

Insurance adjusters know this, and they often try to pin extra fault on you to lower what they owe. Do not accept their version of events without pushing back.

How to Protect the Value of Your Claim

The strength of your economic damages depends on your paper trail. From the day of the accident forward:

• Keep every bill, receipt, and explanation of benefits
• Follow your doctor’s treatment plan without gaps
• Track missed workdays and get written confirmation from your employer
• Save records of anything you paid for because of the injury
• Avoid giving recorded statements to the other side’s insurer

Gaps in treatment and missing records are the two easiest ways for an insurer to cut your payout. Consistent documentation closes those doors.

Get a Clear Picture of What Your Case Is Worth

If you are staring at a stack of medical bills and wondering how you will cover them, you do not have to guess at what your claim is worth. Our team calculates the full value of your losses, including the future costs insurers hope you will overlook, and fights for every dollar. 

Consultations are free, and you owe nothing unless we win. Call Wendt Law Firm at (816) 531-4415 or contact us online, and let’s put a real number on what you’re owed.