What Is the Difference Between Bodily Injury and Personal Injury?

If you’ve been seriously injured in an accident, you may find yourself wondering, “What is the difference between bodily injury and personal injury?” Personal injury includes any harm from an accident, like physical, mental, or emotional damage. Bodily injury, however, only refers to physical harm to your body.

An experienced personal injury lawyer on our legal team can help you with a personal injury lawsuit when the accident was caused by someone else’s negligence or recklessness.

Bodily Injury vs. Personal Injury: Explained By Andrew Kryder, Esq.

Bodily Injuries

A bodily injury claim refers to a legal request for compensation made by someone who has suffered physical harm in an accident.

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: a neck injury caused by 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.

A personal injury includes 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 covers medical and rehab costs, lost income, and funeral or burial expenses.
• Bodily injury liability coverage includes payment for any physical injuries from an accident you cause.

Understanding these two factors and how much bodily injury liability and personal injury insurance coverage you have can help when an injured party seeks compensation for economic and non-economic damages after 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

Insurance minimums for personal and bodily injury ensure that drivers who cause accidents cover the victims’ injury-related costs.

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

Compensation for bodily and personal injuries depends on factors like injury severity, medical costs, and lost wages. Insurance companies rely on documents, medical bills, and expert opinions to support 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, PTSD, and more.

Assessing Personal Injuries in an Insurance Claim

Calculating personal injury compensation can be tricky. Tangible costs, like lost income during recovery, are easier to estimate. However, intangible factors (like pain and suffering) are harder to put a dollar value on.

Personal injury covers future lost income and physical, mental, and emotional suffering, which can be hard to calculate on your own. A personal injury lawyer can help assess these parts of your claim to ensure they’re included in the at-fault driver’s insurance coverage.

What If I Am Partially Responsible for the Accident?

Determining liability in an accident where you’re partially at fault is complex. The Illinois Department of Insurance explains the “modified comparative negligence” rule, meaning you can still recover damages if you’re less than 50% at fault. However, 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

During your free consultation, you can talk to an experienced attorney from our firm at no cost. In this meeting, we can assess your legal claim, understand your situation, and explore potential legal strategies for financial compensation (to cover things like doctor and hospital bills for medical treatment).

How Do I Pay for Legal Representation?

Our law firm works on a contingency fee basis, so you only pay if we win your case and recover compensation for you. The legal fee is a percentage of the settlement or award, letting you focus on recovery without worrying about legal costs.