Personal Injury Vs. Bodily Injury: How Are They Different? How Are They Similar?

Personal Injury Vs. Bodily Injury:  Does Bodily Injury Mean The Same As Personal Injury?  How Are They Different? How Are They the Same?

You might have tried searching on Google "personal injury vs bodily injury" or "bodily injury versus personal injury". You might have questions about what personal or bodily injury is or how to file an injury suit when you have experienced an accident. 

In the controversy between "personal injury vs bodily injury", it comes down to this:  they basically mean exactly the same thing.  "Personal Injury" is the term most used by lawyers, especialy by lawyers who represent injured people.  "Bodily Injury" is more of an insurance term, used more frequently by defense lawyers and the insurance companies who employ them.  The terms are usually interchangeable. But there are some subtle differences.

In most cases, this is the best course of action. Nevertheless, there are differences between bodily injury vs. personal injury depending on the accident. 

If you are wondering what the differences and similarities between personal injury vs. bodily injury are, continue reading to learn more about these concepts. 

What's the Difference?

It is crucial to understand bodily injury vs. personal injury by knowing what these are.

Personal Injury

Personal injury is an aspect of civil law. Victims of personal injury can be compensated if they got into an accident or suffered social wrongs, such as libel cases. Therefore, this type of circumstance is typically brought if one had emotional or physical harm. 

Acting negligently, maliciously, or recklessly are the primary causes of personal injury cases. Pursuing a claim for this type of injury can be lengthy. Nevertheless, you can always seek help from a lawyer.

Factors of Negligence in a Personal Injury Case

Personal injuries may happen due to defective items, professional malpractice, abuse in nursing homes, vehicular accidents, and premises liability, among many others. 

These accidents under personal injury are not intentional most of the time. Nevertheless, these arise because of the carelessness or negligence of the defendant. Here are some of the factors that prove there is negligence in a personal injury:

• The other party did not do their duty of care.
• The other did not meet the standard of providing proper care.
• The actions of the other party directly cause the loss or injury. 
• The actions of the other party cause the damages.

Even though the defendant's duty differs depending on the circumstances and jurisdiction, people are expected to do everything they can to prevent accidents. For instance, drivers should not drive when they are drunk. 

Another example is for shopping malls to have dry floor surfaces so that there will be no debris. This can cause falling and slipping. Moreover, manufacturers should not release defective items. 

Some of the most common types of personal injury are liability from the product, dog bites, and slipping and falling. 

Compensation for Personal Injury

The damages in personal injury are categorized as economic and non-economic. The former is computed based on the actual losses. 

These can come from lost wages, overspending, rehabilitation fees, and medical bills. Nevertheless, non-economic damages are challenging to estimate. An excellent example to illustrate non-economic damages is suffering and pain. 

In Nevada, caps had been placed on non-economic damages granted from medical malpractice cases. The cap on the non-economic damage is more than $300,000. Nevertheless, the cap is not available on non-economic damages in other cases, such as car accidents. 

The average payout you can get from a personal injury depends on every case and the injuries suffered. 

Generally speaking, a settlement for a personal injury is usually around $3,000 to $75,000. A competent lawyer in accident injury can assist you in getting the maximum amount for all injuries  

Bodily Injury

Bodily injury is different from personal injury because it focuses more on a specific injury to the victim's body caused by another person.  Therefore, its definition means the particular injuries suffered. Even though this is a term that is more commonly seen in criminal cases, it can also indicate something when it comes to insurance.

It will not be possible to file a suit for bodily injuries that you have now and file another lawsuit for the damages in the future. When you file this type of claim, all the elements should be considered, and the claim should be resolved in one go. 

Compensation for Bodily Injury

When you have bodily injury, you should get compensation for expenses you can expect to be reimbursed. Some examples are losing the capacity to earn, lost salary, treatment, and diagnostic procedures, such as therapy and x-rays, medical bill, and hospital transportation. 

Even though it is possible to be compensated for pain and suffering, this can be complex for bodily injury since this is limited to physical injuries in general. 

Moreover, you can claim future losses and expenses if you file a bodily injury case. When a person receives severe injuries, these can negatively affect their life for a long time. Compensation can be acquired for the lost income under these circumstances. 

Moreover, people who have impairments, permanent disabilities, disfigurements, or require future therapies can also receive compensation. The amount will depend on how severe the injuries are.

Bodily Injury Vs. Personal Injury

Bodily injury and personal injury may be confusing. One key difference between the two is where they are used. 

For bodily injury, it is used in insurance. On the other hand, personal injury is an insurance and legal term. 

Bodily injury is more on physical and mental harm. Personal injury as a legal term means damage to a person caused by negligence. As an insurance term, this means harm done to the reputation of a person. 

Many lawyers include bodily injury cases to personal injury. A personal injury lawyer works with individuals who have been physically or mentally hurt in accidents because of other people's negligent actions. 

Some lawyers utilize the term "personal injury," which confuses insurance professionals and policyholders. Personal injury is part of the individual and advertising injury in a general liability policy. This includes different intentional actions such as false arrest, libel, and slander. 

Conclusion

Now (hopefully), you have a better understanding of the difference and similarity between personal injury vs. bodily injury. 

Personal injury is a type of damage related to accidents. These can happen from defective items, car accidents, wrongful death claims, and slipping and falling injuries. Bodily injury is more limited since it covers damages caused by another party.