After a serious accident, the first question many people have is some version of: “How much is my case worth?” To answer that question, it helps to understand how Missouri law sorts personal injury losses into categories, because not all damages work the same way.
Missouri personal injury law recognizes two primary categories of compensation in most cases: economic damages and non-economic damages. At Holland Injury Law, LLC, our personal injury attorneys calculate economic and non-economic damages with every case our law firm handles. If you or someone you love was injured due to the negligence, contact us to learn about your options and what your case may be worth.
What Are Economic Damages and How Are They Calculated?
Economic damages are the financial losses you can document. Think of them as the receipts and records side of your case. Medical bills from Barnes-Jewish or Mercy Hospital, physical therapy costs, prescription expenses, the wages you lost while you were out of work, and the future earning capacity you may never fully recover. These are losses tied to actual financial harm, and because they’re grounded in real numbers, they’re generally more straightforward to calculate and document.
Economic damages aren’t just the big-ticket items. Housekeeping costs you had to pay because your injuries prevented you from doing it yourself, parking fees at the doctor’s office, mileage to and from treatment, all of it can potentially be included. Don’t shortchange yourself by only thinking about hospital bills and ignoring the dozens of smaller costs that pile up over months of recovery.
Missouri does not impose a cap on economic damages in personal injury cases. That means whether your medical bills total $30,000 or $3 million, the law doesn’t put a ceiling on what you can claim. The challenge is proving future costs, which often requires input from medical professionals and financial analysts. That’s where having the right legal support helps.
What are Non-Economic Damages, and Why Do They Matter So Much?
Non-economic damages are the losses that don’t come with a receipt. They include physical pain and the daily toll an injury takes on your life, emotional distress including anxiety, depression, and PTSD, and the loss of enjoyment in activities or hobbies that used to define your day. Loss of companionship or consortium, meaning the impact on a spouse or family relationship, and disfigurement or permanent scarring are also non-economic damages.
For most personal injury cases in Missouri, including car accidents, slip and falls, and similar claims, the cap on non-economic damages does not apply. There is no legal ceiling on what a jury can award in those situations. Juries are free to weigh the evidence and decide what they believe is fair compensation for physical and emotional suffering. That’s one of the more plaintiff-friendly aspects of Missouri’s legal framework.
Caps on Medical Malpractice Verdicts
If your injury stems from medical negligence rather than a car accident or a property hazard, the rules are different. Missouri law limits non-economic damages in medical malpractice claims. As of 2024, the cap is $450,098 for most medical malpractice cases, rising to $787,671 for catastrophic injuries.
Missouri law considers an injury catastrophic when it involves quadriplegia, paraplegia, loss of two or more limbs, qualifying permanent cognitive impairment, irreversible failure of a major organ system, or qualifying vision loss.
Economic damages in medical malpractice cases remain uncapped. There is no limit on what a plaintiff can recover for costs like medical expenses and lost wages in a malpractice claim.
You Are Not Alone. Contact Holland Injury Law
If you’ve been injured, contact Holland Injury Law for a free consultation. Our skilled attorneys will help you make sense of your options and financial losses. We help accident victims throughout St. Louis, the surrounding Missouri counties, and across the river in Illinois. We are here to help.