When you suffer a serious injury due to someone else’s negligence, Texas law allows you to pursue compensation through a civil claim. These cases are not about punishment; they are about helping you recover what the injury has taken from your life. The law refers to these recoverable losses as “damages,” and they reflect both the measurable financial costs and the broader personal and emotional consequences you now face.
In Texas, damages in a personal injury case fall into three primary categories: economic damages, non-economic damages, and exemplary damages. In cases involving fatal injuries, surviving family members may also pursue wrongful death and survival action claims. Understanding the nuances of each category can help you prepare for what lies ahead and avoid undervaluing your case.
What Are Damages?
In personal injury law, the term “damages” refers to the monetary compensation awarded to someone who has suffered harm because of another party’s negligence or wrongful conduct. Whether the harm is physical, emotional, financial, or a combination of all three, damages are designed to acknowledge the full extent of what the injury has taken from your life.
Damages can cover a wide range of losses, from the cost of emergency medical treatment to the emotional toll of living with chronic pain. Some are easy to quantify with receipts and records, while others, like mental anguish or loss of enjoyment of life, require a deeper understanding of how the injury has altered your daily reality. In Texas, the legal system divides these losses into distinct categories to help courts and juries evaluate them fairly and consistently.
Economic Damages: Calculating Tangible Financial Losses
Economic damages are the quantifiable losses that come with serious injuries. These include all costs that can be proven with documentation like medical records, receipts, invoices, tax returns, and expert analysis.
Examples of economic damages in Texas personal injury cases include:
- Emergency care and hospitalization: Ambulance transport, ER visits, trauma team fees, and surgical procedures
- Ongoing medical care: Physical therapy, chiropractic care, orthopedic follow-ups, imaging (MRI, CT scans), lab work, and pain management
- Medication and medical equipment: Prescription drugs, mobility aids (e.g., walkers, crutches, prosthetics), wound care supplies, braces, or in-home medical devices
- Home modifications and assistance: Ramps, widened doorways, stairlifts, or hiring a caregiver
- Lost wages: Documented income missed due to time off work, supported by pay stubs or employer records
- Reduced earning capacity: When injuries impair your ability to work long-term, Texas law allows you to seek damages based on expert projections of your future income, benefits, and retirement losses
These costs can escalate quickly, especially when treatment spans months or years. In serious cases involving permanent disability, future medical costs and lifetime earning potential must be professionally calculated. Our attorneys work directly with forensic economists and medical specialists to document and project these losses with accuracy.
Non-Economic Damages: Compensating for the Human Toll
Some injuries leave no paper trail—but that does not mean the harm isn’t real. Texas recognizes that physical and emotional suffering deserve compensation. Under Section 41.001(12) of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, non-economic damages are awarded for subjective losses that affect your well-being, dignity, and daily experience of life.
These may include:
- Pain and suffering: Chronic pain, post-surgical discomfort, nerve damage, or trauma-related physical hardship
- Mental anguish: Anxiety, PTSD, insomnia, depression, or panic attacks related to the injury or the recovery process
- Physical impairment: Lasting limitations that prevent you from walking, driving, lifting, or engaging in hobbies or family life
- Disfigurement: Scarring, burns, or amputations that alter your appearance and self-esteem
- Loss of enjoyment of life: No longer being able to dance, run, cook, or perform everyday tasks without pain or assistance
While these damages are harder to quantify, they are often the most life-altering. Texas courts allow juries to evaluate the impact of these harms through testimony, expert opinion, and visual or written documentation, such as personal journals, therapist evaluations, or before-and-after comparisons of your life.
Exemplary Damages: Punishing Extreme Negligence
Texas allows for exemplary damages (also called punitive damages) in cases where the defendant’s actions were particularly reckless, malicious, or grossly negligent. These damages are not awarded to compensate you for losses, but rather to punish egregious behavior and deter future misconduct.
To qualify, your legal team must prove the defendant acted with fraud, malice, or gross negligence—using clear and convincing evidence, a higher standard than ordinary civil claims. These cases often involve:
- Drunk or drug-impaired driving
- Intentional assaults
- Knowingly selling defective products
- Fatal workplace safety violations
Exemplary damages are capped under Texas law but can be substantial depending on the facts of the case. Your attorney will evaluate whether your circumstances meet the legal threshold and pursue this additional claim when warranted.
Wrongful Death and Survival Damages
If your loved one was fatally injured due to another party’s negligence, Texas law provides two avenues of recovery: wrongful death damages and survival damages.
Wrongful Death Damages
A wrongful death claim may be brought by the spouse, children, or parents of the deceased. These damages aim to compensate the family for the personal and financial void left behind. This may include:
- Loss of companionship and love
- Loss of household services and parental guidance
- Loss of financial support (present and future earnings)
- Emotional pain and mental anguish
- Funeral and burial expenses
Survival Damages
Separate from wrongful death, a survival action is brought by the estate on behalf of the deceased. It covers the harm the decedent suffered before death, as if they had survived and pursued a personal injury case themselves. These damages can include:
- Medical bills incurred before passing
- Physical pain and mental suffering before death
- Lost wages from injury to time of death
Both claims often proceed together, and proving them requires skilled coordination, especially when insurance coverage is limited or multiple parties may be liable.
How Damages Are Proven in Texas
No matter how severe your injury, compensation will not be awarded unless your damages are supported by credible, admissible evidence. That is where the involvement of a personal injury attorney becomes critical. Your attorney takes the lead in gathering and presenting the documentation needed to build a compelling case. This may include obtaining medical records, diagnostic imaging, and surgical reports that outline the physical scope of your injury, as well as coordinating with expert medical witnesses who can testify to the long-term impact of your condition.
A personal injury attorney will also identify supporting voices, such as family members, coworkers, or therapists, who can describe how your daily life and emotional well-being have been affected. When future losses are at stake, attorneys work with forensic economists and vocational experts to prepare detailed projections of diminished earning capacity or ongoing care costs. They may also help you compile pain journals, organize photo documentation of your injuries, and ensure that all of this evidence is presented clearly and persuasively. Every detail counts. Without the guidance of a dedicated personal injury attorney, it is easy for key aspects of your suffering to be overlooked or undervalued—something insurance companies often count on. A strong legal team not only helps prove the existence of your damages but also defends their full worth in the eyes of the court.
Understanding Your Damages Is the First Step Toward Recovery
Pursuing a personal injury claim in Texas is about making a clear, evidence-backed case for the full extent of what the injury has cost you. That includes not only your medical expenses and lost income, but also the long-term emotional impact, changes to your daily life, and the suffering that often goes unseen. Each type of damage, economic, non-economic, or wrongful death, has its own rules, limits, and evidentiary standards. Understanding how these damages work is essential to pursuing what you are rightfully owed.
At Gosuits, we go beyond the basics. Our attorneys work closely with medical providers, forensic economists, and rehabilitation professionals to accurately calculate and present the true scope of your losses. Unlike firms that hand your case off to support staff, we provide one-on-one attorney attention throughout the entire process.
If you are unsure what damages may apply to your case or how to prove them, we invite you to speak with one of our attorneys directly. The consultation is free, and we are available 24/7. Book your consultation today and take the first step toward restoring your financial and emotional footing with confidence.
