WYOMING GUIDE 19
Damages After a Wyoming Motor-Vehicle Crash
A serious injury claim is not simply a total of medical bills. Wyoming damages can include past losses, future medical care, impaired earning capacity, disability, pain, loss of enjoyment of life and other legally recognized harm.
The Major Wyoming Damage Categories
Past Economic Loss
- Medical treatment
- Lost wages
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Property loss
Future Economic Loss
- Future medical care
- Rehabilitation
- Attendant care
- Impaired earning capacity
Noneconomic Loss
- Physical pain
- Mental suffering
- Disability
- Inconvenience
- Loss of enjoyment of life
Derivative & Special Claims
- Spousal consortium
- Wrongful-death losses where applicable
- Other legally recognized derivative damages
Medical Expenses: Focus on Reasonable and Necessary Care
Wyoming recognizes recovery for the reasonable value of medical services reasonably necessary to treat injuries caused by the defendant’s conduct.
A medical service does not become valueless merely because another source paid for it or because the patient received the treatment without personally writing the check.
Do Not Assume the Hospital’s Sticker Price Is Automatically the Damage
Wyoming authority recognizes the reasonable value of necessary medical treatment, but that is not the same as saying every amount appearing on a hospital chargemaster is conclusively reasonable.
Likewise, do not assume the amount accepted from health insurance, Medicare or another payer is automatically the exclusive measure.
Medical-charge valuation should be separately supported rather than reduced to either number without legal and evidentiary analysis.
Future Medical Care Must Be Supported
Future medical damages should be based on evidence showing that the treatment is more likely than not to be required because of the injury.
Wyoming does not require doctors to use a particular verbal formula. The substance of the medical testimony controls.
| Evidence | Question |
|---|---|
| Treating Physician | What future treatment is more likely than not to be required? |
| Frequency | How often will treatment, medication, therapy or evaluation occur? |
| Duration | For months, years, or the patient’s expected lifetime? |
| Cost | What is the supportable future cost of that care? |
| Causation | Is the future care attributable to the crash injury rather than another condition? |
Future Damages Cannot Rest on Speculation
A possibility that treatment might be needed is not the same as evidence establishing a recoverable future medical loss.
Preserve the medical foundation before valuing future care.
Lost Wages and Earning Capacity Are Different
Lost Earnings
Income actually lost because the injury prevented work.
Useful evidence includes payroll records, tax documents, employer verification and time missed.
Impaired Earning Capacity
Injury to the person’s ability to earn income in the future.
The claim can exist even where current earnings remain the same or temporarily increase.
Document the Life That Changed
Pain, disability and loss of enjoyment cannot be reconstructed from medical bills alone.
Document the person’s pre-crash and post-crash functioning.
- walking and mobility
- sleep
- lifting
- driving
- household work
- childcare
- personal care
- recreation
- sports
- travel
- social activity
- hobbies
- concentration
- communication
- independence
- marital relationship
Loss of Consortium
Wyoming recognizes a spouse’s claim for loss of consortium resulting from tortious physical injury to the other spouse.
Consortium can include loss or impairment of society, companionship, affection, assistance and the marital relationship.
The claim is derivative. Comparative fault attributed to the injured spouse reduces the consortium recovery as well.
The Collateral-Source Principle
Compensation or services supplied from a source independent of the wrongdoer ordinarily do not become a financial benefit for the tortfeasor.
But a collateral source can still possess reimbursement or subrogation rights against the claimant’s recovery.
Collateral Source Does Not Mean “Free Money”
Always investigate repayment rights before calculating the household’s actual net recovery.
- Medicare
- Medicaid
- ERISA or other health plans
- workers’ compensation
- MedPay
- provider liens or assignments
- contractual subrogation
Seatbelt Evidence
Current Wyoming law provides that evidence of a person’s failure to wear a required safety belt is not admissible in a civil action.
Seatbelt nonuse therefore should not be treated as a comparative-fault percentage or damages reduction in the Wyoming civil crash case.
From Gross Damages to Net Recovery
Damages Documentation Checklist
- ambulance bills
- hospital records
- hospital bills
- physician records
- therapy records
- pharmacy expenses
- future-care recommendations
- life-care planning where appropriate
- payroll records
- tax returns
- employer verification
- work restrictions
- vocational evidence
- earning-capacity analysis
- photographs
- injury journal
- activity limitations
- household assistance
- family observations
- consortium evidence
- health-plan information
- Medicare/Medicaid information
- MedPay payments
- lien and reimbursement notices
Leading Wyoming Authorities
Related Wyoming Guides
Comparative Fault & Crash Liability →
Finding Every Insurance Policy →
Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist Coverage →
Public-interest education only. No legal services offered or accepted. No attorney-client relationship created.
Migration source: https://www.victimsguide.com/wy-damages-after-a-crash. Verify current Wyoming law and official authority before reliance.
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