|
|
Last Modified on Jun 16, 2026
People get injured every day, but few of them experience catastrophic injuries. These severe injuries involve harm that dramatically alters an accident victim’s life, causing lasting health repercussions, including disability or serious disfigurement. Victims of catastrophic injuries in North Carolina can work with attorneys to get the compensation they need and deserve from those who caused their accidents.
What Is a Catastrophic Injury?
Minor injuries typically have predictable recovery periods. Catastrophic injuries, on the other hand, change a person’s life in the long term. These injuries are characterized by:
- Severity. Catastrophic injuries are very serious, often causing a significant risk to a person’s life.
- Permanence. They also involve lasting damage to the body, often impacting the central nervous system.
- Functional impairment. They lead to a substantial loss of either physical or cognitive function, leaving victims with lasting mobility impairments, communication issues, and inabilities to perform basic daily activities.
- Medical need. Catastrophic injury victims typically need long-term medical care, rehabilitation, and personal assistance.
The bills can add up quickly when catastrophic injuries occur, often leaving victims struggling to keep their heads above water financially at just the same time as they become unable to sustain gainful employment.
Types of Catastrophic Injuries
Many different types of injuries can fall into this category. Some of the most common of them include:
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
- Spinal cord injuries leading to paraplegia or quadriplegia
- Surgical or traumatic amputations
- Severe burns
- Multiple bone fractures
- Loss of hearing or vision
If your catastrophic injury was caused by another person, you may be eligible to receive compensation with the help of a North Carolina catastrophic injury attorney.
How to Prove Liability for Catastrophic Injuries
Plaintiffs in catastrophic injury cases must prove negligence, which, in turn, requires showing that four elements were present:
- Duty. The defendant must have owed the plaintiff a legal duty of care.
- Breach. The defendant must have breached their duty through either actions or a lack of action.
- Damages. The plaintiff must have suffered compensable damages, in this case, in the form of a lasting, catastrophic injury.
- Causation. The defendant’s breach of duty must have caused the plaintiff’s injuries directly.
Your attorney can help you gather evidence to prove these four elements of a negligence claim.
Understanding Fault in Catastrophic Injury Accidents
The Tarheel State is a pure contributory negligence state under North Carolina General Statutes 1-139. That means you can only collect damages if you were determined not to be at fault for your accident. If you’re assigned even 1% of the blame for the accident, you’ll be barred from receiving compensation.
Insurance companies often attempt to blame victims for their accidents in an effort to avoid paying out the settlements they are owed, but your attorney can help you show that you were not at fault and negotiate a fair settlement.
Damages Available in Catastrophic Injury Cases
Damages refer to the compensable harms suffered by an accident victim. The damages available in catastrophic injury cases can be substantial. They are typically categorized as:
- Economic damages. These easily quantifiable financial losses include past and future medical expenses, lost wages, loss of future earning capacity, expenses for home modifications, and the costs of rehabilitation and long-term care.
- Non-economic damages. These more subjective losses don’t have an easily quantifiable monetary value. They include things like pain and suffering, emotional distress, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment, and disfigurement.
- Punitive damages. In cases where the defendants acted with fraud, malice, willful conduct, or wantonness, you may be eligible to receive punitive damages. These damages are designed to punish wrongdoers and deter similar behavior in the future. Under North Carolina General Statutes 1D-25, punitive damages are capped at $250,000 or three times the amount of compensatory damages awarded in the case.
It’s often the case that insurance companies attempt to make settlement offers that don’t cover 100% of a victim’s damages, particularly in catastrophic injury cases. Working with a lawyer allows you to identify all of the damages to which you are entitled, including not just current harms but also the cost of future care.
Paying for the Future Costs of Medical Care
Health care costs are on the rise. They were up 7.2% from 2023 to 2024, and the situation is not getting any better. This leaves people who have suffered catastrophic injuries in an untenable situation if they can’t get access to the compensation required to pay for ongoing medical care. To make matters worse, the costs associated with rehabilitation aren’t always obvious. They could include:
- Physiotherapy
- Chiropractic care
- Massage therapy
- Medications
- Medical devices or aids
- Home modifications
- And many others
Your settlement should take into account these future costs. You may need to consult with doctors and economists to act as expert witnesses to testify regarding your future medical needs and how much they might cost. Juries often find expert witness testimony compelling as they reach their final decisions regarding the total costs of awards.
Determining Liability in Catastrophic Injury Cases
When people have severe injuries, there may be more than one defendant. If, for example, a truck accident occurred and you were severely injured during the crash, you could hold not just the truck driver but also the trucking company and potentially other third-party actors liable for causing it. Your personal injury attorney can determine all the parties who might have held partial liability for your injuries, making it easier to recover full compensation.
Common Causes of Catastrophic Injuries
Catastrophic injuries occur for all kinds of reasons. Some of the most common sources of these claims include:
- Motor vehicle crashes
- Product liability issues
- Premises liability accidents
- Construction site accidents
- Medical malpractice
- Sports injuries
- Assaults
Whether a product exploded and caused you severe disfigurement, or you were injured in a construction site accident, your attorney can help you determine who to hold liable for your catastrophic injuries.
Insurance Considerations
Catastrophic injury cases typically involve insurance companies. If there is more than one defendant in your case, more than one insurance company might also get involved. This can cause subrogation issues. If, for example, your insurance company covers the medical costs, they may have the right to be reimbursed by the liable party’s insurance.
Your lawyer can make sure that the complications related to shared liability do not wind up reducing your final settlement amount.
Statutes of Limitations
The statute of limitations for catastrophic injury cases is usually three years from the date the injury occurred under North Carolina General Statutes 1-52. There is an exception made for injuries that do not become apparent immediately after the accident. In these cases, you’ll have three years from the date that the injury was or should have been reasonably discovered. The three-year statute of limitations does not begin for minors until they turn 18.
FAQs
What Qualifies as a Catastrophic Injury?
A catastrophic injury is one that causes permanent disability or disfigurement to the accident victim or one that prevents them from performing basic daily activities and retaining gainful employment. Catastrophic injuries require extensive, lasting medical care and dramatically reduce a victim’s independence and quality of life. People who suffer catastrophic injuries in accidents often receive significant compensation from the liable parties.
What Is Serious Bodily Injury in North Carolina?
Serious bodily injury in North Carolina is defined under North Carolina General Statutes 14-32.4 as an injury that causes severe, long-term harm, such as a permanent disability or serious permanent disfigurement, or creates a substantial risk of death. The legal standard can be used to elevate assault charges to felonies.
What Are the Four Things Needed to Prove Negligence?
The four things needed to prove negligence are duty, or a duty of care, on behalf of a defendant toward a plaintiff; breach, in which the defendant fails to uphold that duty; damages, meaning that the plaintiff was injured as a result of the defendant’s breach; and causation, meaning that the breach of duty directly caused the injuries.
What Are the Top Five Worst Injuries?
The top five worst injuries involve severe trauma and a serious risk of death. They include severe TBIs, major third-degree burns, spinal cord damage, traumatic amputations, and massive internal organ damage. These catastrophic injuries leave accident victims facing long-term health impacts and a lower quality of life, typically preventing them from working or conducting basic daily activities.
Hire a Catastrophic Injury Lawyer Today
If you or your loved one has suffered severe harm as a result of an accident, you can hire a dedicated catastrophic injury lawyer to help you recover compensation that could help with paying medical bills, making up for current and future lost wages, and finding ways to move forward in life.
The team here at Roberts Law Firm, P.A., is here to help you with your catastrophic injury claim. We have over 40 years of experience in interpreting catastrophic injury laws and providing North Carolina clients with the legal services they need to get compensated for their injuries and find ways to move on with their lives. Contact us to schedule an initial consultation regarding your catastrophic injury case today.
