Glossary

Glossary of Terms for Auto Accident Bodily Injury and Property Damage

Term	Def­i­n­i­tion
Bod­i­ly Injury	Phys­i­cal harm or injury sus­tained in an acci­dent due to some­one else’s neg­li­gence or recklessness.
Claim	A for­mal request to an insur­ance com­pa­ny ask­ing for a pay­ment based on the terms of the insur­ance policy.
Dis­abil­i­ty	A per­ma­nent phys­i­cal lim­i­ta­tion or change result­ing from an accident.
Dis­fig­ure­ment	A per­ma­nent alter­ation in appear­ance, often due to scar­ring or oth­er phys­i­cal changes, result­ing from an accident.
Dimin­ished Value	The loss in val­ue of a vehi­cle after being involved in an acci­dent, even if ful­ly repaired.
Insur­ance Adjuster	A rep­re­sen­ta­tive of an insur­ance com­pa­ny who inves­ti­gates and set­tles claims on behalf of the company.
Loss of Consortium	Com­pen­sa­tion for the loss of com­pan­ion­ship, emo­tion­al sup­port, and phys­i­cal inti­ma­cy due to a spouse’s injuries.
Loss of Use	Reim­burse­ment for the cost of rent­ing a vehi­cle or using alter­na­tive trans­porta­tion while your car is being repaired.
Med­ical Expenses	Reim­burse­ment for the cost of med­ical care result­ing from the accident.
Per­son­al Property	Reim­burse­ment for dam­aged per­son­al belong­ings like cloth­ing, elec­tron­ics, or jewelry.
Prop­er­ty Damage	Dam­age sus­tained to per­son­al prop­er­ty due to an accident.
Statute of Limitations	The time lim­it with­in which you must file a per­son­al injury or prop­er­ty dam­age claim.
Vehi­cle Repairs	Com­pen­sa­tion for the cost of repair­ing or replac­ing your vehi­cle after an accident.
Pain and Suffering	Mon­e­tary com­pen­sa­tion for phys­i­cal pain and emo­tion­al dis­tress caused by the accident.
Lost Wages	Com­pen­sa­tion for lost income due to missed work or decreased earn­ing capacity.