Economic damages in Georgia car accident cases

Economic damages are the provable money losses from a crash: medical care, wages, earning capacity, services, and funeral costs in a death case. O.C.G.A. § 9-10-184(a)(1), as revised in 2025, lists them. Georgia has no general dollar cap on them against a private driver, but three things can shrink them: a duty to mitigate, the plaintiff’s fault, and the rule that special damages must be proved. A claim is built by matching each item to its proof.

The list and its proof

Section 51-12-2(b) says special damages “must be proved in order to be recovered”. The 2025 statute defines economic damages as “pecuniary damages recoverable in tort for bodily injury or wrongful death, including, but not limited to, damages for past and future medical expenses; costs of rehabilitation; costs of therapy; loss of wages; loss of income; loss of earning capacity; loss of services performed by the injured or deceased person as a result of the injury or death, including domestic and other necessary services performed without compensation; and funeral or burial expenses.”

Item	Proof that can start it	Where the detail lives
Past medical bills	Bills and records	Medical expenses
Future care	Treating physician, life care planner	Future medical expenses
Past wages	Payroll, employer letter, tax returns	Lost wages
Earning capacity	Medical and vocational evidence	Lost wages
Services at home	Testimony on what was done, and cost to replace	This page
Out-of-pocket costs	Receipts, mileage logs	This page
Funeral costs	Bills	Funeral and burial expenses
Vehicle and other property	Estimates, appraisals	Property damage

The vehicle claim has its own measure and a four-year period, and it is not bodily injury, but it is part of what a crash costs.

Georgia has a helpful evidence rule for bills. Under § 24-9-921(a), the patient or a family member or other person responsible for the patient’s care is competent to identify bills from a hospital, ambulance service, pharmacy, or similar provider, on showing they were incurred in treating the injury involved. No expert is needed for that step. Whether the care was caused by the crash can still require a medical witness.

How certain the proof must be

The amount has to be shown “in a manner in which the jury or the trial judge … can calculate the amount of the loss with a reasonable degree of certainty”, as Michaels v. Kroger, 172 Ga. App. 280, quotes the rule. Section 51-12-8 adds that damage that is only “the imaginary or possible result” is too remote, and § 51-12-9 says damages that are “the legal and natural result of the act done, though contingent to some extent”, are not too remote. So a future cost can be recovered if the evidence supports it. Evidence that it might happen is not enough.

Section 51-12-13 allows future amounts to be reduced to present value. The rate is 5 percent “or any other discount rate as the trier of fact may deem appropriate”.

The 2025 change for medical expenses

For causes of action arising on or after April 21, 2025, § 51-12-1.1 limits medical expense damages to “the reasonable value of medically necessary care”, and it makes insurance amounts part of the evidence. Three misstatements need correcting.

• It is not a factor test about whether insurance was used. Evidence comes in “regardless of whether the health insurance has been used, is used, or will be used”.
• It does not address subrogation or reimbursement rights of health plans, Medicare, or Medicaid.
• It applies by the date the cause of action arose. A statement saying “2025 or later” misses the first months of 2025.

Medical expenses recovery has the full treatment.

Services and costs that get missed

For example, imagine a parent who did the yard work, drove the children, and cared for a relative before a crash and could not for a year. The statute includes “domestic and other necessary services performed without compensation”. Proof can be testimony on who did what and what paying someone would cost. Other items that can be overlooked:

• travel to appointments;
• equipment and home changes;
• paid leave used up because of the injury; and
• replacement help in a small business, if it is not already counted in lost income.

Any of these needs a connection to the injury and some way to calculate it. Keep receipts and a dated list from the start.

What can reduce the number

Mitigation. Section 51-12-11 says an injured person “must mitigate his damages as far as is practicable by the use of ordinary care and diligence”. A person who stops treatment against advice, or refuses suitable work, may face this argument.

Fault. Under § 51-12-33, a share of fault reduces the award, and 50 percent or more ends it. Each defendant owes only its own share. See the 50 percent bar.

Coverage. A judgment is only as good as what can be collected. Who pays for damages covers sources.

Liens and reimbursement. A health plan or hospital may have a claim on the recovery under its own rules. See medical liens and subrogation.

Interest on a claim

Georgia’s Unliquidated Damages Interest Act offers another tool. Under § 51-12-14, a claimant may give written notice by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery of a demand for a stated amount. If the person fails to pay within 30 days and the verdict is equal to or greater than the amount, the claimant is entitled to interest. The notice must say it is given under the section. The rate is the prime rate plus 3 percent, running from the thirtieth day after mailing. Evidence of the offer does not go to the jury. This interacts with other offers and demands, so it should be planned with counsel.

Tax

Whether any part of a recovery is taxable depends on federal tax rules and on how the payment is characterized. A tax professional can review the settlement document before it is signed.

Building the damages file

Create one folder for each row in the table above. For every item, record the amount, the date, the document, and the witness who can explain it. When a figure has no document or witness yet, mark it, because that gap is what an insurer or jury will look for.

Sources

• Official Code of Georgia Annotated, November 2022 public release: §§ 24-9-921, 51-12-2, 51-12-8, 51-12-9, 51-12-11, 51-12-13, 51-12-14, 51-12-33
• Senate Bill 68, as passed (2025): Sections 1, 7, 9(b)
• Michaels v. Kroger, 172 Ga. App. 280

This page was last reviewed in November 2026 for general information. Laws and court decisions can change after that date. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.