Personal Injury Definition

Physical harm and related losses suffered by one person, caused by someone else's wrongful (whether careless or intentional) conduct.

For example, if you slip and fall on spilled liquid in the aisle of a grocery store because of a store employee's negligence, the legal concept of personal injury covers—and is meant to compensate you for:

• any actual physical harm you suffered (medical bills resulting from your broken leg and bruises)
• the financial impact of your injuries (any income you lost because of time missed at work, for example)
• any physical discomfort and mental anguish you've experienced ("pain and suffering") because of the accident and your injuries.

Note that while personal injury covers all of these losses (known as "damages" in the language of the law), it doesn't extend to property damage, like the cost of repairing or replacing the phone that broke during the fall.