Insurance companies count on you not knowing what these words mean. Eighteen terms that decide Nevada injury claims, defined the way Kyle explains them to clients.
The words that decide your case, in plain English.
Comparative negligence
Nevada's rule for shared fault. You can recover compensation as long as you are not more at fault than the other side, and your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault. The insurance company's fault math is a negotiating position, not a ruling.
Statute of limitations
The legal deadline to file suit. For most Nevada personal injury claims it is generally two years from the injury, with exceptions. Filing suit stops the clock; talking to an insurer does not.
Policy limits
The maximum an insurance policy pays. Nevada's minimum auto liability limits are modest, which is why serious cases often involve multiple policies: the at-fault driver's, umbrella coverage, and your own underinsured motorist coverage.
UM/UIM coverage
Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, part of your own auto policy. It compensates you when the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough, including hit-and-run cases. Claims against your own carrier still get fought, and still get won.
Bodily injury liability
The portion of the at-fault driver's policy that pays for the injuries they cause. It is the primary source of recovery in most crash cases, up to its limits.
Demand letter
The formal settlement package your lawyer sends the insurance company: liability evidence, medical records, bills, income loss, and the legal theory, with a number. A complete, trial-ready demand is what moves insurers off their opening positions.
Contingency fee
The no-fee-unless-you-win arrangement. The attorney's fee is a percentage of the recovery, paid at the end, with nothing up front. If there is no recovery, there is no fee.
Economic damages (specials)
The countable losses: medical bills, future care, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and out-of-pocket costs. They anchor the claim's arithmetic.
Non-economic damages
The human losses: pain, suffering, lost enjoyment of life, and the daily cost of living with an injury. Nevada does not cap them in ordinary injury cases, and they are often the largest part of full value.
Punitive damages
Damages meant to punish egregious conduct, like drunk driving, rather than compensate. Available in Nevada in limited circumstances, on top of compensatory damages.
Aggravation of a preexisting condition
Nevada compensates making an existing condition worse. The insurer's 'degenerative' defense fails against a person who was functioning before the crash and symptomatic after.
Eggshell plaintiff rule
The defendant takes the victim as they find them. If you were more fragile than average, the at-fault party is responsible for the full harm actually caused, not the harm a healthier person would have suffered.
Maximum medical improvement (MMI)
The point where your condition has stabilized: healed, or as healed as it will get, with future care defined. Valuing a case before MMI means guessing at your own damages, which only helps the insurer.
Subrogation / liens
Repayment claims against your settlement from health insurers or medical providers who covered your treatment. Negotiating these down at the end of a case is real money, and part of the job.
Insurance bad faith
An insurer's unreasonable refusal to honor its obligations: denying, delaying, or lowballing without basis. Nevada law allows separate claims against carriers for it. Kyle has recovered $1 million in an insurance bad faith case.
Release
The document that ends your claim when you settle. Signing it closes the case permanently, no matter what is diagnosed later, which is why nothing gets signed until the case is fully valued.
Deposition
Sworn testimony taken before trial, under oath, with a court reporter. Preparation matters; your lawyer's job is to make sure the insurer's lawyers learn your case is real.
Mediation
A structured settlement negotiation with a neutral mediator, often the step where prepared cases resolve at full value without trial.
These definitions are general information about Nevada law, not legal advice. For how any of them applies to your case: (702) 530-7777, free.
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