What is My Personal Injury Case Worth?
How much the value of your personal injury claim is can be determined by a range of factors. Therefore, it is impossible to give you an exact figure or guarantee a specific financial result from a settlement or jury award.
Lawyers and insurance companies employ a variety of methodologies to determine the worth of your accident injury claim, and the insurance company or legal defense team will almost definitely undervalue your claim. In reality, determining the value of your claim relies heavily on settlement negotiations.
Losses resulting from your injuries, such as lost income, medical treatment costs, and spending to replace household services you can no longer offer, are all factors that determine the value of your claim. Lawyers and investigators can often sum up your expenses and receipts, as economic losses are straightforward to measure.
Non-economic losses are far more challenging to place a value on and often necessitate the assistance of professionals and experts. Money for non-economic losses compensates you for the effects of your injuries on your life, such as pain and suffering, a reduction in your quality of life, and scarring or disfigurement.
The value of your accident injury claim may be influenced by other factors, such as the severity of your injuries and the circumstances surrounding your accident. If your accident was caused by the other party’s gross negligence, for example, you may be able to seek punitive damages in your accident injury claim.
To put a monetary value on your accident injury claim, your attorney will thoroughly examine it. This is still merely a rough estimate, and receiving the entire amount via a settlement or court-ordered damages is not guaranteed. Your personal injury lawyer will work to get you the greatest financial result possible for your claim, which will be one that fairly compensates you for your losses and injuries.
What Affects Your Personal Injury Settlement?
Below, we’ll go over the various criteria and aspects that influence how much your accident damage claim is worth.
What type of injuries were sustained?
Personal injury cases are often filed against insurance companies. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, approximately half of all motor vehicle crash costs are covered by private insurers. Individual accident victims pay roughly 26%, while third parties, including uninvolved motorists stuck in traffic, charities, and healthcare providers, pay about 14%.
Injuries may occur due to negligence, intentional acts, or product defects. Personal injury claims involve damages for medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, and other losses.
The most common types of personal injuries include:
- Motor vehicle accidents
- Slip and falls
- Dog bites
- Workplace injuries
- Medical malpractice
- Wrongful death
- Product liability
- Premises liability
- Defective products
How serious are the injuries?
The majority of accident victims begin accruing medical treatment expenditures as soon as they are involved in an accident. Whether you were injured in a car accident, at work, on a motorcycle, or in another occurrence, you most certainly went to the nearby emergency hospital for treatment. The cost of your ambulance transport to the hospital is only the start of your medical bills.
Depending on the nature and severity of your accident and injuries, you may be admitted to the hospital for days, weeks, or months. Other medical care costs you may incur as a result of your accident injury, in addition to emergency room treatment, include:
- MRIs, blood tests, urine tests, and other lab tests
- Diagnostic testing, including x-rays, CT scans, MRIs, blood tests, urine tests, and other lab tests
What is the extent of the damage?
Severe accident victims may face a long road to recovery that includes a range of rehabilitative therapy, which may be inpatient or outpatient, depending on the circumstances. These expenses have an impact on the value of your accident injury claim. Depending on the severity of your injuries, rehabilitation can take weeks, months, or even years. Each individual needs assistance in different areas and responds to various forms of rehabilitation. In fact, many accident victims require a variety of specialist rehabilitation services.
The following are some examples of rehabilitation expenditures that can be claimed as part of an accident injury claim:
- Physical therapy
- Occupational therapy
- Speech therapy
- Respiratory therapy
- Vocational rehabilitation
- Cognitive rehabilitation
What are some other economic losses related to accident injuries?
Accident injuries cause a wide range of overall economic losses. Regardless of how they happen, severe injuries usually result in weeks or months off work and a mountain of medical expenditures.
- Medical expenses – When a child is injured in an accident, one or both parents must leave work to care for the youngster in the hospital or at home. Serious accidents are expensive, and people who are injured can swiftly rack up medical expenses in the tens of thousands of dollars. Families can often go bankrupt due to these large economic charges, or they find it incredibly difficult to pay their monthly bills on time.
- Lost wages – Accident victims may need to miss work for extended periods of time. An injured victim may require weeks or months of hospitalization and recovery, depending on the severity of their injuries. Accident victims can frequently replace some income by taking paid time off, such as sick leave, personal holidays, and vacation time. They must, however, take an unpaid leave of absence from work once they’ve used up all of their paid vacation time. If you’ve missed work as a result of your accident-related injuries, your attorney will factor in your lost pay when calculating the worth of your claim.
How can non-economic losses affect your case’s worth?
Often, as a result of their injuries, accident victims must deal with physical agony and overcome hurdles. When caring for an injured loved one and assisting them in coping with their injuries, families are put under a lot of stress. Your personal injury lawyer will assess your case and look at how your injuries have affected your life.
Non-economic losses are significantly more difficult to measure than economic losses, and lawyers frequently consult without the help of independent specialists to estimate the value of your claim. They also examine previous instances and combine data to determine a fair value for the non-economic element of your accident injury claim.
Examples of non-economic losses that can affect the value of your personal injury claim include:
- Pain and suffering
- Diminished quality of life
- Scarring or disfigurement
- Punitive damages
What Can I Do To Get The Most For My Personal Injury Claim?
Once you’ve decided to submit a personal injury claim, you’ll want to do everything you can to maximize the amount of money you could receive. Making sure you receive enough compensation is an essential component of making a full recovery.
What you do following your injury is important, and there are several things you may do to maximize your claim. Knowing what areas of your injury case you have influence over will help you get the most money possible. Here are some strategies for increasing the value of your personal injury claim.
- Preserve and gather as much evidence as possible.
- Be sure to seek medical attention immediately following the accident.
- Do not sign any documents without first consulting an attorney.
- Never accept a settlement offer without first discussing the terms with your attorney.
- Do not give up your right to sue until you have received a written offer from the insurance carrier.
- Do not allow yourself to be pressured into accepting a lowball offer.
- Hire a lawyer who has experience handling cases similar to yours.
Should I Hire an Attorney To File My Personal Injury Case?
If you don’t have the evidence to back up your claim, the value of your accident injury claim will be meaningless. An experienced personal injury lawyer can investigate the circumstances of your accident to determine the facts of your case. As your legal representative, your attorney does more than just file the legal paperwork. They build a lawsuit against the responsible party that caused your injury to assist you in getting the most money for your accident injury claim.
Even when your attorney gives you an estimate of how much your claim is worth, it does not guarantee that you will recover that amount. Both parties have a financial motive to avoid costly legal processes, which is why many accident damage claims are settled before coming to trial. Your lawyer will make the necessary arrangements to ensure you get the maximum compensation.
An experienced personal injury attorney can assist you in determining what steps you should take to maximize your compensation. They can assist you in developing your case and communicating with the opposing party in order to reach a fair settlement at each level.
If your case gets to trial, your lawyer will be there to assist you in making the best possible presentation of yourself and your case. Although the legal procedure takes time, your attorney can assist you in navigating the complicated legal system and pursuing a course of action that will result in the highest potential compensation for your case.
According to a 1999 survey by the Insurance Research Council, with legal assistance, the average client receives a three and one-half times larger payout than without legal aid. This can make a significant impact on a personal injury settlement.
Get The Most For Your Personal Injury Claim
Contact our experienced personal injury law firm, Schuster Law, today to learn how we can help you maximize your personal injury settlement.
