A personal injury victim can demand damages if someone else's negligence causes their wounds, lost earnings, missed work time, and emotional trauma. Payment for personal injury accident matters ranges between $3,000 and $75,000, with an average of $52,000.
However, determining your personal injury value is not a walk in the park. Furthermore, insurance companies notoriously underpay personal injury victims who do not know the true worth of their claims. That is why you should engage skilled and proactive personal injury lawyers to help you recover maximum compensation for your losses.
This article highlights five factors that outstanding personal injury attorneys focus on when assessing personal injury damages:
Workplace mishaps, medical malpractice matters, auto crashes, and other devastating events cause various injuries to victims, like bruises, sprains, spinal cord injuries, and brain trauma. Conventionally, severe and traumatic injuries lead to larger settlements because the medical expenses are costly. They also come with much pain and suffering.
Severe injuries also translate to missed work time, lost earnings, and incapacitation to enjoy hobbies.
Furthermore, permanent injuries like facial disfigurement, brain trauma, and loss of limbs fetch large settlement amounts. Such wounds demand recurrent and periodic medical care. Additionally, they reduce your earning capacity because you cannot perform your previous roles.
Personal injury mishaps and physical injuries also lead to mental health issues. For example, grief, anxiety, shock, fright, and depression may occur. These emotions can be troubling and affect your quality of life.
Determining the worth of your emotional and mental suffering is challenging, but engaging a passionate personal injury attorney can help ensure you do not cheat yourself. They can prove how the trauma affects your daily activities to receive maximum compensation. The rule of thumb is "the more the severity of the injury, the higher the compensation for pain and suffering."
"It is advisable for victims to keep detailed medical records, like emergency room charges, rehabilitation services, prescriptions, and surgery charges. You are entitled to reimbursements for these medical expenses. So, tracking them after an accident will make the computation seamless," says attorney Benjamin Gideon of Gideon Asen, LLC.
Typically, post-accident treatments requiring consultations with numerous medical experts, complex procedures, and surgeries lead to large settlement amounts. Also, longer recoveries attract substantial payments because they require many consultations and procedures.
However, insurance adjusters are notorious for downplaying victims' claims. They also value medical practitioners differently. For instance, you may receive a lower compensation if you have primarily visited a physical therapist or chiropractor for muscle tension or sprains.
The insurers of a negligent party, like a business liability or car accident insurer, are liable for your settlement. Most insurance firms have policy limits for economic and non-economic damages one can get.
However, insurance companies sometimes deploy frustrating tactics to delay payment of a victim's total policy limits or even deny their claim. That is why you need a trustworthy local personal injury attorney to bargain on your behalf. They will ensure your settlement reflects your case's true worth.
If the insurer attempts to act in bad faith, your attorney will take the issue to trial. They will convince the judge or jury to pay the actual value.
It is typical to see multiple parties cause an accident. For instance, you share in the fault if you were not wearing a seatbelt or were over-speeding when a drunk driver hit you.
States have unique guidelines for determining and categorizing faults and determining the compensation you will receive. In some states, you can recover damages even if you partly contributed to the mishap. Conversely, other states prohibit plaintiffs from receiving compensation if their fault for causing the crash exceeds 50 percent.
States operating the comparative negligence model reduce victims' compensation according to their share of fault. Florida and Seattle are examples of states practicing the comparative fault model. It means you can only recover 80 percent compensation if you were 20 percent guilty of the accident in these states.
However, you need a skilled lawyer because the other party will attempt to assign all the liability to you. Without a lawyer, they may end up with an undeserved victory.
Navigating personal injury claims requires more than legal expertise; it's about understanding the unique intricacies of each case and fighting for every ounce of deserved compensation. No two personal injury cases are the same, and numerous factors influence the amount you receive after a mishap.
Ultimately, the kind of attorney representing you will affect the value of your claim. Insurers will adopt manipulative means to downplay the worth of your claim. So, you need a local personal injury attorney to give them a run for their negative tactics.
Such an attorney will be ready to go to trial to ensure insurers do not shortchange you.