Personal Injury Settlements Break Down
Your personal injury lawyer will likely determine how much compensation you can get for your injury. This will depend on the extent and duration of your recovery. The settlement will also pay for any medical expenses you may have incurred due to the accident. Here’s a breakdown of the typical settlement you will receive from an personal injury attorney.
1. Medical Expenses
- This includes all bills related to your injuries. Medical expenses can cover future and past treatments that you have had or will need to have as a result of your injuries. Medical expenses can also cover pre-existing conditions that have been worsened during an accident. Current law states that the defendant must take a plaintiff “as is” and therefore can’t avoid paying damages because somebody had a pre-existing condition.
2. Lost Wages
- This includes the money you’ve lost because of your inability to work. Future wages you will not be able to earn can also be compensated for. For example say you were a music director and your hearing was damaged in a car accident you would now have a reduced earning potential as it would be harder or impossible to do the job you had before. The difference in wages you can now earn and were earning is what you can be compensated for.
3. Pain And Suffering
- This will compensate you for any emotional and physical pain that you have experienced as a result of the accident.
4. Long Tern Injuries and Disabilities
- You may be eligible to receive compensation if your injuries are severe enough that they result in long-term disability. Often these are cases with the highest settlements as the impact of the injuries sustained is spread over many years.
5. Property Damages
- This settlement will pay for property damage caused by an accident.
How does a personal injury settlement work?
Usually an insurance company will want to reach a settlement after you have been hurt. Before you agree to anything, it is important to fully understand the process of personal injury settlements.
- First, calculate the cost of your injuries. This includes lost wages, medical expenses, pain and suffering. After you have the number, you can request a percentage of your settlement as an attorney fee. It should usually cover one-third to half the total amount you receive and all services they provide for your case. To help you calculate a settlement see what previous cases similar to yours were settled for by comparing example verdicts and settlements.
- After both parties have reached an agreement on this number, the insurance company will pay the money in instalments rather than one lump sum. This is done to make sure you get the money you are owed and protect them from future lawsuits.
How Do Insurance Companies Calculate Settlements?
There are ways are available for insurance companies to calculate settlements using a personal injury calculator. The first method is to pay the amount that you actually incurred for your injuries.
A second method is to use a formula to calculate how much you are entitled each year up until your death, or an arbitrary settlement number if you don’t live enough to receive the entire amount.
There are many settlement calculator on the web, some more accurate than others. We recommend that you use a variety to calculate a mean estimate. See our review of different here.
Types Of Damages
1. Compensatory Damages (Most Common)
These are the most popular types of personal injury damages. These include direct expenses such as medical bills or lost wages. Indirect losses resulting from your injuries are also covered. Without documentation or proof, these can be hard to calculate accurately.
2. General Damages
General damages are awarded to compensate for the plaintiff’s suffering and pain. Because it is subjective, this type of damage can be difficult to calculate. This is because people can feel no pain while others may still experience severe pain long after they have been treated. Therefore, this category requires a judge or jury to decide rather than a precise calculation based upon evidence. Your attorney should be able to estimate how much they think your suffering is worth in a claim. This is one reason why its especially important to seek legal advice from an experienced attorney or law firm
3. Punitive Damages
Punitive damages can be awarded when the defendant’s conduct was particularly grave or dangerous. This type of damages is intended to punish the defendant and discourage them from repeating their mistakes. This type of damage is typically granted only in cases of apparent negligence or malice by the defendant. To be compensated for punitive damages it must be deemed that the defendant behaved in a grossly negligent manor which legally is not the same as just behaving negligently.
4. Nominal Damages
When the plaintiff suffers a minor or inconsequential injuries, nominal damages will be awarded. Although they do not cause permanent physical symptoms, they can be frustrating and upsetting for the victim. These damages are sometimes awarded by judges and juries to plaintiffs to make them feel like they won, without needing to prove their injuries. While these damages can be awarded they tend to be smaller than
The Factors Affecting The Size Of A Claim
There are many factors that can impact the outcome of your claim for injury. These are:
- The extent of the injuries sustained.
- The amount of time it took plaintiffs to file their lawsuit or seek medical treatment.
- Whether there has been damage to property (e.g. vehicles involved in an accident with more than one person injured).
- The number of parties that have been injured.
- Criminal charges (like DUI accidents).
- Skid marks and other debris from car accidents that were left at the scene as physical evidence. This is especially important in hit-and run cases, where it may be difficult to identify the driver who fled the scene after smashing into the victim’s vehicle.
- Whether there are eyewitnesses to the accident. A testimony from an eye witness can be crucial to proving that the other party was negligent and owe you compensation.
- Each party’s insurance coverage. If the defendant does not have insurance often times a settlement can be too large for them to pay.
Summarized from an article by MOETLAW Personal Injury & Accident Attorneys.
