If you have been injured in an accident, you likely want to know how much your case is worth. In evaluating your case, the insurance company for the responsible party will first analyze the issue of liability- meaning, they will determine who is at fault for causing the accident.
Assuming the other person is at fault, the insurance company will then analyze a number of factors, such as the severity of your injuries, the amount of your past medical expenses, the amount of your future medical expenses, the length of your medical treatment, the type of medical treatment you received, the amount of money you lost from not being able to work, the amount of money you are likely to lose in the future from not being able to work, whether you were able to return to work in the same capacity, and any other financial losses you suffered from the accident. These losses are referred to as economic damages.
Non-economic damages compensate a claimant for the pain, suffering, aggravation, and inconvenience caused by the injuries suffered. In other words, the overall suffering and disruption the accident brought to the victim’s quality of life needs to be intelligently addressed to maximize the settlement value in any personal injury claim. For example, whether a victim who has been discharged from future medical care can return to their normal lives, or whether they will be plagued with ongoing physical limitations, pain, or other problems needs to be properly addressed to as these factors dramatically affect the settlement value of all cases.
Finally, insurance companies will analyze whether in their opinion, you were at least partially at fault for causing the accident. If they conclude that you were X percent at fault, they will deduct X percent from what they consider to be the full value of your case, which will always be lower than what you deserve. Because of this, it is always best to avoid speaking to the insurance companies to prevent them from unfairly concluding that you played any part in causing the accident.
An experienced lawyer knows precisely how to discuss the medical aspects of your injuries and how to illustrate the overall impact these circumstances had on your quality of life. In many cases, a consultation with the appropriate medical experts can substantially increase the settlement value of your case. All of these factors make a dramatic difference in the gross settlement amount insurance companies are willing to pay to resolve a claim.
The difficult question is how economic losses as well as pain and suffering all equate to a dollar value. In other words, how do you determine how much your case is worth? Pain and suffering are subjective values. The amount for which your lawyer can settle your case depend greatly on the experience, skill, and ability of your lawyer to fight on your behalf.
An experienced personal injury attorney will know precisely how to properly evaluate, present, and negotiate your case to obtain the absolute highest possible settlement for your circumstances. In many cases, it is necessary to fight the matter in court because insurance companies will not willingly make their best offers until you can prove, through the court battle, that by going to trial, you can convince a jury to pay you the amount of money you are requesting, and potentially a substantial amount more.
