A lot of injured accident victims have a lot of questions aimed at the sole premise: “How much compensation to expect from a car accident injury settlement?” This question is the most pressing issue our clients face.
Though it is indeed hard to contemplate the amount of compensation you will likely receive, the situation might be terrifying to some. If you take a moment to allow yourself to breathe and assess the matters at hand, slowly, you can slowly find some clarity and know how much you deserve after your accident.
At Giordano Law Offices Personal Injury & Employment Lawyers, our personal injury attorney will help you not get charged for the difference. With the growing number of car accidents every day, it is better to be ready so that you can have the fight and pursue the right amount you deserve after the longstanding suffering you experienced.
Call our law office now and book your appointment for any car accident claim. We will never charge you for your first consultation. With us, it’s personal.
How Much Money Should I Settle For My Car Accident?
Suppose you have been involved in a car accident. In that case, the chances are that your insurance or the other driver’s coverage might be the one who is responsible for compensating your personal injury and damages. Or, if you have collision coverage on your own vehicle and the crash was mostly your fault, the insurance company will pay a certain amount to fix your vehicle.
However, if the total repair cost exceeds the value of your vehicle, then the insurance company may declare your car totaled and will give you a lump sum based on its market value before the accident.
Further, if the car wreck is caused by the other party’s negligence, their insurance company should compensate you for any damages, losses, and pain and suffering. The first settlement offer that the company may offer may be much lower than you expect. It is easy to get reimbursed for funds you’ve paid out. Hence, we cannot give you an exact amount because it is hard to price pain and suffering.
What Are The Average Auto Accident Settlement Amounts?
It is difficult to determine average car accident settlements since each case is unique. However, the average car accident settlement tells you nothing about how much you will get in a car accident settlement. What you want to know is the expected compensation in your personal injury case caused by an accident.
Listed below is a basic guideline to expect, based on various personal injury claims.
- $10,000 to $25,000 for minor injuries
- $50,000 to $75,000 for serious long-term injuries that require surgery or physical therapy
- $75,000 to $100,000 for spinal injuries
- $100,000 to $250,000 for brain injuries
- The average settlement can cost thousands or even millions for injuries such as severe brain injuries or paralysis requiring daily assistance.
Regrettably, some insurance policies have limits. Even though the other driver might have insurance, their insurance company may not fully pay the total compensation due to that limit. They will only give you as much as they can to a point. Let’s say that the settlement should be worth $20,000; the insurance company will only give up to $10,000. In order to get the other portion of your personal injury settlement, you would have to sue the other person directly.
Amounts will vary with the specifics of each case and this is only a rough guideline. Higher amounts may be warranted for catastrophic injury and death cases. In some instances, insurance coverage limits may exceed the statutory required amount for the state. For cases that go to trial and verdict, all awards in those circumstances are subject to judicial and appellate review for additur and remittitur.
How Much Settlement Amount Should I Ask For Pain And Suffering Caused By Auto Collision?
It is hard to quantify the amount of pain and suffering damages. Since pain and suffering involve immense emotional distress brought on after you’ve been severely injured in a car accident. Physical pain, emotional, psychological, and physical limitations are just several facets of distress that fall under collective pain and suffering.
Calculating pain and suffering can be done in multiple ways.
In some car and truck accident cases, the insurance companies will use a computer program to compute a blueprint of a settlement formula. The insurance adjuster will fill in all the details of the medical records on the computer. After that, the computer will display the settlement range for the insurance payout.
However, computer-calculated settlements produce payouts that are far different from what a personal injury lawyer believes.
Another option is to total your bills, including medical expenses, lost wages, therapy bills, and vehicle damage. These are considered Special Damages. Not only that, some bills are separate from your personal pain and suffering, which fall under General Damages.
To precisely calculate your pain and suffering, you should determine the category your pain and suffering fall under because it can be current pain and suffering or current and future pain and suffering. You have to be clear on this. Anyway, the former includes your pain and suffering until the end of your medical treatment. The latter extends into what’s coming. As anticipated, your claim will be higher for current and future pain and suffering.
Insurance adjusters and personal injury lawyers calculate your pain and suffering by using multiple methods. Here, they will take your special damages and multiply it from one up to five times, depending on the severity of your case.
In car accident cases involving whiplash, your multiplier may stand between one and three. Moreover, with broken bones and other severe injuries like brain damage, the multiplier will warrant a multiplier of five or even higher.
What Could Potentially Impact My Car Accident Settlement?
Car accident settlement depends on several factors. Determining these factors is not only crucial on how much money you would expect to have by the end of the case, but it can also put a serious consideration on how much you are fighting for; reasonable compensation. Some of the things that can impact your car accident settlement are:
- Injury Severity: The more severe and long-term your injuries are, the larger your car accident settlement should be. The objective of a car accident settlement is to fairly compensate the accident victim for the losses and damages. Thus, if you have a serious injury, you should have a large settlement. A settlement compensation should be parallel to the seriousness of the injuries.
- State Laws: The laws in your state affect the car accident settlement amount because each state makes its own car accident laws. While most of the states wish to fairly compensate the victims, there are minor differences in the car accident laws between states.
- Financial Losses: A car accident should compensate you fairly for the losses. Lost income, medical bills, and property damage are categories of financial losses you can claim in your car accident settlement.
- Insurance Policies: The person liable for the personal injury lawsuit must have the resources to pay a claim. A firm insurance policy can make a car accident settlement larger. The insurance policy limits and specific coverage in place can affect the payment. In some cases, both the at-fault driver and the victim might have insurance policies that impact the accident settlement amount.
- Parties That Are At Fault: When negotiating a settlement payout, the strength of the car accident case can make a difference in the amount you will receive. The more apparent it is that the other party is at fault, the larger your car settlement is going to be. If you have trouble concluding the agreement, both sides have to decide whether to resolve the case by agreement or go to trial.
What Is A Fair Settlement For A Car Crash?
The definition of a fair settlement for a car accident settlement is when the victims were fully compensated for their financial losses and suffering – physical and emotional. A settlement includes compensation for physical injuries, mental injuries, property damages, and pain and suffering. On top of that, if you already have a great case based on the law, a fair settlement should be higher than when there’s room for doubt about the law.
Is There Any Way To Maximize My Car Accident Settlement?
Buiding the evidence around your personal injury cases and aggressively preparing your legal strategy to maximize your car accident settlement. It is essential to have a strong case through obtaining witness statements, developing tangible evidence, and using the legal process to make your position more advantageous.
Another critical part of maximizing a car accident settlement is to effectively negotiate with the other party involved. Getting the maximum settlement requires a comprehensive legal strategy that builds your case from different angles.
How Much Money Can I Get Out From Car Accident Settlement Amount?
You want to know how much money you will get after the final settlement. Make no mistake since personal injury cases are primarily about money.
Let’s say you have a $1 million case that settled for $600,000 because of the risk of a defense verdict at trial. Two things cut into that $600,000 payout: the attorney fees and expenses and the health insurance liens.
How Much Money Do Car Accident Lawyers Take From A Settlement?
The money that a car accident attorney takes from your settlement money in a personal injury lawsuit is pretty huge. Car accident lawyer fees are easy to calculate, but you have to have a documented agreement if you wish it to be more exact. Most law firms sit at 33% of the recovery if the case settles before the lawsuit is filed; 40% contingency fee if a lawsuit is filed.
So in a $1 million recovery money, your attorneys’ fees under this scenario would be $330,000, at least. The second deduction is expenses. Here at Giordano Law Offices Personal Injury & Employment Lawyers, our law firm fronts all of the client expenses, but we get those costs back from the recovery.
What About Medical Bills And Medical Liens?
The last important item on the list is the medical bills and medical liens. Medical bills are more manageable because you only have to pay back the provider for your medical bills. For most medical bills, the client has an option as to whether they want to pay the outstanding bills out of the settlement money.
To negotiate the medical bills and pay the claim out of the settlement or simply leave the bills open. Some medical bills can be legally required to pay out of an injury lawsuit settlement.
Medical liens are a little bit more complex compared to medical bills. The rules in this area vary by state. But in New York, total settlement amounts from all defendants are needed to discuss lien re-payment.
How Does A Car Accident Settlement Work?
If you are severely injured, and someone else is at fault, or a negligent driver is involved, you may be entitled to receive reasonable compensation. You and your lawyer should gather all your medical bills and records.
Next is to make a chart showing your total billed charges and the total amounts still owed. If you have a personal injury attorney, they will do this for you. Also, look if your health or auto insurance company is entitled to get paid back from your settlement. If so, you can factor the amount into any potential car accident settlement.
It would be best if you also did your research on how much the injuries are worth. There are various amounts to that, and by far, this is the most challenging part of the case since it differs from county to county. Lawyers know values from years of experience settling prior claims.
Further, if you have missed work due to a car accident, you need to declare and document your lost wages. Ask your employer to complete your 13-week salary and wage verification statement. This can be used to show your lost wages.
The mentioned above is just an oversimplification of how car accident settlements work. Many lawyers spend years and dedicate their lives to understanding how to get the most considerable compensation. Pat yourself on the back and hire a good one from Giordano Law Offices Personal Injury & Employment Lawyers.
Things You Should Do To Get The Most Money From A Car Accident
To get the most of money from a car accident claim, you need to have an extensive injury. But not to the point of being badly injured, you can’t walk anymore. However, having a severe injury is the first step to getting the most compensation from an accident.
You and your lawyer need to preserve any evidence like a police report as soon as possible. This also includes keeping any event data recorders in the vehicles. If you don’t have the right amount of evidence at your hand, your case would not be as solid. Which, in turn, results in a lower amount of money to be received from the compensation.
Make sure to follow up with any medical treatment that you need. If you are experiencing serious pain, tell the doctor about it. Because if your doctor does not document any injury you had suffered in your medical records, do not expect to receive a bulky compensation.
You also need to know how much your case is worth to get the most money possible. This is a problematic situation for someone without a lawyer. It can take at least a decade of experience to truly learn the amount of money you should accept as a settlement.
If you have no idea about the fair settlement value, you will never know if the insurance company offers you all the money they set aside to pay your personal injury claim. This could result in you leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table.
Call Our Experienced Car Accident Lawyer
At Giordano Law Offices Personal Injury & Employment Lawyers, our experienced personal injury attorneys do their best, so our client is not charged for the difference. Whether you have outstanding medical liens or medical bills, our lawyers do not stop fighting for you when we reach a settlement or verdict. We also work to get those medical bills and liens reduced.
Call us now or fill out our online form and book an appointment. We offer free consultation, and we will never charge you on your first case review. With us, it’s personal.