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Determining your estimated compensation amount for a personal injury can be challenging. Your insurance adjuster might tell you that their personal injury calculator provides an accurate number. Unfortunately, the insurance company’s intentions may not be as honorable as you think. Each claim is its unique case, with different circumstances leading to injury. If you are injured due to negligence, remember multiple factors factor into your compensation. Be careful about allowing your insurance adjuster to minimize your injury claim by ignoring essential elements.
In this article, we will provide information on personal injury settlements that insurance companies aren’t sharing with you. Here’s what you need to know to understand how much your damages are worth in a personal injury lawsuit.
Your adjuster’s personal injury calculator suggests different claim amounts based on the type of injury you have. Common injury cases include:
Certain events might be deemed worse than others, according to an insurance company. No matter how open-and-shut a case might seem, most are not so obvious. No one case or injury is the same. Several factors can affect the severity of your accident, as well as your ability to physically and emotionally cope afterward.
If you want to file an injury claim, the term “damages” is essential to know. Damage is a legal term for the financial compensation you receive during an accident settlement. If you choose to work with a reputable law firm, your lawyer will talk to you about two kinds of damages:
Calculating special damages is a straightforward procedure. A personal injury calculator from an insurance adjuster will compile a total of all financial costs resulting from your injury. Aside from immediate medical bills and missed wages, special damages can also include expenses for therapy, childcare, transportation, and housework (housekeeping, yard work, etc.). You can also include the cost of personal items you lost as a result of the accident. For example, you can claim your vehicle during a car accident settlement.
Your medical bills are the most significant part of your injury claim. Submitting medical bills for a settlement can be a confusing process. You’ll likely have to provide more than once, as different departments of the same hospital bill their same patients separately. The bill from a general doctor or surgeon often appears on a separate invoice than the one an x-ray or CT Scan is on. To provide the most substantial claim possible, you must submit every medical bill you receive, regardless of whether or not your healthcare plan covers them.
Finding an accurate settlement amount for general damages is much harder to assess. Insurance adjusters will not be able to provide you with a fair assessment because they don’t have a way to measure general damages objectively. Adjusters may compare your case to past settlements in which the victim had similar special damages.
General damages include but are not limited to:
Seeking compensation for personal injury is an immense task to attempt on your own. Before you can assess your damages, you must first have evidence you are deserving of compensation. An insurance company must be convinced that their client was responsible for your safety during the accident in question. You must also prove that the insured party was negligent or failed to act in a way that ensured your wellbeing.
This irresponsibility must be the direct cause of your damages. Handling your claim without a lawyer means you must do all of this work on your own.
Without proper legal counsel, you could leave out significant evidence that could prove to be essential to your case. Without adequate proof against the liable party, the chances that your compensatory demands will be met are slim to none.
An attorney who focuses on personal injury will ensure you have all the evidence you need for an appropriate settlement. An insurance company will only award for special damages, whereas a personal injury lawyer will make sure you are fairly compensated for both special and general damages.
If you or a loved one is injured due to negligence, you’ll need the help of The Flood Law firm. Rated 2019’s best law firms by US News & World Report, we have helped our clients recover $70 Million over the last five years. We are invested in helping the members of our community get the compensation they deserve. Contact The Flood Law firm today to speak to one of our experienced attorneys, or call us anytime at (877) 987-9529 to schedule a free consultation.
Disclaimer: The advice contained in this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace legal counsel. Please contact an attorney to receive an individual analysis of your case.