Determining the Value of Your Personal Injury Case: When you’re involved in an accident and suffered harm or serious injuries because of intentional acts or negligent actions it’s important that you seek immediate medical treatment. However, this also means high medical costs and leaving for work for weeks or months until you fully recover.
The medical expenses incurred for your hospitalization, checkups, prescriptions, laboratory, therapy, and other medical bills make you financially drained, especially when you’re the only breadwinner in the family. It would be a difficult time for the entire family when there’s no more source of income. Where will you get the money to cover all the expenses and your family’s necessities?
You don’t have to pay the medical bills and shouldn’t be in the hospital if not for the accident due to someone else’s negligence. Speak with an experienced personal injury lawyer to help protect your legal rights, maximize the compensation you deserve, and hold the responsible party accountable for the car accident.
You might be wondering if it’s worth it to hire a personal injury lawyer. Definitely, you’ll need one. Asking an expert in personal injury law allows you to know the worth of your personal injury case.
Factors that Determine the Value of a Personal Injury Case
Establishing the value of a personal injury claim can be an intricate process. You need to work with a personal injury lawyer with years of expertise in personal injury law to help you determine the value of your case. Below are what you need to consider when valuing such cases:
Determining the Value of Your Personal Injury Case: Severity of Injuries
The severity of your injuries is one of the key elements in assessing the value of a personal injury case. Typically, the more serious your injuries are, the higher their worth is likely to be.
As part of assessing the severity of an injury, several factors will be taken into consideration, including its type and degree, its scope, and any long-term ramifications on your life. For instance, an extensive injury that requires surgery and months of physical rehabilitation would likely be considered more severe than minor sprains that only need rest and minor care.
As part of determining the value of your case, the long-term effects of your injuries will also be taken into account. If they have led to long-term or permanent disabilities such as paralysis, loss of limb, or brain damage, then significant compensation could be available to you.
Medical Expenses
Medical expenses are one of the primary factors used to establish the value of a personal injury case. This expense includes both past medical treatment received as well as estimated future care that may be required due to your injuries.
Calculating your medical expenses requires considering all costs related to your injury, such as hospitalization, surgery, diagnostic tests, medications prescribed for you or planned in the future, physical therapy treatments, or any other forms of healthcare needed or received in relation to this incident.
Other than direct medical expenses, factors that may contribute to your total expenses include how your injury has altered your ability to work, the expense associated with any necessary equipment or home modifications necessary, as well as its long-term effect on the quality of life.
Your medical expenses will only be one factor considered in valuing a personal injury case, so working with an experienced personal injury lawyer to build a compelling argument and receive just compensation for your injuries can be extremely helpful.
Lost Wages
These are also considered when calculating the value of a personal injury case, so if your injuries have caused you to miss work due to medical treatment, compensation for lost income could be awarded as part of any settlement package.
Calculating your wage loss requires taking several factors into account, including your pre-injury salary, time missed from work due to injuries sustained, and potential future earnings losses caused by injuries sustained.
If your injury renders you incapable of working, compensation for lost earning capacity may also apply. This refers to what would have been earned had they not been injured in the first place.
Pain and Suffering
Pain and suffering is another key element that should be taken into account when valuing personal injury cases. This refers to any physical and/or emotional discomfort you have endured as a result of being injured.
Calculating the value of pain and suffering is often more subjective than other damages such as medical expenses or lost salary, since it requires estimating its impact on overall quality of life. When estimating this value, factors to be taken into consideration include severity of injury sustained; duration and intensity of pain experienced as a result of injury; emotional trauma experienced as a result of injury, and related treatment options.
There are various methods available to you for calculating the value of pain and suffering, including multiplying economic damages such as medical expenses and salary loss by a specific number to arrive at an amount as compensation; while per diem methods assign a set dollar value per day of pain experienced.
Liability
Liability is also an integral component of determining the value of any personal injury case and refers to the legal responsibility that another party may bear for your injuries.
If another’s negligence or intentional actions resulted in your injury, they may be held accountable. They could potentially pay compensation for medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and any other losses as a result of your injury.
To prove liability, it’s essential that evidence pointing towards another party being responsible for your injuries be collected. This may include witness statements, medical records, police reports, and any other pertinent paperwork. Your personal injury lawyer can assist in gathering and presenting this evidence effectively in support of your case.
Insurance Coverage
Insurance coverage can have a major effect on the value of any personal injury case. Usually, it will fall to the other party’s insurance provider to cover your damages up to their policy’s limits.
If the other party is underinsured or uninsured, or their insurance policy doesn’t fully cover your damages, other options for compensation must be explored such as taking out personal insurance policies against them or filing suit.
Understanding your insurance options and their effect on your case value is of utmost importance. A personal injury attorney can assist in reviewing policies to identify compensation rights and options that exist for them.
Attorney Fees and Legal Expenses
Attorney fees and legal expenses should also be factored into the valuation of any personal injury case. Attorneys usually work on contingency fee bases, meaning they only receive a payment if your settlement or verdict goes in your favor – usually 33% to 40% of what compensation was won from that settlement or verdict.
Legal expenses, such as filing fees, expert witness fees, and any costs associated with building your case can significantly diminish its overall value. These expenses can add up quickly, so they must either be paid upfront or reimbursed from settlement or verdict proceeds by your attorney.
As part of calculating the value of your case, it is vitally important that you include attorney fees and legal expenses when estimating its worth. A personal injury attorney can advise on anticipated costs related to your claim as well as ensure you remain fully informed regarding potential expenses or fees that could arise during its lifespan.
As is the case in any personal injury claim, the value of your claim depends upon various factors, including the severity of your injuries and damage suffered as well as its strength. Working with an experienced personal injury attorney is vital in order to navigate through this complex legal process successfully and receive fair compensation while understanding potential costs and fees associated with your case.
For an accurate assessment of your personal injury case, consulting with a veteran personal injury attorney may prove invaluable in terms of providing guidance as to how best to proceed with it.
Types of Compensation You May Get
Personal injury compensation aims to provide financial relief for the losses and damages suffered by the injured party. How much you receive will depend on various circumstances related to your case. Examples of economic damages in personal injury cases could include:
Economic Damages
Economic damages in personal cases refer to any monetary losses sustained due to injuries caused by another party’s negligence or wrongdoing, with these damages intended to compensate injured people for any monetary losses directly caused by their injury.
Medical expenses. These expenses encompass hospitalization, surgery, doctor visits, diagnostic tests, prescription medications, physical therapy treatments, and any other associated costs.
Lost Wages. This refers to any income that an injured individual would have earned had they not been injured and rendered incapable of working. This may include missed work time due to injury, reduced earning capacity as a result of injury, and future lost earnings.
Property Damage. This expense covers any cost to repair or replace property damaged during an accident, such as cars and other personal belongings.
Home modifications. Home modifications encompass any expenses related to making an injured person’s home more accessible due to injuries sustained, such as installing wheelchair ramps or making bathrooms accessible.
Rehabilitation costs. This expense covers any rehabilitation or physical therapy necessary to help injured parties recover from their injuries.
Other out-of-pocket expenses. These costs could include transportation to medical appointments, home healthcare services, and any miscellaneous expenses related to an injury.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages in personal injury claims refer to intangible losses such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, and diminished enjoyment of life that cannot easily be measured in dollars. They aim to compensate injured parties for physical, emotional, and psychological harm they have endured due to negligence or wrongdoing by another party. Examples of non-economic damages in a personal injury lawsuit could include:
Pain and Suffering. This term encompasses physical discomfort caused by injury as well as emotional distress such as anxiety, depression, and insomnia.
Emotional distress. Emotional distress refers to the psychological consequences of injury, including fear, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Loss of enjoyment of life. This refers to an injured individual being unable to participate in activities they previously enjoyed such as hobbies, sports, or social gatherings that they once took pleasure in doing.
Loss of consortium. Loss of consortium refers to any disruption in companionship or intimacy due to an injury sustained.
Disfigurement or scarring. Any permanent physical disfigurement or scarring due to injury must also be included here.
Punitive damages, on the other hand, are designed to punish the egregious behavior of the defendant for his intentional act toward the plaintiff which is why the injury occurred. The courts set the amount of compensation that will come from the defendant’s own pocket.
Big Ben Lawyers Can Establish the Value of Your Personal Injury Claim
Most people who suffer injuries and damages from an accident don’t know the true value of their personal injury claims. Insurance companies take advantage of the situation so they won’t pay high compensation and if possible don’t pay anymore.
Our compassionate personal injury lawyers at Big Ben Lawyers care so much about the welfare of our clients. We honestly provide them with an estimated worth of their claim and help them understand how to determine its value and the benefits they can get and help pursue compensation.
If you need help with your personal injury case and the value of your claim, we are always ready to listen and help. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. We provide the widest coverage of legal representation to ensure that you’ll get reasonable monetary compensation.