After being in an accident and sustaining serious injuries, the expenses start to mount from medical bills, time off work, as well as the physical and emotional toll of being in an accident.
Filing a personal injury lawsuit can allow you to recover compensation for the damages you have incurred, but you will need to know how much your claim is worth and how to value your injury.
Valuing a Personal Injury Case
Determining the value of a case is difficult because every case is unique and the compensation you will be able to recover will depend on the unique circumstances of your injuries and accident. In general, the more severe your injuries and damages are, the more your claim will be worth.
Depending on the details of your case, it may be possible to recover a variety of types of compensation, including:
Monetary Damages
Monetary damages include any economic losses that can be directly attributed to your injury, such as:
Medical Expenses
Your claim should include all expenses related to the medical care required to treat your injury. This can include:
- Hospital bills
- Ambulance expenses
- Specialist visits
- Imaging and lab tests
- Prescribed medications
- Rehabilitation
- Surgery
You will need detailed proof that documents all of your medical expenses, which our attorneys can help you collect and organize to prove the full extent of your injuries to an insurer.
Loss of Income or Future Earnings
A serious injury may prevent you from working, especially if your job is physically demanding.
If you have been forced to take time off work due to your injury, you may be entitled to seek compensation to make up for your loss. This can include compensation for all past, present and future income you would have earned had you not been injured.
We can help you gather employment documents, such as time records and pay stubs, which will show an insurer the loss of earnings you are owed.
Property Loss
Property loss can often be included within the damages of a personal injury claim. This can include any personal items that were damaged or lost in the accident.
However, this will require you to gather any documented evidence, such as receipts and photos, that show the damage to the items and provides information on their value.
We can help you compile a list of the property damages you suffered during the accident that may help you be reimbursed at a fair market value.
Funeral Expenses
If someone you love was killed in an accident, or later died from an injury caused by another’s negligence, you may be able to seek damages for funeral and burial expenses through a wrongful death claim. This can include compensation for:
- Transportation of the deceased’s body
- Burial space
- Casket and headstone
- Cremation and urn costs
Nonmonetary Damages
Nonmonetary damages include the pain and suffering you have experienced or now endure because of your injury’s negative impact on your life.
Insurance companies do not usually include nonmonetary damages in an offer or settlement, which means a lawsuit is often required to pursue them.
If you have experienced significant suffering because of your injury, you should consult with our attorneys to discuss how you can seek damages for:
Pain and Suffering
A serious injury can cause a victim to experience a great deal of initial pain. However, if your pain is extreme or is expected to be a long-lasting or permanent condition, you may be able to seek damages against the at-fault party.
This will require you to prove the level of pain and suffering you are experiencing and how it impacts your life.
You may need a doctor to testify and provide an official explanation as to what might be causing your pain and whether it can be directly attributed to the accident.
You should also keep a journal to detail how your injuries affect your life.
Emotional Distress and Anguish
Victims of serious injuries will often report suffering from emotional distress and anguish after their accident.
If you have suffered from a serious psychological condition, such as depression, you may be able to obtain compensation for your suffering.
You should consult with a mental health professional to identify any emotional disturbances or changes in your personality that occurred after you acquired your injury.
Living with a Disability
A debilitating injury can cause extreme alterations to your lifestyle and may change life as you once knew it.
A disability may require you to alter your home or use a wheelchair or other medical assistance devices to meet your needs.
This will place a great physical and financial burden on your future life, which may entitle you to compensation through a personal injury lawsuit.
Loss of Enjoyment
An injury might prohibit you from participating in activities that you once enjoyed in your daily life. This can include activities such as exercising or engaging in a physical or mental hobby.
Although you will need to provide substantial evidence that supports this type of claim, you may be able to obtain damages for loss of enjoyment of life.
We can discuss this during a free, no obligation consultation and evaluate your medical records to identify how your injury limits your physical or mental abilities.
Loss of Consortium
Loss of consortium refers to any level of comfort or intimate relations with your spouse or immediate family members that has disappeared or been damaged because of your injury.
This includes the effects your injury has had on your relationship with your family, loved ones, spouse or domestic partner. This can be a physical or emotional disconnect that has put a great deal of strain on your relationship with the ones you love.
Our attorneys may be able to file damages for loss of consortium, but it may require your loved ones to testify or provide a statement regarding the changes that have taken place in your relationship before and after the accident.
Make Sure You Receive the Compensation You Deserve
The insurance company will likely attempt to resolve your injury claim as quickly as possible. However, you should never accept an offer or settlement without knowing the full scale and value of your injuries.
The insurance company you filed a claim with is likely only interested in saving itself money by reducing the compensation it owes for your injury. It is not concerned with your health or well-being or your possibility of recovering.
For this reason, an insurance company’s initial offer will likely fall on the lower spectrum of the price range it has placed on your injury claim in an attempt to undervalue the losses you suffered.
Victims suffering from personal injuries accumulate several large expenses, such as medical bills, rental car payments and lost wages. An initial offer may not cover these expenses and could leave you paying out-of-pocket to cover the costs.
This is why you should always wait until you have fully completed any necessary treatment and have made a full recovery from your injury to discuss any possibility of negotiating an offer or settlement.
Consult With an Attorney
Another method that will effectively help you obtain the compensation you deserve is to consult with a personal injury attorney.
An attorney can assess specific details of your claim to provide an accurate estimation of what it might be worth by using your medical records and any evidence gathered from your accident that might indicate what the insurance company owes you.
An experienced attorney will also be able to recognize the tactics used by an insurance adjuster to reduce or deny your claim. This can include any inquiry about a pre-existing condition, exaggerated claims of your level of fault in the accident, or that your injuries are not as serious as you claim.
Our attorneys will be able to review your claim and the insurance company’s initial offer to determine if it truly reflects the damage and loss you have experienced.
Contact Our Attorneys for Help Filing a Personal Injury Claim
If you are in need of an accurate assessment of your personal injury claim, you should contact our attorneys as soon as possible.
We will review all evidence pertaining to your claim to estimate its value and determine if you are entitled to pursue legal action.
We will provide this assessment for free, with no obligation to hire our firm. If you choose to retain our services, we will not charge you any upfront fees and will only collect payment if we reach a fair outcome for your claim.
Do not hesitate to schedule a free consultation. Call (717) 888-8888.