If you are ever involved in a car accident, one of the most pressing questions you are likely to have in the days and months that follow is, "How much is my case worth?" But determining the value of a car accident claim is a complex process that hinges on numerous factors.
While every case is unique, understanding the elements that affect compensation can provide a clearer picture of what to expect. This guide dives into how settlements are calculated, the factors that influence them, and how to estimate your claim's worth with a personal injury claim calculator.
Estimating the value of a personal injury claim starts with considering specific economic and non-economic damages. Here's a simplified version of how you might calculate your potential settlement:
Economic damages include:
Should be the total of all past and future medical costs related to the accident. For past medical costs, ensure to factor in every medical-related bill you have had to pay because of the accident.
And for future medical costs, estimate up until a point where you will be fully recovered after getting a good understanding of where that recovery point will be following consultations with your doctor.
Calculate the income lost due to time away from work, including future earning capacity if applicable.
To accurately estimate lost wages, total up all the hours you have missed at work either while you were initially recovering from the accident or at times you had to miss work for a physical therapy session or a follow-up consultation with your doctor, then calculate what you should have earned during those hours.
If the accident leaves you with any permanent disabilities that will affect your ability to earn in the future, you should also account for that by estimating how much your subsequent earnings will diminish because of that.
Estimate the cost of repairing or replacing your vehicle and any other damaged property. Your estimate must be done with the help of repair experts who have assessed the damage.
To complete the first step, once you estimate each aspect of your economic damages, you add them together. For example:
Total economic damages: $28,000
Non-economic damages compensate for pain and suffering, emotional distress, and reduced quality of life.
The most common method for arriving at non-economic damages is the multiplier method, applying a number (usually between 1.5 and 5) to economic damages depending on the severity of the injuries.
For example:
Non-economic damages become $70,000 ($28,000 x 2.5)
If you were partially at fault, the total damages are reduced by your percentage of fault. For example, if you were 20% at fault:
Final settlement estimate: $78,400
It is however important to note that, if you are at fault, the outcome may differ depending on the jurisdiction and how much fault you bear. We explore the intricacies of that along with other factors that may affect your settlement under the factors that affect personal injury claim worth.
Ultimately, to calculate your personal injury claim’s worth you can follow this formula:
Medical Expenses (ME) + Lost Wages (LW) + Property Damage (PD) + (*) Pain and Suffering (P&S) = Estimated Claim Value
Several key factors can significantly impact the value of your car accident case. Understanding these factors can help you gauge whether an initial settlement offer is fair, if further negotiation is necessary, or if you want to contest the case in court.
The extent and severity of your injuries are among the most critical factors in determining the value of your claim. Severe injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, or multiple fractures, often lead to higher settlements due to prolonged medical treatment, permanent disabilities, or a lifetime of care needs.
Conversely, minor injuries like bruises or sprains may result in much smaller compensation amounts if they require treatment.
The cost of medical treatment directly correlates to the claim's worth. This includes hospital stays, surgeries, physical therapy, medications, and any future medical care anticipated.
Insurance companies often scrutinize medical records to determine whether treatments were necessary and related to the accident, which can affect the settlement amount.
For instance, if they find that an injury required more treatment than usual due to a preexisting condition or because you made the injury worse by not seeking treatment early, they will contest the amount claimed as medical expenses.
If your injuries have caused you to miss work or diminished your ability to earn in the future, these financial losses are factored into the settlement. Courts and insurers will often consider your age, occupation, nature of your injury, and earning potential to calculate fair compensation for lost income.
The cost to repair or replace your vehicle and any other damaged property is a straightforward component of your claim. Be sure to document all repair bills, receipts, and estimates to maximize this portion of your settlement.
Pain and suffering damages compensate for the physical and emotional impact of the accident. Factors such as chronic pain, anxiety, depression, and loss of enjoyment in daily activities are all considered. They can however be extremely difficult to measure and different parties use different methods.
These days, many insurers have developed algorithms that estimate how much a person should be paid in non-economic damages. Judges and juries, however, still rely on the multiplier or per diem methods to calculate non-economic damages.
The multiplier method aims to compensate for non-economic damages in relation to economic damages. It achieves this by assigning a multiplier (usually between 1.5 and 5) to the total economic damages depending in the severity of the factors that are considered for non-economic damages.
To illustrate, if a person has suffered significant emotional distress due to an accident, they are likely to get a higher multiple, which will form their non-economic damages.
The per diem method aims to compensate the accident victim by awarding them a “per day” rate depending on how long the jury envisages that they will suffer pain and suffering (or other non-economic damages) for. Courts in different jurisdictions take different approaches to per diem arguments.
In states like Delaware (Henne v. Balick, 51 Del. 369, 146 A.2d 394 (Del. 1958)), Illinois (Caley v. Manicke, 24 Ill. 2d 390, 182 N.E.2d 206 (Ill. 1962)), and Kansas (Caylor v. Atchison, T. S.F. Rly. Co., 190 Kan. 261, 374 P.2d 53 (Kan. 1962)), attorneys are not allowed to present per diem compensation arguments to the jury.
Jurisdictions that don’t allow the presentation of the per diem argument, fully or in part, follow the reasoning in Botta v. Brunner, 26 N.J. 82, 138 A.2d 713 (N.J. 1958) that since jurors understand the nature of pain, embarrassment, and money, equating the two must be a result of the jurors’ enlightened conscience.
Other jurisdictions, however, like Florida (Ratner v. Arrington, 111 So. 2d 82 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1959)), Iowa (Corkery v. Greenberg, 253 Iowa 846, 114 N.W.2d 327 (Iowa 1962)), and Mississippi (Arnold, et al. v. Ellis, 231 Miss. 757, 97 So. 2d 744 (Miss. 1957)) allow per diem arguments.
In Arnold, et al. v. Ellis, the Supreme Court of Mississippi agreed that the it was proper to prove that the plaintiff will be owed damages of $57,816 at a rate of 20¢ for 33 years of life expectancy.
In a few cases, when the court feels that the multiplier proposed by the plaintiff is excessive or a per diem is not appropriate, a court may award damages after considering other comparable cases where the victims suffered similar injuries to the plaintiff in the instant case.
Judges may then increase or discount the damages they award after considering the specific differences in the injuries of each case.
In Henriksen v. United States, No. 09 C 2398 (N.D. Ill. May. 23, 2012), the plaintiff was involved in an intersection collision with a United States Postal Service vehicle and sustained injuries. The court eventually awarded non-economic damages of $800,000 to the plaintiff after determining that the plaintiff’s injuries were similar to the victim’s injuries in Griffen v. U.S. Fidelity (Fla. 2006).
Your role in the accident can reduce your claim’s value. In states with comparative negligence laws, your settlement is adjusted based on your percentage of fault. For example, being 30% at fault would result in a 30% reduction in your total compensation.
However, that is not always the case. Different states now have different negligence laws that will impact your ability to recover to recover damages differently, depending on your percentage of fault. There are three major types of negligence laws:
In states operating the contributory negligence rule, you will not be able to recover any damages if you contributed to the accident to any degree.
If you are deemed to be even 1% at fault in a contributory negligence state, you will be barred from recovering in court, and insurance companies in these states will also be aware of this and they are unlikely to offer you any substantial settlement if you share any fault in the accident.
The contributory negligence states are Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia. In Owens v. Creaser, 14 Md. App. 593, 288 A.2d 394 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 1972), the Maryland Court of Special Appeals held that a school bus driver who failed to come to a complete stop and yield the right of way, was guilty of contributory negligence and not entitled to any damages after the school bus was struck by an oncoming Cadillac.
In states like Louisiana, New Mexico, and Rhode Island that practice the pure comparative negligence rule, plaintiffs will be allowed to recover even if they are 99% responsible for the accident. As long as they are not entirely responsible, recovery is possible for the portion they are not responsible for.
Washington (another state following this rule) law clearly states that in an action based on fault to recover damages for injury or death to person or harm to property, any contributory fault chargeable to the claimant diminishes proportionately the amount awarded as compensatory damages but does not bar recovery (Wash. Rev. Code § 4.22.005).
Modified comparative negligence states only bar recovery when the plaintiff is majorly responsible for the accident. Different states, however, define major responsibility differently.
States like New Jersey (N.J. Rev. Stat. § 2A:15-5.1) and Wyoming (Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-1-109) permit recovery as long as the plaintiff is responsible for 50% or less of the total fault. Meanwhile, states like Indiana (Ind. Code § 34-51-2-5) and New Hampshire (N.H. Rev. Stat. § 507:7-d) bar recovery only when the plaintiff is 51% or more at fault.
The at-fault driver’s insurance policy limits can cap your settlement amount. If their coverage isn’t sufficient to cover your damages, you may need to explore options like suing the individual directly or using your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.
Having an experienced personal injury lawyer can significantly affect the outcome of your claim. Lawyers negotiate with insurers, gather evidence, and build a compelling case, which often results in higher settlements compared to cases handled without legal representation.
The location of your accident can influence your claim. Some states have higher average settlements due to more plaintiff-friendly laws, while others are more conservative. Local court tendencies and jury verdicts in your jurisdiction also play a role.
Determining how much your car accident case is worth depends on numerous factors, including the severity of your injuries, medical expenses, and the degree of fault. While tools like personal injury calculators provide a helpful starting point, consulting with a personal injury lawyer can ensure you receive the maximum compensation possible.
If you are, however, unsure about how to reach a personal injury lawyer who can provide you with an accurate estimate, all you have to do is contact us At The Accident Helpers. Here, we connect you with the best personal injury attorney in your city through a nationwide network that we maintain.
All you have to do is contact us, we immediately get the details of your accident, and begin the process of connecting you to an attorney at no cost to you. Contact us today!