If you’ve been injured in a motor vehicle accident, you’re probably wondering: “How much is my personal injury claim worth? How much money can I recover?”
And while you’re surely hoping to hear a straightforward answer right here right now, nobody can give it to you without considering all the factors associated with your particular case.
However, even though there is no exact formula that calculates car accident compensation, there’s actually a way to estimate how much you will get for medical bills, car repairs, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages.
Today, our Los Angeles personal injury attorney at JML Law will help you understand how to estimate a car accident injury settlement, and how to make sure you get every dollar available in your case.
How to calculate pain and suffering in a car crash
While the value amount of settlement after a traffic collision varies from one case to another, a rule of thumb is that first, your car accident attorney will determine the full cost of your medical expenses, and then use that information to calculate your compensation for pain and suffering.
Typically, a lawyer will multiply by 1½ to 3 times the amount of medical bills in order to estimate pain and suffering damages. Our best personal injury attorneys in Los Angeles note that pain and suffering is the only portion of your settlement that will be determined by the court, not your insurance company, which is why being legally represented by a lawyer is vital to maximizing your compensation.
Fact: your insurance company will provide coverage for your medical expenses and property damages (car repairs), but don’t expect them to handle your car accident claim fairly and honestly: ask your attorney to file a claim on your behalf to prevent your insurer from adopting unfair claim insurance practices.
How to estimate your compensation
We asked our personal injury lawyer at JML Law to walk you through the process of how the judge determines the exact amount of a car accident settlement. To do that, the judge and jury will consider the type of your injuries sustained in the car crash, the type and cost of treatment and rehabilitation, duration of therapy, the severity of the collision, loss of wages, and/or earning capacity as a result of your stay in the hospital and/or due to injuries.
If you’re the victim of a car accident, your settlement will be much bigger than if you were at fault for the crash. Also, your attorney will have to order a medical evaluation of your injuries to determine whether or not some of your injuries will be permanent.
Many car accident victims tend to make this mistake in the vast majority of all motor vehicle accident settlements in the U.S.: they fail to take into account the permanency of their injuries, which may prevent them from seeking additional compensation in the future in case of any complications.
That’s why it’s highly advised to seek legal advice from a Los Angeles car accident attorney.
Estimate your compensation today
If you still want to know how much your personal injury claim is worth, our lawyers at JML Law say that a standard method for estimating a settlement would be to multiply your expenses for medical bills and lost income by an arbitrary multiple between 2 and 4.
Meaning: let’s say you suffered a back injury in a car accident and your medical bills totaled $20,000. The injury forced you to miss two months of work, which cost you $6,000. Your total expenses are $26,000. Taking into account other factors – such as the fact that your earning capacity has been negatively affected by the back injury – the settlement amount of your claim may be somewhere between $78,000 and $104,000.
Every car crash is different and each case involves a plethora of different factors that help determine the full cost of damages. That’s why your best option would be to speak to a Los Angeles personal injury attorney to calculate your settlement in a free consultation.
Call JML Law at 818-610-8800 or send an email for a free case evaluation.
