If you have ever been involved in a car accident, thoughts that you must have had must have centered on how much the insurance company would be willing to offer you as compensation. One common question we have been receiving lately is what is the car accident settlement amounts average and we actually wish that this question is easy to answer but the fact is the answer to this question rests on a whole lot of variables. In the United States, car accident statistics shows $242 billion annual cost on car accidents.
Car accident could either be minor accidents where there are little or no injuries at all and a car accident could also be very serious which could result into the victim turning disabled or maybe loss of life. For personal injury lawyers, when trying to find a client’s insurance claim, there are several factors that needs to be considered and one of such factors depends on the personal experience of the victim as well as his damage. However, there are two key factors that can be used when calculating car accident settlement cost;
How severe the injuries are
What amount the insurance company is willing to pay
Car Accident Settlement Amounts Average
If the injuries that you have sustained in a car accident are minor then the chances of getting a large settlement amount is very low compared to someone whose injuries suffered during a car accident has greatly affected their life negatively. This also shouldn’t discourage you from filing for a personal injury claim after an accident because you are still entitled to getting compensation but you should also remain aware to the fact that insurance companies are reluctant to pay heavily for personal injury claims no matter how big or small that they are.
Insurance companies would try to carve out ways that would result into denial of claims or pay you lesser for your claims. This is why the extent of your injuries, the driver at fault and also how strong your evidences are are very important in getting a very large settlement amount as compensation. Some factors that contribute to getting a large settlement amount are revealed below;
Medical Bills
Medical bills make up a great part of special damages that were sustained in a car accident and these bills involves the ones that have already been paid and the ones that are still piling up. In some cases, certain bills can be paid after receiving settlement from an insurance company while other times, paying upfront out of your pocket is simply all that you have to do. If you injuries costs more then you are likely to receive a higher amount as payout from the insurance company.
Lost Wages
Lost wages most times are calculated together and included in your car accident settlement. This actually refers to the money and time that you have lost because of the injuries sustained in your car accident. You would actually need to prove that you were earning a particular amount before the accident and even though recovering fully isn’t guaranteed, your lawyer would make sure that the compensation you receive would cover up for the times that you have skipped work.
Pain And Suffering
Emotional stress can also be claimed when and for you to be able to claim them, you must first sustain a physical injury from the car accident and emotional damages must come out from the physical injuries that you have sustained from the car accident. Calculating pain and suffering is very difficult and would require a well skilled and experience lawyer to do so.
Judging by all of these factors that we have mentioned, calculating the car accident settlement amounts average isn’t really an easy thing to do. Furthermore, each case might be different from the next and it is even more difficult to come up with a number because personal injury settlements most of the times are left private. With that being said, recent survey have showed that the average compensation one would receive for a personal injury claim is about $52,900 while settlements and awards lies between $3000 to $75,000.
One thing you should note here is that these numbers would depend if you decide to seek assistance or not or the details that your case involves. In terms of professional help, hiring a lawyer or attorney would also play a good role in helping you get a larger settlement amount because lawyers are well skilled in building a strong claim and ensuring that you end up receiving a fair settlement.
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