What You Get From an Auto Accident Settlement
The amount of money you receive from a settlement in a car accident will depend on the severity of your injuries. More severe injuries can result in greater current and future medical costs.
Documenting these losses will help you maximize your settlement. Your lawyer can compile the complete list of damages that includes doctors’ notes, wage documents and eyewitness testimony.
Medical bills
Medical bills are often the first thing people think about when injured in a car accident. Fortunately, the law usually covers these costs in personal injury cases. However, it can take months or even years before the at-fault motorist is held accountable through a court ruling or settlement agreement. In the meantime, victims are able to accrue medical bills that must be paid.
Car accident injuries typically require extensive medical treatment, including surgery and physical therapy. Medical bills can be high. It is important that victims realize that they shouldn’t be responsible for their own medical expenses following a crash. Instead the at-fault driver should be responsible for them as part their accident settlement.
In certain instances, a party at fault may be responsible directly for medical expenses of the victim. In some instances, the victim’s health insurance policy or med-pay plan will pay these costs when they accumulate. In the case of a victim’s circumstance and the type of insurance coverage, these charges can be covered under rolling claims.
In certain cases, the hospital or health insurance company may make a lien on a portion of the victim’s eventual settlement. Fortunately, an experienced lawyer can assist in negotiating these liens to put more money in the pocket of the victim.
Loss of wages
A car crash can cause havoc to your finances. It is also possible to pay for lost earnings due to your injuries, in addition to medical bills and property damage. New York law requires car insurance policies to compensate you for your loss of income up to a certain amount. Your lawyer will fight to recover the entire amount of the lost wages.
The most common method used to prove lost earnings is to submit paychecks or other wage documents. Other documents to consider are bank statements, invoices, and correspondence for self-employed workers. A letter from your employer confirming the number of hours/days you were off work due to injuries is also important.
If you are suffering from a permanent injury which reduces or limits your earning potential your salary, your lawyer will consult an economist or financial advisor to determine your future earning potential. In this scenario the expert will look at your age, education level, training, credentials and career progression, as well as job duties that you can no longer fulfill.
At Michaels Bersani Kalabanka, our Syracuse car accident lawyers often encounter clients who have been severely injured in accidents and not work. They are not just entitled to a no-fault loss of wages, however, they could also obtain additional compensation from the at-fault driver/car owner’s insurance.
Suffering and pain
Following a collision, car crash victims must be compensated for their emotional trauma and pain. However, since emotional distress and physical pain are not captured in a photograph or documented by x-rays insurance companies tend to deny these losses. This is why it is so important to have a professional personal injury lawyer to represent you when dealing with the insurance company of the driver who is at fault.
Your Queens injury attorney can help you gather evidence to back your claim. For example, a patient’s medical bills and formal diagnoses can establish the severity of their injuries. A diary or a journal that starts on the date of an accident and continues throughout the recovery process, can record physical and emotional discomfort as well as emotional turmoil.
The extent of your injury can also affect the amount of settlement you receive. A spinal cord injury or a severe head trauma, like, may result in a larger payout than a minor sprain which heals in three weeks.
The amount you pay for your auto accident will be impacted by the value of your injuries. Your lawyer will assist in the calculation of your damages and in building an effective case to receive the maximum amount of compensation you are entitled to. Contact a seasoned lawyer today to find out more about the different types of damages that can be awarded in a New York car accident lawsuit.
Damages
As we’ve discussed earlier settlement awards are meant to compensate victims of car accidents for their financial losses. The amount awarded will be contingent on the severity of a person’s injuries and how much they’ve suffered due to missed work and property damage.
A verdict could also include non-economic damages such as suffering and pain. Insurance companies use a formula for calculating the amount they have to pay. These damages are hard to quantify however they can be calculated. To determine the amount to be paid for non-economic damages, a multiplier is usually determined by medical expenses. auto accident attorney marietta and permanent impairments are typically awarded higher settlements than minor injuries or injuries that are temporary.
A car crash is a devastating event and the financial losses that come with it could be life-altering. The amount of settlement won’t completely erase the losses but it can assist victims to overcome their financial issues and return to normalcy.
A seasoned lawyer for car accidents will be able to evaluate your case and negotiate the most lucrative settlement. While it may seem appealing to accept a lower amount than you deserve, this could impede your future recovery. Once you sign a settlement agreement, it is understood that you are giving up the right to file further claims or sue in court for any other losses relating to the accident.