If you are wounded in an accident, you will need to figure out how much money you believe you are owed. When an insurance company jumps in and tries to negotiate a settlement with you soon after your injury, this is what happens.
If there is no insurance involved or you cannot settle out of court, you must decide whether you will file a small claim, limited civil, or unlimited civil case before filing your lawsuit.
In most cases, the person who caused the injury is responsible for reimbursing the injured party for all the costs incurred as a result of the injury and compensating the injured party for any pain, suffering, or emotional distress they suffered due to the injury.
Regrettably, the legislation does not specify a method or formula for calculating the amount you owe. Instead, personal injury damages are calculated using a combination of actual costs and pain and suffering compensation. When calculating the amount you owe, you must consider various criteria.
Most attorneys and insurance companies use a mathematical formula to assess the value of an accident and establish a starting point for their negotiations when determining how much an injury claim is worth. Three independent figures must be determined to make these estimates: special damages, special medical damages, and general damages.
Special damages are usually straightforward to calculate. Costs of repairing or replacing damaged property lost income, and any other out-of-pocket expenditures incurred due to the injury are all included.
Suppose your injury prevents you from getting promoted to a better position or forces you to work in a lower-paying career. In that case, you might be entitled to compensation for lost future wages. You are entitled to full compensation for your actual expenses, so make sure you keep track of all of them.
Many insurance companies and attorneys compound the amount of special medical damages by 1.5-5, depending on the severity of the injuries, to get an acceptable starting number for negotiating general damages. A factor of more than five may be employed in severe instances.
The low end of the multiplier range would be for relatively minor injuries, while the high end would be for serious or long-term injuries. For example, if the plaintiff sustained a slight injury and incurred $1000 in medical expenses, he might seek $1500 in general damages ($1000 x 1.5). If the plaintiff sustained a more serious injury and incurred $100,000 in medical expenditures, he may seek $500,000 in general damages ($100,000 x 5) from the defendant.
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