Personal Injury

FACTORS IN YOUR CLAIM’S VALUE

When providing a settlement offer, an insurance claims adjuster looks at various factors to determine how much your injury claim is worth. First, they look at the total economic losses you have suffered. For example, if you were involved in a car accident and spent several weeks in the hospital recuperating, medical bills will have piled up.  These bills will factor into your economic losses.

There are also non-economic losses that a claims adjuster may consider.  Juries in personal injury cases are often asked to compensate for mental and physical pain, suffering, inconvenience, and loss of life’s pleasures that the plaintiff endured from the date of the accident. Though these non-economic losses are subjective, pathologists and neurological specialists will often be brought in to give expert opinions on how much pain the plaintiff is currently in.

1. Medical Expenses

Medical expenses are those expenses related to the medical treatment you received because of the personal injury accident.  Because medical expenses can be derived from a number of different treatments, be sure to document every medical bill you receive.  At trial or settlement, these bills will help the jury or the judge realize the amount of compensation you deserve.  Below are some typical medical expenses.

• Physical therapy
• Hospital bills
• Laboratory fees
• Surgery costs
• Pain management treatment
• Prescription medication

2. Future Medical Expenses

Not all injuries can be fixed with a single stay at a hospital.  Some injuries may lead to recurring visits to the hospital.  For instance, if you were severely burned on several parts of your body and the doctor states that you will need surgeries over the course of five years to prevent infection, the cost of these surgeries would count as future medical expenses.  Essentially, future medical expenses account for the medical expenses you will incur beyond the immediate point in time. Future medical expenses may even include the cost of modifications to the home and medical equipment.

3. Lost Income 

An injury resulting from an accident may temporarily disable you from working. And unless your employer is generous and gives you a paycheck even if you do not show up to work, you will lose out on the money you could have earned but for your injury.  A personal injury claimant may seek to be compensated for this lost income.  To prove the amount of lost income, you must show evidence such as pay stubs or tax returns.

4. Future Lost Income  

An injury resulting from an accident may prevent you from working altogether in the future.  In such cases, you will want to seek compensation for future lost income.  Future lost income is the income you would have received in the future if not for your accident.  For instance, if you were a cook at a restaurant, but lost your hands in an accident and will no longer be able to cook, a judge or the jury will look at your wages when you were employed and extrapolate from this amount to determine how much you would have earned in the future as a cook.

When considering future lost income for child plaintiffs, the process can be difficult because the child likely was never employed in the first place.  If your child was under 18 years old when he or she suffered an injury that permanently disabled him or her from working, there are many variables to determine your child’s future income.  One of these is whether a specifically identifiable career existed for your child, backed with evidence.  For example, if your child was 16 years old and had an internship at Microsoft, his or her future lost income would likely be worth more than that of a six-year-old who had just started attending primary school in a similar predicament.  Thus, the 16-year-old would likely be awarded more damages for future lost income than the six-year-old.

5. Property Damage 

You may also be compensated for property damage as a result of a personal injury accident.  If your car was totaled because of the negligence of the other driver, the driver may be liable for the damages to your car.  

6. Pain and Suffering

In general, pain and suffering represents the emotional distress the plaintiff endures after the accident. Below is a list that may help you better understand what counts as pain and suffering.

• Physical pain (temporary or permanent)
• Depression, anxiety, or other emotional disorders
• Loss of consortium (the right of association and companionship with one’s husband or wife)
• Other psychological trauma

CALCULATING THE VALUE OF PAIN AND SUFFERING

There are generally two ways of calculating pain and suffering: the per diem, or “by the day” method, and the multiple method.

Per Diem Method 

The per diem method assigns a dollar value for one day and then multiplies this dollar value for the number of days the plaintiff was affected by the injury.  The dollar value tends to be the plaintiff’s average daily wage.

Multiple Method 

The multiple method is the more common method used by insurance companies to calculate the pain and suffering of a plaintiff.  In the multiple method, the insurance claims adjuster will total the plaintiff’s economic damages and multiply this number by a multiple from one to five.  The resulting amount will be how much the plaintiff is compensated for pain and suffering.

ADJUSTING YOUR ESTIMATE BASED ON FAULT 

In New Mexico, courts use what is called a pure comparative fault rule when it determines how much compensation a victim receives.  This rule allows a plaintiff to recover even if he or she is at 99% fault for the accident.  However, the amount of compensation a plaintiff receives is reduced by the percentage of the plaintiff’s fault for the accident.

HOW A LAWYER CAN HELP

Not every personal injury calls for a lawyer.  If your injury is minor, for example, then you probably will not need to call a lawyer.  Perhaps you , but you suffered only a minor cut on your finger.  You may have a viable claim against the grocery store, but there is no need to go through a costly legal process to obtain a check for a cut.  On the other hand, if you received a severe back injury, you may want to consider a lawyer to help ensure you are fairly compensated.

Even if you are comfortable with the law, you may have trouble dealing with the insurance companies, which are often the ones providing the check.  Thus, if your insurance company or the other party’s insurance company is being difficult, you may want to call a lawyer.  An experienced lawyer may help you deal with the insurance companies, which are often very reluctant to provide full coverage for victims.  An experienced lawyer may know the tactics of insurance companies that try to give less than what is owed and counter these tactics so that his or her clients have a chance of getting full compensation.  Additionally, if you are unsatisfied with an insurance company’s offer, a lawyer may represent you at trial.

Lawyers may also bolster your claim by conducting depositions and looking for supporting evidence.  For instance, in car accident cases, an experienced lawyer may try to find all the parties that are liable for the accident.  Sometimes the lawyer may find a liable party that you may not have thought was a party to the accident. 

CONTACT A LAS CRUCES PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER

The experienced attorneys at Zinda Law Group may be able to help you determine how much your injury claim is worth.  After an accident, you shouldn’t have to worry about affording legal representation, which is why you don’t owe us anything unless we win your case.  That’s our No Win, No Fee Guarantee.

Call us today at (800) 863-5312 for a free consultation with one of our Las Cruces personal injury lawyers.

Meetings with attorneys by appointment only.

What Is My Case Worth?

Here are the main factors that determine your compensation in a personal injury case:

Liability

Liability is not always easy to determine. In many cases, both parties can be liable to different degrees. For example, if a judge determines you were 40% at fault due to your actions, you may only be entitled to 60% of your potential settlement value.

Insurance

Insurance plays a significant role in the value of a personal injury case. Often, the opposing party’s insurance coverage limits are the sole source of recovery for victims.

If you are involved in a car accident and the other person does not have insurance, your only source of recovery would be your own uninsured motorist policy. These policies are optional, and can be added to your existing plan if you don’t already have it included.

New Mexico state law requires drivers to carry a minimum amount of $25,000 in liability insurance. However, there is still a risk that the person at fault is uninsured.

For workplace injuries, almost all employers in New Mexico are required to offer workers compensation, with few exceptions. Workers compensation is a form of insurance that provides income replacement and medical benefits to employees who are hurt during work. Workers who are given this policy relinquish their right to for their employer for negligence.

Medical Expenses

A large portion of settlement value will be for medical bills, including from emergency room and primary care visits, physical therapy, or surgery, as well as from other specialists you may have visited to treat your injuries.

In addition to having a direct impact on your settlement value, medical treatment will also factor into your non-economic damage value, which we will explain in more detail below. Because of this, you must make sure to adhere to all doctor instruction and to not skip appointments. If the opposing insurance company discovers that you’ve skipped doctor and physical therapy appointments, the company can use that as evidence to discredit the full amount of damages you are claiming.

For example, a man gets in a car accident, suffers a back injury, and is told to go through six months of physical therapy for back pain. If he visits the physical therapist for three weeks, and then decides that it isn’t worth the time and stops going, it will be clear that his injuries are not severe enough to warrant consistent treatment, and that he is exaggerating his pain and suffering.

Lost earnings

Any income lost from missing time at work factors into a settlement amount for a personal injury case. If you took paid-time off during your recovery, that amount should still be counted toward unpaid time.

Future Lost Income

In addition to time you’ve already missed from work, make sure to estimate how many hours you’ll miss in the future due to your injuries or treatment.

Estimated Future Medical Expenses

Similar to future lost income, make sure to include how much you expect to be billed over the course of your ongoing treatment and recovery.

Non-economic Damages

This final term includes damages that cannot be directly attributed to specific bills or lost income. This is often referred to as “pain and suffering,” and has to do with things like an inability to spend time with family, prepare food, or partake in hobbies and interests.

This can result in varying damage amounts based on how the injury and incident has affected your mental and emotional well-being. Writing a demand for non-economic damages is an art form all its own, and requires exceptionally skilled attorneys to do it well.

Our Las Cruces Personal Injury Accident Lawyers Can Help

At Zinda Law Group, our Las Cruces injury attorneys have the experience and knowledge necessary to help you. We have helped thousands of injury victims seek compensation for medical bills, loss of income, property damage, pain and suffering, and more.

If you or someone you know has been injured in an accident, our experienced personal injury attorneys would be happy to help you assess the potential damages of your case.

Call Zinda Law Group at (800) 863-5312 for a free consultation with a skilled Las Cruces personal injury lawyer.

Meetings with attorneys by appointment only.

What can lead to delays in settling?

Even when a personal injury case does not go to trial, a lot of investigatory work needs to be done. Evidence has to be found, witnesses have to be interviewed, and often lawyers and clients on both sides of the case have busy schedules that prevent a case from settling quickly.

Reaching an agreement may also require a lot of compromise on the part of both parties. If you are willing to settle for less than what your case is worth, your case will likely reach a resolution in no time at all.

If, on the other hand, you feel your case is worth a substantial amount of money, be prepared for a lengthier negotiation process. Your lawyer will be able to advise you, based on their experience, how much they think your case it worth. This should give you a good indication as to whether you are being offered too little to settle. Knowing what the lowest you are willing to settle for will help you in negotiations, and will likely help you resist an offer that is lower than that bottom line.

What else can be done to speed up a personal injury case?

There are a lot of variables that can lead to a speedier resolution to a personal injury case. Depending on the facts of your case, the opposing party may be more or less willing to settle. Having the upper hand in negotiations requires having strong evidence that cannot be disputed.

However, there are a lot of instances where even cases that otherwise seem open and shut can lead to years of litigation. These cases can be lengthy, and although settling a case may lead to an immediate end to the stresses of a lawsuit, settling too soon may lead to a result you are unhappy with. If you receive a settlement offer, be sure to think about all of the costs and benefits of accepting it before you make a decision.

How Can I Learn More?

At Zinda Law Group, our San Antonio personal injury attorneys have helped thousands of victims get their lives back on track after suffering an injury. We have the knowledge and resources necessary to help you seek maximum compensation for medical bills, lost income, property damage, pain and suffering, and all the other ways your injury has cost you.

Our firm also believes that a victim should never have to worry about their ability to afford excellent legal representation. That is why we offer 100% free consultations, and why you will pay nothing unless we achieve a favorable settlement, judgment, or verdict for your personal injury case. That’s our No Fee Guarantee.

If you or a loved one has been injured, call Zinda Law Group at (800) 863-5312 to receive your free consultation with our personal injury lawyers. 

Meetings with attorneys are available by appointment only.