What Is My Personal Injury Case Worth?

In California, a personal injury case offers an opportunity for an injured accident victim to hold the responsible party accountable. The goal is to make the victim or plaintiff whole again by providing financial compensation for their losses.

It’s important to gain an accurate understanding of how much your personal injury case might be worth before you accept a settlement from an insurance provider. That way, you can avoid getting stuck with an inadequate amount for a serious injury. 

Catalog Your Damages

The first step in determining how much a personal injury case in California is worth is breaking down all of your compensable losses. Compensation is available for a range of economic and non-economic damages that were caused by the accident. 

Common examples include:

• Past and future medical bills
• Therapy and rehabilitation
• Property damage
• Lost wages
• Loss of the capacity to earn in the future
• Disability or disfigurement
• Out-of-pocket costs
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of consortium

This is not a comprehensive list of all available damages. Consider all the ways that an accident has impacted you physically, emotionally and financially, and how any lingering injuries or emotional distress will continue to affect your life. These are likely all types of compensatory damages in a California personal injury claim.

Identify Influential Factors

Next, assess the factors of your case that are likely to influence how much it is worth. California is a comparative negligence state, for instance, where a plaintiff’s financial recovery will be reduced if he or she is found to share fault with the defendant. If you are given a percentage of fault, your case value will be diminished by an equivalent value.

Several key factors can affect case values, such as:

• Injury severity
• Length of recovery time
• Amount of pain and suffering
• Medical costs
• Amount of lost wages
• Level of permanent disability or disfigurement
• Amount of insurance coverage available
• Insurance policy limits
• Comparative negligence and other defenses, such as assumption of risk
• The nature of the defendant’s negligence or misconduct 
• Damage caps (applicable in some cases)

Due to the wide range of personal injury settlement values, it is in your best interest not to base the value of your claim on an “average” amount. Instead, bring your case to an experienced attorney in Los Angeles who will review your individual situation and accurately calculate your damages.

Don’t Sign Anything Before Speaking to an Attorney

One of the most important things to know about a personal injury claim is that the insurance company that receives your case will not be on your side. Insurance companies want to protect their profits first and foremost. They will try various tactics to underpay claimants. One of the most common is offering a lowball initial settlement.

Do not sign anything sent to you by an insurance company without first consulting with a personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles, California. Unlike an insurance company, a lawyer wants you to secure maximum compensation for your losses. You can trust the value that a lawyer places on your claim to be fair, honest and accurate. You can also count on an attorney to fight in and out of the courtroom on your behalf to maximize your recovery as much as possible.sx