How to Value Your Injury Claim
Following your injury, you completed your medical care and rehabilitation, now what? As Orlando injury lawyers, we have been asked more times than we can remember, How can I determine the value of my injury claim? Whether you were involved in a car accident, a fall or medical malpractice, there will come a time to evaluate the value of your injury claim.
Injury victims who have no lawyer and who have completed treatment will be dealing with a professional insurance adjuster when discussing the value of their injury claim. To be adequately compensated for what you've gone through you should gather all of your medical bills, your lost wages and all other out of pocket expenses during your rehabilitation and recovery.
When considering the value of an injury claim these "special damages" are important. While the pain and suffering and other non-economic losses can be substantial these quantifiable or "hard" losses are easy for the insurance company to quantify. These totals often will have a direct bearing on what an insurance company will pay.
In addition, while you may have been injured, how the injury occurred is important to the value of your claim. For example, if the liability for the accident is debatable, for example, both drivers claim to have the green light and there are no witnesses, this will directly bear on the value an insurance company will place on a claim.
So, the liability picture and the hard damages suffered will help determine the value of an injury claim. Other factors include the type of injury, the permanency of the injury, whether your earning capacity has been impacted and the impact of the injury on the quality of life. In sum, there is no exact formula, although some insurers attempt to follow guidelines that may minimize a victim's loss.
