One of the most common questions our Tampa personal injury lawyers answer is, “How much is my personal injury case worth?” We understand that you might be concerned about your future and how to provide for your family after a tragic accident.
So, we want to ensure that we give you an accurate, complete answer to help you understand the personal injury process.
How Do Our Tampa Personal Injury Attorneys Help You Receive Maximum Value for Your Claim?
Our legal team invests the time and resources to investigate your claim to determine how much your claim is worth. Doing so maximizes the chance of recovering the best possible settlement for your claim.
Conducting an independent investigation and taking the time to work on your case allows us to:
- Identify all parties who are liable for your damages to increase the amount of money available to pay your claim
- Gather evidence to build a solid case proving causation and fault
- Carefully document the extent of your injuries, your financial losses, and other damages
- Work with medical professionals and financial experts to assign correct values for damages
- Negotiate with the insurance company for a fair settlement amount based on the facts of your case
Each personal injury case is unique. Ultimately, we must base the value of your case on the relevant facts and circumstances.
What Factors Impact How Much a Personal Injury Claim Is Worth?
Accident victims have the burden of proving the other party caused their injury for that party to be liable for damages. Therefore, the strength of your evidence proving fault is a significant factor that could impact how much your case is worth. Conversely, if your evidence is weak, the insurance company is less likely to offer a high settlement amount.
Other factors that impact the value of a personal injury claim include:
- The type of injuries sustained
- The severity of the injuries, including whether you sustained a permanent impairment or disability
- The duration of your recovery
- Whether you can return to work
- How the injury impacts your daily activities
- Your appearance before and after the accident or injury
- Whether you require future medical, nursing, or personal care
- The cost of your medical treatment and care
- Your percentage of fault for causing your injury
- Can you still enjoy the same activities as you did before the injury?
- Have you been diagnosed with PTSD, depression, or other psychological disorders or conditions?
We focus on maximizing the factors that increase the value of your claim while minimizing factors that could decrease how much money you receive. Typically, cases involving catastrophic injuries are worth more than cases involving minor injuries.
For example, a case involving paralysis because of a spinal cord injury is probably worth more than a case involving a broken arm. Paralysis is a devastating injury that impacts all areas of a person’s life forever. However, a broken arm that heals after a couple of months does not impact the rest of the person’s life.
Furthermore, the cost to treat catastrophic injuries and the recovery period is typically longer. Therefore, the expenses and financial losses are greater in those cases.
What Damages Can I Receive for a Personal Injury Claim?
An injured party can receive compensatory damages for their monetary losses, pain, and suffering. In some cases, a victim might also receive punitive damages.
Economic Damages for a Personal Injury Claim
Most injured parties are entitled to receive reimbursements for their monetary losses. Economic damages include:
- Medical bills and expenses
- Lost income and benefits
- Assistance with household tasks and personal care
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Rehabilitation and physical therapy
You might also be entitled to future damages if you sustained a permanent injury. Future damages can include long-term care, ongoing medical treatments, and diminished earning capacity.
Determining future damages can be challenging. Our personal injury lawyers might hire one or more experts to value future damages. They could include:
- Medical specialists
- Economists
- Financial professionals
- Vocational experts
- In-home care planners
These experts can also assist in determining the cost of non-economic damages. Economic damages are based on actual financial losses. However, non-economic damages are less tangible and difficult to value.
Non-Economic Damages for a Personal Injury Claim
An accident victim experiences pain and suffering because of the accident and injuries. They are entitled to compensation for non-economic damages. These types of damages include:
- Physical discomfort and agony
- Mental anguish and trauma
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Emotional distress
- Disability and impairment
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Diminished quality of life
A common way to calculate the value of pain and suffering is the multiplier method. A number between 1.5 and five is multiplied by the total economic damages. The result is the value of non-economic damages.
Insurance companies try to assign the lowest multiplier to the case to keep the value of the claim low. However, we can analyze the same factors listed above to help us determine the extent of your pain and suffering damages.
Punitive Damages for a Personal Injury Claim
Most damages you receive for an injury claim compensate you for losses you incurred because of the other party’s actions. However, a jury might award punitive damages to punish a defendant for intentional misconduct or gross negligence.
Even though the jury awards the damages to punish the defendant, you still receive the money. Punitive damages are only awarded in a small number of personal injury cases. However, our legal team evaluates each case to determine whether punitive damages are justified.
Can I Receive Compensation if I Am Partially To Blame for an Accident?
Florida does not bar accident victims from receiving compensation if they are partially at fault for causing their injuries. However, the state’s comparative fault law reduces how much the victim receives for damages.
Suppose a jury finds that your actions contributed to the cause of the car accident by 20 percent. The jurors award you $500,000 for damages.
Because you were 20% at fault, the court reduces the amount of the jury award by your percentage of fault. In other words, instead of receiving $500,000, you would receive $400,000 (the total award less 20%).
Schedule a Free Consultation With Our Tampa Personal Injury Lawyers
Our lawyers at Winters & Yonker Personal Injury Lawyers diligently pursue all claims to maximize the amount of money you receive for a personal injury claim.
Contact or call our law firm to schedule your free consultation with an experienced Tampa personal injury attorney at (813) 223-6200. We accept cases on a contingency fee, so you pay no attorneys’ fees until we recover money for your case.
