How to Determin the Personal Injury Claim Value

Before getting into details you should know that establishing a personal injury claim value is not an exact science and that outcomes may vary from case to case depending on a multitude of factors, with human nature being one of the most important.

In law terms, a personal injury claim settlement falls into the category of “general damages” for pain, suffering and loss of amenity, also known as PSLA. Many times, when settling personal injury pain and suffering cases, the final decision is taken by the court in concordance with other earlier cases which were of similar nature.

Here are some of the most common references that will be taken into consideration by the court when establishing any personal injury compensation value:

1. Liability: It’s very important to know who was at fault for the incident that led to the injuries. For example, in the vast majority of car accidents, there is a clear and unambiguous culprit which will have to answer for his or her deeds. In case of an accident with questionable liabilities it’s very difficult if not impossible for anybody to succeed in obtaining any settlement value.

2. Injury Type: In case that you sustained severe injuries it is highly advisable to look for a good lawyer who can help you get a fair amount for your claims. However, if there are only minor injuries as a result of the accident (whiplash, bruise, strains, bump etc.) you can handle the claim by yourself.

3. Your age: Usually, the younger you are, the more you stand to receive as a compensation payment. The best settlement results are obtained by persons under the age of 12 due to their obvious innocence and by persons over 60 years of age who can benefit from a greater sympathy from the court members.

4. Your gender: In normal situations, personal injury claim values are the same for both men and women. However there could be exceptions from this rule, like for example in the case of visible scars caused by the accident. In this case, it would be considered that a woman would endure more hardships than a man from visible scarring and therefore she would be awarded a greater amount.

5. What kind of person you are: Here you have to be totally honest with yourself and see if your past could be a potential drag for obtaining a good settlement amount. If you have a history of law problems, a criminal record or if you were in prison for a while, then you’re more likely to get a smaller amount than a average person who did not have any brushes with the law in the past.

6. What kind of person the culprit is: If the person who caused the accident is known to have has issues with the law in the past and is common visitor of the court house, then you stand to earn more from a potential settlement. However, if he’s known to be spotless and on top of that he’s one of the community’s most notable philanthropies, then your case is not so solid anymore.

7. Damage types: When establishing your personal injury claim value, you should take into account the several damage types that you can invoke in court: medical special damage (cost of ambulance, x-rays, diagnostics, emergency room, drugs, therapy, etc.), non medical special damage (lost wages and profits, child care costs during disability, lost vacation days, etc.) and/or property damage (car repair costs, damaged clothing, real-estate devaluation etc.). Depending on the nature of the accident, there can be only one of them, several, or all three.

In case of any lost wages it is important for you to know that this is one area that could have a great impact on your final personal injury claim value. This is mostly because it’s one of the situations that you have the most control over. For example, you can earn a great deal more if you were doing commissions and overtime work. Here, a letter from your employer stating the amount of your overtime hours would weigh heavily in your favor during the personal injury lawsuit.

You should also know that you are entitled to monetary competitions for your lost wages even if you have no actual loss of income! It can be that your company pays you the normal wage during recovery or that you take some sick days, thus you would be getting your normal wage. Regardless of that, the court could decide that you’d get compensation for lost time and earnings.

If, following the accident you can no longer work in the same environment and you are forced to get a lesser paid job or to work half time at your previous rate, you should know that you are entitled to compensatory amounts but make sure that your employer documents all the changes that take place.

It is important to remember to always correctly record and present all of your costs caused by the accident, all of your lost wages and earnings because they could all greatly increase your personal injury claim value in the end.