Personal injury claims are serious legal processes. They are often the result of severe bodily damage to another individual. In these situations, the plaintiff suffered injuries and the defendant must cover the cost of the damages if they are determined to be at fault.
Most personal injury claims are a consequence of car accidents. However, they can come from other scenarios.
When the parties cannot agree on compensation, the case can turn into a car accident lawsuit or a personal injury suit. As such, it is beneficial to have a reliable Tennessee personal injury lawyer who can help negotiate and fight for the best reimbursement.
A personal injury case often ends up compensating about $44,000. This is typical for the average car accident settlement, as well as other injury suits. The exact amount for a case depends on the unique situation and how much damage the plaintiff incurred.
Some common injuries that lead to these claims include:
Spinal cord injuries
Neck injury
Whiplash injury
Victims can file a claim for other bodily damages too. A claim is not limited to these situations. Depending on the severity of each, an injured person can earn more from a settlement.
Continue reading to learn about how insurance companies and legal teams calculate personal injury settlement amounts and what factors can lower the expected value.
What Values to Include in a Personal Injury Claim
When involved in personal injury cases, victims opt for their insurance company to cover the expenses, as many claims can total tens of thousands of dollars.
Several kinds of expenses contribute to a personal injury claim, including the following:
Economic Damages
Economic damages enclose any destruction that has a direct value to be compensated. Such expenses include:
Medical expenses
Lost income
Property damages
Medical Bills
This expenditure includes any medical expenses related to the case. Medical treatment, prescriptions, physical therapy, and testing fees can all be covered by the settlement. What's more, all future medical expenses that coincide with the accident would be a part of the average settlement amount.
Lost Wages
A car crash or any accident leading to personal injury claims can often involve taking off time from work for recovery. As such, the at-fault party is responsible for incorporating lost income in the settlement process, as it directly correlated with the case. This should also cover losses from future earning capacity.
Property Damage - Such as a Car Accident
Finally, some personal injuries involve property damage. Since a motor vehicle accident often leads to this type of claim, there is typically some level of destruction to property that must be compensated.
Non-Economic Damages
Costs for non-economic damages would include any expenses that cannot easily be compensated because they are not associated with a tangible value. These costs include:
Pain and suffering
Emotional distress
Pain and Suffering Damages
A fair settlement can incorporate compensation for physical pain and suffering. However, it is challenging for victims to prove the injury caused intense distress, and they must provide clear and convincing evidence of this. Juries, judges, and insurance companies rely on several factors to determine the legitimacy of this claim.
Emotional Distress
Outside of physical pain and suffering, a personal injury can cause mental anguish. A settlement offer can include compensation for this since there is no other way to alleviate this disturbance.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are not part of economic or non-economic damages, as they are not typically associated with victims' personal injury cases. These expenses are meant to punish the defendant, and therefore, the victim must offer sufficient evidence the defendant acted recklessly or fraudulently.
The average settlement amount in Tennessee does not include punitive damages because they are so rare. However, they become necessary to include when a defendant acts unreasonably or unlawfully.
Factors that Can Lower the Settlement Amount
Accident victims should receive fair compensation if they acquired serious injuries. However, there are some instances in which the compensatory damages could be lower than expected.
The following factors could affect the final amount of a personal injury settlement offer:
Tennessee Law for Caps on Damages
Tennessee legislators have issued statutory caps on non-economic damages and punitive damages. Non-economic damages have a maximum amount of $750,000 but increase to $1 million for more severe injuries, such as limb amputation, severe burns, paralysis from a spinal injury, or wrongful death.
Punitive damages can total no more than $500,000 or twice the amount of economic damages in the case.
Comparative Fault
Tennessee is a state that relies on comparative negligence. This is the requirement that both the plaintiff and the defendant could be responsible for the accident and should pay the amount for which they are responsible.
If a jury concludes that the plaintiff is 30 percent responsible for the accident, they should receive only 70 percent of the settlement offer. Plaintiffs found to be more than 50 percent responsible would receive no compensation.
How to Calculate the Average Settlement
There is no way to determine the exact settlement amount of a personal injury case, but there is a formula that people can complete to find an estimate. Working with an experienced attorney can help identify a more accurate cost.
First, identify the baseline expenses, including property damages and any other medical bills. Then, multiply this total amount by any number between one and five. This number determines the severity of the accident.
Finally, add the expected lost income to the product. This sum can help plaintiffs and defendants alike know what to expect in the settlement offer relative to their situation.
Contact Us for a Tennessee Personal Injury Case
A personal injury claim is often a serious situation. Victims should not go into negotiating without the guidance of a seasoned attorney. Shunnarah Trial Attorneys can also advise on the personal injury statute of limitations Tennessee.
An experienced personal injury attorney can help determine expected settlement amounts and provide expert knowledge on the probability of winning the case.
Additionally, attorneys can help victims build their cases, aiding in gathering the best forms of evidence to get the fairest amount for compensation.
Trust the legal team at Shunnarah Trial Attorneys for dependable support. We go to war for you!