How Much Is My Personal Injury Case Worth?
After someone else causes you harm and you rack up medical bills and lost wages, it’s understandable to wonder how much your personal injury case is worth. Every case is different, so we can’t say how much yours will be worth without first reviewing the details with you. However, there are several factors that can help you estimate the value of your personal injury case.
Factors Contributing to Personal Injury Case Value
Three of the major factors that affect how much compensation you could obtain for your personal injury case are the severity of your injuries, the length of time you suffer from the consequences of those injuries, and the at-fault party’s insurance policy limits.
Severity of Injuries
Generally, the more severe your injuries are, the more your case is worth. This is because more severe injuries often require more extensive and expensive medical treatment, cause you to remain out of work longer, and involve additional pain and suffering.
It’s essential that you seek prompt medical treatment for your injuries so your doctor can assess your condition and make detailed notes about it in your medical records. Your medical records will be crucial for establishing the severity of your injuries.
Long-Term Disability
Some injuries result in long-term disability that disrupts your ability to work and your daily life. The longer your injuries impact your life, the more your case is typically worth. However, calculating this value can be challenging without the assistance of an experienced personal injury lawyer who has handled many similar cases.
Insurance Policy Limits
The at-fault party’s insurance policy limits could cap the compensation you can recover.
In many personal injury cases, the compensation you receive comes from an insurance company, not the party that caused your injuries. This could be through the at-fault party’s auto, homeowners, renters, or business insurance. However, these insurance policies have limits beyond which they will not pay out.
If your losses are greater than the insurance policy limits, you can seek compensation from the at-fault party directly. But if they have limited assets, recovering the full compensation you need may still be difficult.
Compensation Available for Personal Injury Victims
Through your personal injury lawsuit, you could recover compensation for various losses, which are the consequences of your injury. These losses include:
- Medical Expenses: The costs associated with your past and future medical treatment
- Lost Wages: The income you lost or will lose because of your injury’s impact on your ability to work
- Pain and Suffering: The physical pain you experience because of your injuries
- Emotional Distress: Anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other psychological injuries caused by the incident
- Permanent Disability: The extent to which your injuries leave you permanently disabled and how that disability affects your life
Modified Comparative Fault in PA
If you were partly at fault for the incident that caused your injuries, the courts could reduce your awarded compensation by a percentage equal to your degree of assigned fault. If the jury finds you to be 30 percent at fault, you would only recover 70 percent of your awarded compensation.
Additionally, Pennsylvania’s version of comparative fault prevents anyone who is more than 50 percent at fault for their injuries from recovering any compensation. This makes it important to work with a skilled lawyer who can protect your rights.
Contact Our Pennsylvania Personal Injury Lawyers Today
Did someone else cause your injuries in Pennsylvania? Contact Stine & Associates, P.C., for a free consultation with an experienced and dedicated personal injury lawyer. We’re committed to maximizing your compensation by building a strong case and playing hardball with the insurance company during settlement negotiations. And if the insurer refuses to make a fair offer, we’ll always be prepared to take your case to trial to seek the compensation you need.