Personal Injury Case Value: How Is It Decided?
For anyone injured in a motor vehicle accident, slip and fall incident, or other scenario due to someone else’s negligence, your personal injury case value is crucial. Yet it is often hard to understand. If you have suffered injuries requiring expensive medical treatment and missed work, it’s natural to wonder how much you can expect to receive for your personal injury claim. A majority of people filing personal injury claims are doing so for the first time. Therefore, you may have no idea what to expect during settlement negotiations. How the insurer for the party that injured you, or a jury, may value your case is unknown.
Most cases resolve by settlement, so understanding how the insurer for the party that injured you views your case is vital. This helps you anticipate settlement offers before the case proceeds too far. The process is less mysterious than most people think. Driven by data, insurers will consider several relevant factors when evaluating a personal injury case. These factors include where the incident took place, the injuries sustained, the scenario leading to the injuries, and who represents the injured party. This is where having an experienced personal injury attorney can increase the value of your claim.
Your Injuries and Evidence of Negligence
Insurers use data to decide everything from charging premiums and determining payouts for personal injury claims. They have information from countless claims to help them evaluate your personal injury case value. For example, if you fractured your ankle on a set of stairs at a restaurant in a large city where juries are favorable to injury victims, this can increase your claim’s value compared to a similar injury in a rural area where jurors award less money. If the restaurant had failed to fix a broken stair despite injuries by previous patrons, this would also increase your personal injury case value.
Conversely, if you were intoxicated and fell down the same stairs, the insurer would view your case value differently. The same applies if your injuries were less severe, such as a few bruises. That claim could be worth less than someone suffering from a fractured ankle.
The Insurer’s View of Your Attorney
Your personal injury case value also depends on the insurer’s assessment of your attorney. Insurers have data on how various claims have resolved, including those involving your attorney. If your attorneys have achieved excellent results in the past against a particular insurer, then the insurer may place a higher value on your case. Conversely, if your attorney is inexperienced, the value may be lower.
Contact Schwed, Adams & McGinley
At Schwed, Adams, & McGinley, P.A., our experienced Florida personal injury attorneys have over 200 years of combined practice and have represented more than 15,000 satisfied clients. We have handled cases involving virtually every insurer in Florida and know how each approaches cases. We leverage this knowledge to recover maximum compensation for our clients. If you, a family member, or a loved one has been injured due to someone else’s negligence, contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at Schwed, Adams & McGinley, P.A. today at 877-694-6079 or contact@schwedlawfirm.com for a free consultation.