Understanding Some Of The Considerations Behind Auto Accident Settlement Amounts

If you were injured badly in a car accident, then it may only be right to seek out compensation for the injuries. Car accident claims will rarely go to court and will instead be settled. While jury trials are likely to only last a few days at most, it can take many months for your trial to be scheduled and there are often delays. If you want things to conclude in a timely manner, then settling is the best course of action. However, you may be confused about how much money you will actually receive. There are a number of factors that go into determining this. Keep reading to learn about a few.

Actual Costs

First and foremost, your actual costs are considered. The largest of these are typically medical costs and property damage. Medical costs can include both your out of pocket expenses as well as the money paid out to your insurance company. However, you should keep in mind that any costs you recoup for medical treatments that you did not directly pay must be given to your health insurance company so they can recoup some of their losses. 

Property damage costs are typically associated with automobile damage and the costs of repairs or for the money you spent to obtain a new vehicle. Lost wages may also be figures into the real costs or economic damages if you had to miss work to 

Actual costs may include your costs to retain an attorney. However, many attorney fees are taken directly out of settlements, so you cannot sue for costs that you have not accrued through the hiring of an attorney. Basically, you cannot ask for a large settlement simply because you signed an agreement to allow your lawyer to take a portion of the money. 

Actual costs may include future costs as well like future medical bills and future lost wages. While these expenses do fall into the same category as things like medical bills and vehicle damage, you will need to come up with an estimate of the costs, since they have not occurred yet. Your lawyer can help you with this based on some of your current medical bills and information provided by your physician about possible future treatments like surgeries.

Non-Economic Damages

Along with your actual costs, settlements will often include non-economic damages. This includes pain and suffering. While it is hard to determine a specific monetary value for pain and suffering, the severity of your injuries and the possibility of lifelong pain are two things that are taken into consideration. 

Stress may also be used as a factor when deciding on settlement values and so are things like mental anguish and PTSD. When coming up with settlement amounts, both your attorney and the insurance company will use things like past cases and average costs to come up with determinations. Keep in mind that you can argue that your mental pain and other non-economic damages are worth more than what the insurance company is willing to pay, especially since the costs are not concrete. For more information, contact companies like Katz Nowinski PC.