What Factors Impact a Personal Injury Claim’s Value?

Nobody expects to slip and fall on a patch of ice or get t-boned by a tractor trailer at a busy intersection – but life happens. And when life does happen, you have choices in how you respond. 

What’s Your Case Worth?

Every injury situation is different, but it’s never convenient to end up in a hospital bed. In addition to causing pain and discomfort, an injury can impact your ability to work, earn income, care for your family, and enjoy life. Medical care is expensive, and bills can pile up. But you don’t have to face recovery alone. In fact, you may be able to file a personal injury claim and recoup some money to ease the friction and provide relief.

Just as every injury is unique, no two personal injury cases are the same. There are dozens of variables that come into play, and each one can have a significant impact on the value or dollar amount of your claim.

According to RapidSolicitors.com, some of the different variables include loss of income, cost of repairs to property (such as a vehicle), physical and emotional pain and suffering, loss of amenity of life, past and future medical expenses, and any other reasonable losses and expenses.

Medical bills are obviously one of the chief concerns. Any costs that are incurred as a result of the injury will be evaluated for compensation. Damages to physical property, such as a vehicle, can be estimated fairly quickly. Lost wages are also pretty easy to quantify by reviewing pay stubs and calculating the days missed from work. But it’s the less concrete elements that are the hardest to pinpoint. 

For example, how can a couple of people wearing suits in a boardroom calculate how much a person’s pain and suffering is worth? People experience all different types of pain and the psychological and emotional impact can vary dramatically from one individual to the next. And what about the loss of future mobility? How can you attach a dollar sign to this sort of situation?

The answer is, you can’t. But personal injury lawyers and the court system have come up with a method that’s as fair as possible. It involves the use of a “multiplier.”

A multiplier is simply a number that’s calculated based on how much a person was believed to suffer as a result of the injury. You add up all economic damages and then use the multiplier to increase the claim’s value in proportion to the pain.

Generally speaking, the multiplier ranges from 1 (in cases with mild injuries) all the way up to 5 (in cases with severe or permanent injuries). The average multiplier is somewhere around 1.5, though numerous factors influence this number.

Certain factors tend to indicate the likelihood of a higher multiplier. These include hard injuries (broken bones, nerve damage, etc.), extensive medical bills, ongoing medical treatment, prescribed medication, long-term injuries, permanent disabilities, daily life disruptions, and significant emotional distress. In personal injury cases where multiple of these factors are involved, you can expect the multiplier to be on the higher end.

In injury cases where there’s soft tissue injuries, medical treatment from non-M.D. providers, no medication, short recovery time frame, and no emotional problems or psychological distress, the multiplier will be on the lower end of the spectrum.

Get Ahead of the Situation

While you can make guesses about what your claim will be worth, the truth is that you really don’t know. With so many situational factors and circumstantial evidence involved, it’s not easy to predict or pinpoint value. And that’s why you need a lawyer.

A personal injury lawyer has extensive experience working with clients who have been involved in a wide variety of situations – from car accidents to construction site incidents – and can help you maximize the value of your claim. 

It’s important that you hire a lawyer as soon as possible. Your legal team will help you pursue the right type of medical care, properly organize documentation and evidence, and deal with insurance companies in a manner that protects your rights and best interests. This isn’t a situation that you can afford to handle on your own.