What Is My Injury Claim Worth?
What Is My Injury Claim Worth?
What is my injury claim worth? This is a question that clients often ask when I first meet
with them. The fact is that not one personal injury claim is like the other. Each person’s claim is different, primarily because every individual is different. Injuries effect different people in different ways. What is a claim worth? Well depends on several factors. First, how severe is your injury? Injuries such as sprains and strains tend to not to have as high value as fractures and spinal cord damage. Also permanent injuries (disfigurement, traumatic brain injury) will have a higher dollar value. Another factor is how have the injuries effected your daily life? Aside from the pain and suffering, how has the accident diminished your enjoyment of life? Are you not able to do activities to the same degree as you did prior to the accident. For example did you golf weekly but since the accident your back injury prevents you from playing as much.
The third factor is the nature and length of your treatment and care. Cases where clients undergo short term physical therapy or chiropractic treatment will not be as high valued as say a case where the client needs some surgical intervention. The other factor is who is at fault in the accident. Arizona for example is known as pure comparative negligence state. This means that your injury claim’s value depends on if you are at fault and what portion of the fault is on you. In Arizona if you are found to be 50% responsible for the accident, then you can only collect 50% of your damages from the other party.