For a car accident, there is no such thing as an average settlement, but it should at the very least cover the medical and repair costs you incurred due to the incident. The exact number varies from one individual to the next and from one circumstance to the next. A percentage of your damages may be limited in some areas, depending on how negligent you were. For this reason, it's a good idea to speak with an attorney who can assess your damages and give you an idea of what you're likely to recover in a car accident lawsuit.
Only property damage only (PDO) automobile accidents cost an average of $3,862 per incident, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). As far as expenditures go, that's only the beginning of what you may expect.
You Might Be Entitled To Compensation
Following an automobile accident, you may be eligible to receive financial and non-financial compensation, such as:
- Visits to the doctor
- Stays at a hospital
- Prescriptions
- Surgeries
- Expenses associated with getting there
- Lost earnings
- Earning potential has been reduced.
- Suffering and agony
- The anguish of the mind
- Damage to a person's property
- The cost of a funeral and burial (in cases of wrongful death)
A vehicle accident lawyer can help you determine how much compensation you're due depending on the damages you've suffered. It is possible that a judge or jury will award you punitive damages if your case does not settle out of court and the irresponsible party is found to be responsible.
Several Factors Affecting Your Recovery Amount
A number of circumstances, including negligence laws and the numerous statutes of limitations, might affect any individual case, but these are just a few examples.
Negligence laws
While each state's negligence legislation is unique, the following are the three most common options:
If you are found to have contributed to the accident that resulted in your injuries, you may not be able to receive compensation from any other person that may have been responsible. Pure comparative negligence: If you were 99 per cent at fault, you can still receive compensation under this theory. Modified comparative negligence allows you to collect damages even if your responsibility in the accident was greater than the other driver's.
In general, the smaller your settlement, the greater your degree of culpability. Even if you were the only cause of the accident, you might still be entitled to compensation for your losses. Remember that you have the choice of disputing your degree of carelessness. For an instance, if the insurance adjuster said that you were largely to blame for the accident because you had eaten just before it occurred, you may submit evidence to counter that assertion.
Restrictions on time limits
The statute of limitations imposes a time limit on the filing of a claim for compensation in each jurisdiction. In general, statutes are in place to account for the destruction of evidence over time and the fading of witnesses' memories of the event in question. To get a fair settlement, you must file your claim within the time period imposed by the court. Regardless of whether you have until the deadline to submit a claim, you should speak with a personal injury lawyer about your options.
Giving Liability to Others
You must be able to place blame on the other motorist in order to get compensation. In order to establish the other party's culpability in a personal injury lawsuit, you must often demonstrate the following elements:
To you, the defendant had a responsibility: Their duty was to take reasonable measures to avoid injuring others.
Defendant violated the duty of care by neglecting to cede the right-of-way or driving too fast for the conditions.
The incident was brought on by the breach: The collision and your injuries were directly caused by their reckless or careless behaviour.
You lost money in the process: You must prove that the mishap caused you to lose money
Using the following examples, you may demonstrate the opposing party's carelessness in your case. Proof of carelessness, even if it appears straightforward, can be difficult to come by and requires copious amounts of documentation, such as police reports, images and videos, and testimonies from eyewitnesses. It's possible that you'll need to hire an accident reconstructionist. Your process can be aided by a car accident attorney.
