How Much is Your Case Worth?
Evaluating personal injury claims is a tricky business. In the past six years my firm, CapTran, has underwritten 10,000 requests for pre-settlement advances by plaintiffs. We have never had anyone tell us that their case was not a "slam dunk" or that they were not going to get a grand settlement. We are always told the guarnatee firm is going to settle fast because their case and/or attorney are so good.
How Much is Your Case Worth?
How Much is Your Case Worth?
How Much is Your Case Worth?
How Much is Your Case Worth?
Our sense tells us - baloney!
Unrealistic expectations in personal injury law are a method for obvious disappointment. Rarely do even slam-dunk cases get settled fast for large amounts. Quite the opposite, slam-dunk cases ordinarily involve serious injuries that need a long time to treat. Settlements are rarely reached prior to the victim achieving maximum medical improvement.
Hubris aside, everyone wants to know the real value of their case. Unfortunately, accident victims are often beset with self-appointed experts replete with stories and anecdotal evidence of huge jury awards. They know someone who knows someone who got a huge village for a back strain or "whiplash". These influences do nothing but confuse the issue and most of the time has nothing to do with reality.
The truth is that, with the exception of the horrific paralyzing or disfiguring injury, most accident damage awards fall within a very predictable range. The National transportation security Board reports that 3 million people are injured in motor car accidents each year and guarnatee clubs pay out nearly Billion in bodily injury claims annually. The guarnatee investigate Council conducts a survey of auto claims every five years. The survey's participant's list for about two out of every three claims paid in the United States. In short, there is an grand number of data available to guarnatee clubs concerning every conceivable type of injury and the number paid to settle the claim.
Facts to consider
1. The midpoint number paid for a bodily injury claim is less than ,000.
2. The number paid varies widely by state.
3. Insurance clubs are very wary of chiropractic treatment, especially if it is the only treatment.
4. Insurance clubs are very wary of excessive corporeal therapy treatment.
If your attorney is experienced in personal injury cases he or she will know the range of values and the claiming behavior of guarnatee adjusters in your area. Our sense is that attorneys are prone to overestimate the value of your case rather than underestimate it. We urge you to listen to your attorney's advice concerning claim value because it is unlikely that they will overestimate its worth. If you attorney is not experienced in Pi cases - well, get other attorney.
That having been said, we offer the following thoughts that come from our experience. We have limited our comments to the most coarse type of case - motor car accidents.
Factors to Consider
There are a great many factors that impact on the inherent value of you claim. In order to settle either (and how much) to invest in your case, CapTran® uses these factors or case attributes, to reckon the value of a case. In normal we look at the following case attributes:
1. The event
2. Liability
3. Ability to pay
4. Damages
5. "Quality" of the Defendant
6. "Quality" of the Plaintiff - you!
1. The Event
What of course happened? Not what you think happened, or even what you know happened but rather, what can be verified or proven.
o If the police did not arrive at the scene it will be more difficult for you to prove anything.
o If you received a label you will have a difficult time collecting full value for your case (in contributory negligence states you may secure nothing!)
o If the defendant received a ticket, his or her guarnatee carrier is more likely to easily admit liability.
o If the accident happened in a manner that is of course not your fault and/or demonstrates recklessness on the part of the defendant, the guarnatee carrier is more likely to endeavor to settle.
o Where there witnesses unrelated to you and not in your car present? If so, defendant's guarnatee carrier is more likely to easily admit liability.
o Did the other driver admit liability at the scene? If so, defendant's guarnatee carrier is more likely to easily admit liability.
o Did you take pictures of the car at the scene or later?
o Was your car inspiring or stopped? If lawfully stopped it is extremely unlikely that you will be deemed to have contributed to the accident and the defendant's guarnatee carrier is more likely to admit liability.
2. Liability
The certainty of liability or the availability of a defense will impact the level of enthusiasm the guarnatee carrier has to settle your case. If there appears to be a valid defense available, even if not perfect, the value of a village offer will suffer. If the injuries are minor, the only thing the guarnatee firm has to lose is the Charge of trying the case.
3. Ability to Pay
Regardless of your damages, someone has to have the potential to pay in order for you to collect. The availability of guarnatee or a financially strong defendant is needful to the potential to accomplish financial redress for your injuries.
Amount of guarnatee coverage. guarnatee policies have limits on the number they will pay per accident victim as well as per accident. If you are one of some people injured in an accident you will have to share the coverage with the other claimants. For example, if a policy has a "per accident" cap of 0,000 and five people are injured each with a claim worth of ,000 (for a total of 0,000) there will not be adequate to cover all claims.
Self Insurance. Many large clubs self-insure meaning that instead of paying premises to an guarnatee company, they set aside obvious monies each year to invent an guarnatee sustain to handle future claims. Many times the firm will of course have its own so-called captive guarnatee company.
4. Damages
Severity of impact. This is coarse sense. If your car has a sustained limited damage the guarnatee adjuster will know that a jury is likely to conclude that no one could have been seriously injured in such a "fender bender". On the other hand, they will not want to go up against an attorney that can hold up a photograph of your severely demolished car telling the jury "why, my client is lucky to be alive!"
When you received treatment. If you went to the accident in an ambulance that is better than if you went to the accident room two days later (especially if you went to your attorney first).
Soft tissue injuries versus broken bones. Most minor accidents involve what used to be called "whiplash" but are now referred to as cervical strain or sprain. A broken bone is easy to prove and easy for juries to understand. With soft tissue injuries, it is difficult for juries to isolate good claims from fraudulent ones. guarnatee adjusters know that juries will not award large amounts for soft tissue injuries.
If you have a broken bone, especially if it is a weight-bearing bone, you have an injury that can be verified by indisputable evidence such as x-rays.
Amount of your medical bills. While "meds" are a very needful (often the most significant) factor in determining case value, there is no simple method to use in determining case value. Forget the junk about "3 times meds" or "3 times specials". guarnatee investigate Council survey data reveals that bodily injury claims cannot be estimated in such a simple fashion. Values vary widely from state to state and the type of meds is very important. Some rules of thumb are:
1. "Treating" expenses carry more weight with guarnatee adjusters than diagnostic expenses. It matters limited that you decided to have an costly Mri or Cat Scan.
2. Chiropractic expenses are severely discounted by guarnatee adjusters (and ignored by us).
3. Excessive visits to the corporeal therapist are not only discounted by adjusters but along with chiropractic bills also raise a red flag for what is called "build-up".
Medical providers that treated you. guarnatee adjusters look for treatment by medical specialists that indicate clear-cut injuries linked with vehicular impact. If you are only treated by the Er doctor and maybe your house doctor it will not carry as much weight as if you were treated by an Orthopedic Surgeon or a Neurologist.
Documentation of your injury. Failure to go for medical treatment, or large gaps of time in the middle of treatments, are red flags for guarnatee adjusters. Inadequate documentation will not pass muster with guarnatee adjusters.
5. potential of the Defendant
Appearance matters in court. Every adjuster knows that a sympathetic defendant is less likely to suffer large verdicts. The inverse is, of course, true as well. The kind of evidence, especially prior acts that can be presented in court varies from state to state but defendants must be wary that adverse evidence concerning the plaintiff will see its way into the jury room.
6. potential of Plaintiff - You!
We have had some good cases lost because the jury plainly didn't like the plaintiff. If you appear too strident or are overly aggressive, combatant or belligerent, a jury will find a way to punish you for your behavior.
If you have had some minor accidents a jury may conclude that you are a scam artist.
Above all else, try to be realistic in your evaluation of your claim. The object of the tort theory is to compensate you for your damages not to unreasonably enrich you. Be sensible and cheap and you will enhance your chances for a flourishing outcome. Good luck!
This description is intended for facts only and should not be construed as legal advice. You should consult your own attorney for legal advice.
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