Working with a skilled personal injury lawyer who can provide you advice on whether an offer is reasonable is frequently beneficial. It’s preferable to decline such an offer unless you’re certain that the money would be used to pay for your medical bills, missed earnings, and other costs.
When selecting whether or not to settle your claim, you should take into account a number of criteria. This is a significant choice that might have a long-term effect on your family. It’s advised to understand several factors including personal injury mediation settlement amounts. There are six things to think about before approving a settlement offer.
Have You Sought Counsel?
Many accident victims attempt to handle their insurance companies on their own. You are able to do this, and you might even be compensated. However, you have a lower chance of getting a settlement or receiving the same amount of compensation as accident victims who have legal counsel.
In fact, Nolo recently polled personal injury claimants and discovered that although 91 percent won compensation with a lawyer, just 51% did so without one.
Have You Recovered Your Fullest Potential?
Compensation for medical expenditures, including any future treatment you may require, is a significant component of any settlement. If you aren’t certain that you have covered all of your medical costs, you shouldn’t settle a claim.
You might not have all the facts you need if you haven’t totally or as completely as possible healed from your injuries. Do you anticipate years of medical appointments, prescribed drugs, or physical therapy? You won’t be certain of how much your prior medical treatments cost or how much future medical care you’ll require until you’ve recovered to your fullest extent.
How Much Is Your Suffering and Pain Worth?
Non-economic losses like your pain and suffering, emotional anguish, and decreased quality of life should also be covered by the settlement. Your non-economic losses are especially significant if you had a difficult healing process or if you had a lasting impairment or deformity.
It can be difficult to convert non-economic damages into monetary value, though. A personal injury attorney will have prior knowledge on how to achieve this. They will examine the outcomes of comparable instances and take into account some basic criteria for calculating your non-economic damages.
Do You Have a Lawsuit Filed?
Not all personal injury cases need to be litigated. However, bringing a lawsuit often enables you to seek the highest possible settlement.
First, being prepared to go to court demonstrates to an insurance provider that you won’t back down from a confrontation. Second, during the discovery process, you learn additional details about what occurred and why. Your case against the other party may be strengthened by this.
According to Nolo, injured victims who were prepared to initiate a lawsuit generally obtained larger compensation. Injury victims who brought or threatened to bring a lawsuit earned an average of $45,500, while those who took no action received an average of $23,000.
Have You Tried to Bargain?
Depending on how well you’ve negotiated the present offer, you could decide to settle or not. If you’ve haggled with an insurance provider to arrive at the present sum, you could think it’s adequate. But if it’s a first-time offer, consider it carefully before saying yes.
An insurance company’s early settlement offers are often modest. Nolo examined this problem as well. The average payout for accident victims who took the first offer was $11,800. Negotiating victims received, on average, $42,500.
Is the Offer Better Than Going to Trial?
For a variety of reasons, including the fact that it’s sometimes preferable to reach a deal than for either party to go through a protracted trial, most personal injury claims are settled. However, not all settlement proposals are preferable to going to trial.
This is especially true if there’s a possibility that a jury would decide to award more money in damages. A good lawyer’s counsel is best followed for optimum outcomes.
