Average Settlement Car Accident

There are many different factors that can change a settlement for a neck and back injury for a car accident. They can range from hundreds, to thousands, to hundreds of thousands, to millions! Settlements can depend on many different factors:

Factors that Affect Average Settlement for Car Accident Back and Neck Injury

• How injured you are
• How much wages you have lost
• Your wage
• Your likeability (yes, really)
• Who your attorney is

Steps to Increase Average Settlement for Car Accident Back and Neck Injury

There are many ways to increase the average settlement for car accident back and neck injury.

1. Seek Medical Treatment

The first way that you can increase your personal injury settlement is to seek medical treatment right away. This is heavily discussed in Roven’s book Empower the Injured. Oftentimes if people don’t feel very injured, they may want to put off seeking medical treatment. However, they may feel the symptoms several days later. They should not delay. If you’re injured, you should go and get medical treatment right away, even if you’re not feeling the severe effects of your injuries. It is best to just get checked out and just to get evaluated. If a person delays in getting medical treatment, then oftentimes the insurance company will say well you couldn’t have been that injured since you delayed in getting medical treatment. Therefore it’s very important to get medical treatment right away, even if your symptoms are not a set of severe.

2. Pursue Higher Treatment If Recommended

Another boost for average settlement car accident back neck injury is to get the treatment that is recommended. If people are recommended to have surgeries they are very hesitant to go ahead and do so either because of the cost or because of how strenuous of an activity that is. But if it’s up to your personal injury settlement, then you should go ahead and get the surgery because that is going to ultimately increase the size of your settlement.

If you can’t afford surgery then you should have your attorney discuss with the doctor about future payment options or perhaps to put a lien against the personal injury case. There are other options as well including health insurance. That way you can pay it the doctor or health insurance through your settlement.

Another reason that you should get your surgery sooner rather than later is because later you may not have the same opportunity to get the surgery and afterward. It may be too late to go and get the surgery.

3. Take Pictures of Your Injuries

Another tip to increasing your personal injury settlement is to take pictures of your injuries. You should take pictures right when your injuries start and as they progress. If you have severe bruising be sure to take pictures that show the bruising very well. Be sure to take it on a high-quality camera that you have preferably a cell phone. The reason why photographs of your injuries are very important is because it gives more of a dramatic effect to your injuries. You can explain your injuries, but if you have photographs to show it, insurance companies know that that’s going to have more of an impact on the jury down the line if your case proceeds to trial.

4. Hire a Lawyer

Insurance companies will likely simply pay more if they know a person is being represented by a lawyer that’s not afraid to go to court and not afraid to take the case to trial. It’s a simple matter of fact. The reason why hiring a lawyer will likely increase the amount of your personal injury settlement is that insurance companies will feel that risk, the added risk of being up against an attorney that actually knows what they’re doing versus someone who is representing themselves and perhaps does not know their way through navigating the courts.

5. Have Patience

Insurance companies can oftentimes gauge whether a person is eager for cash or eager to settle the claim. What will happen is the insurance company will start off with a lowball offer and a person may feel inclined in order to accept that offer right away. But if you have more patience and you’re willing to put up a little bit of a fight then you may walk away with a lot more cash than that initial offer. Usually the closer to trial that you get, the higher the personal injury offer is from the insurance companies.

6. Have Your Attorney Negotiate Liens

Another tip to increase the value of your personal injury settlement is to have your attorney negotiate liens on your behalf. Your attorney should contact your medical providers and tell them that they’re only willing to pay a certain amount. That way, there may be more money in your pocket as they reduce the amount of the total medical bills.

7. Keep a Pain Journal

Another way to increase the value of your personal injury settlement is to keep a journal. You can write down your pain as it progresses. You should write down any effects in your life that your pain has caused you. Perhaps you’re not able to play in certain sports or participate in certain hobbies. Perhaps this pain has affected your relationship with your spouse or significant other. You should describe in all areas of your life that the pain has caused some kind of reference to you.

8. Know Your Damages

The final important tip for this article to increase the value of your personal injury settlement is to know all of your damages. You should know that people that are injured are entitled to such types of damages like lost wages, medical bills, pain and suffering. But then there’s also other types of damages that many people are not aware of such as loss of consortium if your spouse has a claim against the person who caused the injury to you. Or also loss of the value of your car, or the cost of getting a housekeeper for your house. There are many ancillary types of damages that a person is entitled to in the State of California. There should be nothing left on the table when you’re ready to settle your case. You should only be able to settle for the maximum amount of value gauged against the risk of going to trial.