How Much of a Settlement for a Car Accident?
Automobile accidents can cause a number of serious injuries to the head, neck, back, shoulders, arms, and legs. The extent and severity of your injuries will depend on where your vehicle was hit, the force of the impact, and the type of vehicles involved.
Considering these factors, no two accidents will ever be identical, so no two injury settlements will ever be identical. And despite what some attorneys would have you believe, there is no perfect formula or multiplier that can be used to calculate your settlement amount. Each car accident lawsuit is tailored to each particular situation.
Your car accident settlement amount will typically be based on the following factors:
Economic damages:
- Medical bills
- Future medical expenses
- Property damage of your lost vehicle
- Lost wages due to your recovery
Non-economic damages:
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
- Emotional distress
In very rare cases, you may also be able to seek punitive damages from the at-fault driver. An experienced car accident lawyer can help you determine what a fair settlement offer will be for your personal injury claim. If you believe you have a case, contact The Advocates personal injury lawyers for a free case evaluation.
Depending on the severity of your accident, a minor rear-end collision compared to a cataclysmic crash, your auto accident settlement could vary anywhere from lower 4-figures up to the million-dollar range. This article will cover the most common injuries our car accident lawyers often encounter so you can compile a potential estimate about your own situation.
How Much of a Settlement for a Head Injury After a Car Accident?
Car accident victims can suffer head injuries as minor as a concussion or as serious as a full-on TBI (traumatic brain injury). Victims often won’t even know they have suffered a head injury until days or weeks after their accident, so be sure to seek medical care as soon as you can after your accident.
Head injuries can cause several different types of symptoms, such as speech impairment, sudden behavioral or emotional shifts, motor function issues, or memory loss. These symptoms are often associated with significant medical costs. The settlement amount you receive will largely depend on the severity of your head injury.
What is the average car accident settlement for a concussion?
Depending on the insurance policies involved and the severity of your accident, if you’ve suffered a concussion you could receive a substantial injury settlement. The final amount will depend on how severe the concussion is and how detrimental its effects have been on your life and employment. Some concussions heal within weeks, while others can last for months or even years.
What is the average settlement for post-concussion syndrome?
A major factor leading to higher settlements following a car accident-induced concussion is post-concussion syndrome. Unlike a concussion, which usually heals within weeks of the initial injury, post-concussion syndrome can affect a victim for months after their car accident.
It is a complex disorder that causes chronic migraines, dizziness, loss of memory, and several other ailments. While there isn’t enough data to fully establish an average settlement amount for post-concussion syndrome injuries, more severe cases have settled for substantial amounts if the negative effects were long-lasting. Frequently, these types of injuries are compensated to victims who have suffered several other injuries during their car accidents.
What is the average settlement for a traumatic brain injury (TBI)?
A traumatic brain injury is far more serious than a concussion and rightly deserves a much higher payout in the event of a settlement. Victims often experience longer hospital stays, more expensive medical treatments, and longer-lasting health complications. More severe TBIs may require substantial compensation if you suffer long-term complications or impairment.
Car accidents can cause head injuries as minor as a basic concussion or as serious as a full-on TBI (traumatic brain injury). Oftentimes, victims won’t even know they have suffered a head injury until days or even weeks after their accident. Head injuries can cause several different types of symptoms, such as speech impairment, sudden behavioral or emotional shifts, motor function issues, or memory loss. The settlement amount you receive will largely depend on the severity of your head injury.
What Is a Typical Car Accident Settlement for a Neck Injury?
While the majority of neck injuries are more of an annoyance than a life-threatening condition, some can leave victims debilitated for months on end. Serious injuries to the spinal cord, nerves, or vertebrae in the neck can lead to high-dollar settlements to compensate car crash victims. More minor injuries will likely result in far lower settlements.
What is the average settlement for whiplash?
Whiplash is the strain or even tearing of muscles in the neck and shoulders due to the unnatural back-and-forth motion of the head caused by a car accident. Whiplash injuries can cause victims pain, discomfort, and a loss of quality of life.
Most car accident injury cases involving whiplash settle for minor sums of money since the effects only linger for weeks or months. More severe whiplash injuries have been known to be compensated up to much higher amounts, but such instances are rare.
How Much of a Settlement for a Back Injury after a Car Accident?
Similar to the head and neck, back injuries can either be minor or far more serious, such as a spinal cord injury. Minor back injuries like a simple strain or herniated disc will be compensated far less than injuries requiring surgery or causing paralysis. A minor back injury claim usually settles for a conservative amount. On the other hand, injuries involving the spine typically settle for far larger sums.
What is the average settlement for a spinal injury?
Settlements for spinal injuries are based on whether you suffered some form of paralysis as a result of a motor vehicle accident. If you did suffer paralysis due to your injuries, then your settlement could potentially be worth a substantial amount of money. It’s common for many spinal cord injuries that cause paralysis to settle for high-dollar amounts due to the long-term damages caused to the victim.
How Much of a Settlement for a Shoulder Injury?
Shoulder injury settlements cover a number of different injuries from broken shoulder blades to bursitis to simple sprains and muscle tears. Determining a shoulder injury settlement depends on how seriously you were injured. Torn ligaments or strained shoulder muscles will likely settle for small amounts.
More serious shoulder injuries such as those that cause Permanent Total Disability (PTD) or Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) will almost certainly settle for totals far higher than for minor injuries. Some shoulder injuries require months or years of physical therapy or chiropractic care, which will factor into your personal injury case.
How Much of a Settlement for an Arm Injury?
Arm and hand injuries are often the most overlooked of all injuries following a car accident. However, broken bones, dislocation, damaged tendons, and fractured wrists and elbows can leave victims unable to go about their lives as they did before their accident.
The average settlement for a broken arm from a car accident is somewhat high due to the long-term effects of the injury. Injuries to the wrist or elbow can settle for far more if surgery is required to help reconstruct the damaged area, with many such cases often settling for higher amounts as well.
What is the Average Settlement for a Car Accident?
Calculating the exact worth of your potential car accident claim is a difficult task due to how many factors are used in the evaluation process. Some of the most commonly used factors include:
- the state in which the accident occurred
- the insurance companies involved
- the types of injuries you have suffered
- the amount of medical attention required
- whether you lost income as a result of your injuries
Remember, no two accidents are alike, so it follows that no two car accident cases will ever be alike either.
Thankfully, most car accidents are mere fender benders that don’t cause serious injuries. They will settle for smaller amounts, usually more than enough to compensate for your economic and non-economic expenses. Severe car accidents that cause spinal or brain injuries often settle for much higher amounts since they tend to cause long-term damage.
Accidents that cause paralysis or death will almost always settle in an even higher range since these effects are often permanent.
A car accident attorney can help you determine the worth of your claim. Your attorney will be able to look at all the factors of your case and negotiate with the at-fault driver’s insurance adjusters to get you the settlement you deserve.
A Personal Injury Attorney with The Utah Advocates Can Help You
If you’ve been injured in a car accident due to another motorist’s negligence, you need an Advocate on your side. Our experienced attorneys know how to get you fair compensation for your injuries and losses.
We have decades of experience helping car accident victims all throughout Utah recover what they are owed according to the law. Contact us today for a free consultation and to get started on the car accident settlement process. Don’t settle for second best. Your case deserves an Advocate.