How To Determine What Your Personal Injury Case Is Worth: Step By Step
Posted in Personal Injury on November 24, 2020
If you or somebody you care about sustains an injury caused by the actions of another individual, business, or entity, you should be entitled to compensation for your injuries and other expenses.
However, Nashville, TN personal injury cases are rarely cut and dry, and determining how much your case is worth can be difficult. There is no set amount of money that personal injury victims are awarded.
Rather, the value of a case will be determined by the circumstances and facts surrounding each particular situation. All of the evidence will be weighed by insurance carriers and maybe even a jury before a final amount is settled upon or awarded in a jury verdict.
What determines the value of an injury claim?
There are some important factors that need to be present in order to determine how much the personal injury case is worth. These factors include the following:
- Liability
- Damages
- Insurance coverage
If any of those three factors is missing from your situation, then you will essentially not have a claim to pursue.
Liability is important
Determining who was at fault for an injury is crucial. If you are injured in an accident, and another person is 100% at fault, then your claim will be fairly strong. However, if you share any liability for the incident, the value of your claim may not be as high.
In Tennessee, we operate under a modified comparative negligence system. This means that victims are still able to recover compensation even if they are partially at fault for the incident. In this state, victims can recover compensation if they are 50% or less at fault for an incident.
However, the total amount of compensation they receive will be reduced based on their percentage of fault. This is why it is crucial to work with an attorney who can help you prove the liability of all other parties involved.
The damages you have sustained need to be calculated correctly
The law in Tennessee states that if you are injured due to somebody else’s negligence, then you have the right to recover compensation. However, if there are no injuries or property damage, then there are no losses. Damages in these cases can be economic and non-economic. Economic damages usually refer to the following types of calculable losses:
- Medical bills
- Lost income
- Household out-of-pocket expenses
- Property damage
Non-economic damages are not necessarily calculable using bills and receipts, and these refer to a victim’s:
- Emotional and psychological suffering
- Physical pain and suffering
- Loss of quality of life
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Loss of companionship or consortium
Insurance coverage and personal injuries
Often, the total amount of insurance coverage that the at-fault party has will be a determining factor in how much an injury victim receives for their claim. If the total damages of the injury victim are less than the insurance coverage amounts of the alleged negligent party, then the injury victim will likely receive the compensation they deserve.
However, if their damages exceed the insurance policy limits, or if the at-fault party has no insurance, this can present a significant roadblock to recovering adequate compensation.
If this happens, an injury victim may be able to get some compensation for their losses, but maybe not full compensation. It may also be possible for an injury victim to file a lawsuit against the alleged negligent party directly to recover additional compensation, but the success of this route will largely depend on the financial stability and assets of the at-fault party.