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If you sustained a concussion or other head injury following a car accident, you may be wondering about the average settlement amount for this type of injury. First, it’s important to understand that your final settlement amount can be affected by many different factors, from the extent of your injury to the amount of damages caused by the accident, and more.
Regardless of these factors, you should never be held responsible for injuries that were caused by someone else’s negligence. That’s where LegalFinders can help. We can put you in touch with a personal injury lawyer who can not only explain how car accident settlements work for a concussion injury, but who also has direct experience in handling cases like yours. Reach out to us now for a free consultation to learn more.
The average concussion settlement amount is around $20,000. This amount ranges upwards, depending on the severity of the injury. Why is the settlement amount so low for a concussion injury?
Although concussions are a form of traumatic brain injury (TBI), these injuries are often more mild in nature. You don’t even have to experience loss of consciousness to sustain a concussion, contrary to popular belief. In fact, 80% of concussions are expected to resolve in 7 to 14 days, according to Beaumont Health.
Because of this, concussions may lead to less overall pain and suffering than other head injuries, less medical expenses and negative impacts on your life, and, in turn, a lower settlement amount. However, this is not true if the concussion is severe, or expected to have long-lasting effects.
If you sustain a concussion that is expected to last long-term, your recovery period could double, or triple. The symptoms of a long-term concussion, known as post-concussion syndrome, can be uncomfortable and even disruptive to your life. Symptoms of post-concussion syndrome include:
In some rare cases, you may even temporarily lose or experience a decrease in your sense of taste or smell.
If your concussion resulted from an accident caused by someone else, you deserve compensation for your injuries. A personal injury claim could help you pursue a car accident settlement for your concussion injury.
These settlements are meant to help accident victims pay for medical costs incurred due to accident-related injuries as well as other losses as a result of such injuries. Your concussion settlement can help cover not only your medical care costs, but any lost wages or benefits you missed while in recovery, and other damages from the accident.
How do injury settlements work? First, you’ll want to file a personal injury claim with help from an experienced car accident attorney. To find the right attorney for your case, try contacting us. LegalFinders has access to an expansive network of trusted, reputable injury lawyers who are backed by impressive case results and client testimonials.
We can help you file your claim, build an airtight case, and ensure you seek maximum compensation for your injuries. Call now to get in touch with the best lawyer for your case.
Your settlement value will be determined by identifying all the ways the accident has impacted your life, also known as ‘damages.’ Damages come in many forms, but may include both economic and non-economic damages.
Examples of economic damages include those things that have an ascertainable value, like medical treatment costs, property damage to your vehicle, or lost wages you missed during recovery. Non-economic damages are not as easy to quantify, and include such things as pain and suffering, emotional anguish, inconvenience, or loss of the companionship of a spouse or loved one due to the injury.
In rare cases, you may be awarded punitive damages, which are meant to deter the negligent party from acting in the same manner again and harming others. However, these damages are awarded by the court — you can’t claim them.
A lawyer can assess your medical bills, insurance claim, and other documentation to help you determine what you can list for damages on your claim. During car accident cases, the court may use a multiplier method, which helps calculate damages which don’t have an assigned value, such as non-economic damages.
It works by first assessing a damages amount for fixed economic losses, then assigning it a multiplier (a number between 1 and 5). So, if the damages totaled $10,000, and your case was assigned a multiplier of 5, you would receive $50,000.
It is difficult to predict an exact amount for a car accident concussion settlement. However, an experienced attorney will be able to use knowledge based on similar, past cases to help you understand what you may be able to expect for compensation.
A range of factors may be taken into account when considering personal injury cases for concussions or other head injuries. These include the following.
First, your overall settlement may be affected by the severity of your injury. In general, a serious injury tends to result in a higher settlement amount. This is because serious injuries tend to lead to more dangerous and long-lasting effects.
A mild traumatic brain injury, such as a mild concussion, may only fetch a $10,000 to $15,000 settlement. In contrast, a head injury or concussion that results in lasting brain damage may affect you for the rest of your life, so the settlement for such an injury could range from $100,000 up to one million or more.
Your post-concussion syndrome settlement could range up to $150,000 or more. Keep in mind that, if you file a personal injury lawsuit, your settlement will likely involve not only damages such as medical bills, but other damages as well, which can increase your settlement amount.
Your actions immediately following an auto accident (and sometimes in the weeks and months after) can affect your settlement amount. You should never admit fault in front of other eyewitnesses, medical professionals, the at-fault party, to the police, or to an insurance adjuster.
Because shock may take over in the hours after the accident, it’s a good practice to carefully answer each question asked of you and avoid answering questions until you have had the chance to speak with an attorney. It’s an especially good idea to consult with a personal injury attorney before speaking with your insurance company or the other driver’s insurance company.
Your lawyer can advise you on what to say, and what not to say, to ensure you don’t hurt your chances of receiving fair compensation for your claim, or have your claim denied. They can also communicate on your behalf, which may be the better option.
Many car accident lawyers handle all legal communications both to ensure nothing is said which could hurt your case and to help handle tasks which might be too taxing during your recovery.
In many states, you must carry a personal injury protection (PIP) policy as part of your insurance policy. This part of your policy covers bodily injury to both you and other accident victims (if you were at fault in the accident).
PIP applies to medical expenses incurred from a motor vehicle accident, whether you are in an accident caused by someone else or caused by you. It may even cover bodily injury for pedestrian accidents, i.e. if you are not in a passenger vehicle, but walking or riding your bike.
Most states have a minimum required amount for PIP coverage, such as $25,000, and many policyholders do not add extra coverage. If your medical expenses exceed the amount of your insurance policy or the at-fault party’s insurance policy, a personal injury lawsuit may cover the extraneous expenses.
If you feel your medical expenses will not amount to match for your settlement, don’t fret — medical care is only one kind of damages. You may be able to get coverage for any paychecks you missed while you were recovering from your injury.
In addition, if you receive benefits, such as health care insurance, 401k earnings, or other employer-paid benefits, you may be able to claim these as damages as well. If your car was damaged, you may be able to cite vehicle damages and cost of repairs.
Finally, if you were hurt in a way that is not as easy to put into terms of value, you may be able to cite this as well.
Pain and suffering, emotional anguish, and other non-economic damages may be considered, depending on whether your lawyer can demonstrate how the accident and resulting injuries caused these damages by the negative impact it had on your life.
Unsure what damages to claim? Rest assured that the best injury attorneys will perform a thorough and free case evaluation to determine the value of your case and help you claim maximum damages.
A statute of limitations applies to all car accident claims and affects the amount of time you have to file a claim for your injuries. This is especially crucial for injuries such as a concussion, since, for many, the symptoms of a concussion do not appear right away.
Or, if you have post-concussion syndrome, it may take months after first receiving medical attention to realize that your condition is severe and not resolving. In many states, the statute for personal injury claims is two or three years, but it may be as much as five or more in a handful of states.
If you miss filing within your deadline, you may not receive a payout at all because the statute of limitations bars your claim. The statute of limitations begins to run either on the day you received your injuries of the car crash or the day you discover your injuries. A lawyer can help you understand both your state’s statute of limitations as well as help make sure you file within the statute.
Negligence is a critical component in any personal injury case. In order for the at fault driver to be held liable for your injuries, they have to have been negligent at the time of the accident. Proving this simply means demonstrating that the driver made an error which led to the accident, and, in doing so, breached a duty of care they had to you and other drivers to use reasonable precaution to avoid harm to others. This failure to exercise that standard of care directly caused your injury.
A ‘duty of care’ is something that is owed to all fellow motorists by all drivers on the roadways. For example, you have a duty of care to obey all traffic laws, such as not speeding and not driving distractedly. When you breach these laws, you put others at risk by being negligent. A breach of duty does not have to be a direct violation of a traffic law. It could simply mean that a driver failed to exercise the reasonable level of care that would have avoided the accident. However, if another driver violated a traffic law that is intended to keep drivers safe and avoid the type of harm that you experienced, this establishes the negligence of the driver.
If the at fault party breached the duty of care, your lawyer must be able to prove this and prove that the negligence directly led to your injuries. Should you not be able to prove negligence, your case may be thrown out. This is why it’s so important to work with a reputable law firm.
Fault in car accident cases is a complex issue and can be difficult to determine. While it may seem cut and dry, fault is often assigned in percentages to all parties involved. For example if you sustained a concussion due to slamming your head into the steering wheel during an accident caused by another, they will likely be considered at fault.
But, if you hit your head because you were not wearing your seat belt — and therefore were not properly restrained during the accident — you may be considered partly at fault. In some states, you may not receive a payout at all if you have any fault in the accident (though these states are rare).
In others, you can still claim damages if you were partly at fault in a car accident, but your settlement offer will be reduced by the percentage you are assigned.
Ready to seek help for yourself or a loved one after a car accident? Allow us to help you today. By calling on LegalFinders, you’ll be connected to top-rated car accident attorneys, employed by some of the most revered law firms in the U.S.
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