What is your vehicle injury case worth? That’s a difficult question to answer, because the specific details of each incident are essential to the calculation.
Car accident cases are valued on the basis of numerous factors. Here are four of the most important:
1. The Opinions of Your Doctors
Insurance adjusters and defense attorneys will carefully examine your medical records to see if they match up with your complaints. If your doctors’ opinions fail to support your claims, the defendant will probably accuse you of exaggerating your injuries.
2. Consistency of Your Statements
In any type of personal injury case, you’ll likely give multiple explanations of how the accident occurred. You may discuss the accident with:
- The other driver
- Your passengers
- Bystanders
- Police
- Hospital staff and physicians
- Insurance companies
- The defense attorney in a deposition
- The jury at trial
That’s a lot of different people who will all hear some version of your story. While no one can give precisely the same explanation every time, you must remain as consistent as possible. If your story varies too much, an insurance adjuster or defense attorney will likely point out those inconsistencies, and the settlement value of your case is sure to decrease.
3. Consistency Between Your Complaints and Your Actions
Your statements must be consistent with your behavior. If you’re claiming to have suffered severe back injuries, yet you’re performing strenuous yard work on a Saturday afternoon, the validity of your claim may be called into question. Insurance companies often send investigators to follow the plaintiff around. If the investigator discovers that your injuries and behavior don’t match, your claim will likely be negatively impacted.
4. Firm Evidence of the Defendant’s Negligence
The quality of your evidence against the defendant is a crucial factor in determining the settlement value of your case. Given the same injuries, rear-end collisions are typically worth more than a collision at an intersection that lacked a traffic light or stop sign. This is due to the fact that a rear-end collision is nearly always the fault of the driver in the rear, while a collision at an intersection lacking traffic controls could be anyone’s fault.
To learn more about the value of your vehicle accident case, contact the Law Office of Ben Crittenden to schedule a free, no-obligation case evaluation.
RELATED LINKS
- Giving a Recorded Statement to an Insurance Company Can Be a Trap
- What Is My Car Wreck Case Worth?
- How to Value Your Car Accident Case
- Defining Fault in Alaska Vehicle Accident Cases
- Understanding Depositions in Personal Injury Claims
- Recovering Costs for Your Totaled Car After an Accident
- How Liability Insurance Benefits You After a Car Accident