What is the Average Settlement for Personal Injury
Determining an average settlement for a personal injury claim is difficult to do because of the different types of injuries and the scope of those injuries. Smaller personal injury claims may settle for an average of about $52,900. However, NC personal injury attorneys could help you get much more for those with severe injuries or in cases where the actions of another person or company caused permanent injury or death. People who retained personal injury law firms Charlotte NC got about 340 percent higher settlement than those who tried to settle on their own.
The higher amounts are usually because of negotiations—attorneys generally don’t take the first number offered by the insurance company. Additionally, if the defendant is found to be negligent, punitive damages may be awarded, and that increases the settlement by quite a bit.
Personal Injury Settlement Benefits
Retaining a personal injury lawyer, even if you have personal injury insurance or some other type of personal injury coverage is more beneficial than trying to settle the case yourself. In addition to the statistically higher amounts plaintiffs get in a settlement, a personal injury attorney takes a lot of the stress of your case off your shoulders. Some benefits include:
Every court follows rules of civil procedure. In the event that your case doesn’t settle and instead, goes to trial, you could find out that your case has been dismissed if you don’t follow the rules.
Most types of personal injuries are backed by case law, particularly those that involve negligence. A personal injury attorney will be able to use statutes and case law to help you get a better settlement or a better outcome at trial if there was a precedent set for a case like yours.
Attorneys are used to dealing with insurance companies. In some cases, you may have to deal with more than one or two insurance companies. Working a settlement or bringing a case through litigation can get confusing when you are dealing with lawyers for so many insurance companies.
An attorney does research on the costs of personal injury claims and the medical bills that go along with it. While your medical bills may not be the same as another person who finds themselves in your situation, the attorney still has a good idea as to the cost of medical care and how much more care you might need. Because of this, the attorney will not let the insurance company throw out a low offer to settle.
Almost all types of personal injury cases have insurance companies involved. A dog bite case may have a homeowner’s insurance company involved while someone struck by a drunk driver has his own insurance company plus the other driver’s insurance company involved in the lawsuit.
A product liability case may have even more attorneys involved. For example, if a part on your vehicle was defective and caused an accident, your own insurance company and the other driver’s insurance company could be involved. Additionally, lawyers for the vehicle manufacturer, the vehicle manufacturer’s insurance company, the part manufacturer and the part manufacturer’s insurance company may also be involved. That is six sets of attorneys you have to keep up with and make sure every one of them gets copies of documents.
If you’ve ever been involved in a court case before, you know that trying to schedule a hearing between your attorney, you, the other person and the other person’s attorney can be difficult. Imagine doing that with six sets of attorneys! And, if you are trying to settle, you also have to negotiate a settlement amount from one or more of these attorneys.
Contact Wallace and Graham
If you have been injured in an accident or have a relative who has been injured but cannot call us because that person is physically incapable due to injuries, contact Wallace and Graham to set up a consultation.
