When someone gets injured in an accident, many different factors can be considered when insurance companies are calculating how much personal injury settlements should be worth. At the same time, our Westchester County personal injury attorneys could be introducing new evidence and arguments that outline why a settlement should be larger. The process can involve a lot of negotiating and could seem chaotic if you are not used to it. It’s one reason to seriously consider hiring a lawyer if you’ve been hurt in an accident and you plan to sue.

What Can Increase Personal Injury Settlements?

There are a few matters that can be considered when personal injury settlements are being calculated. Some factors that can increase the value of a settlement include:

• Clear evidence of the defendant’s fault
• Serious injuries that cause disabilities or disfigurement
• Injuries with long recovery times that affect a plaintiff’s life and routine
• A plaintiff who suffers from serious mental health issues
• Injuries that will require continued treatment

How is Pain and Suffering Calculated in Personal Injury Settlements?

It can seem easy enough to calculate how much an insurer should award you for certain types of damages. If you were hurt and have medical bills, those bills have a clear cost. If you missed work, you know what your typical paycheck is and it won’t be too difficult to request payment for your lost wages.

What about pain and suffering though? How do you find a monetary value for that in personal injury settlements? Insurers often use the “multiplier” method. They will first look at the damages for medical expenses, property damage, and lost wages. Then they can combine them and multiply them by a number between 1 and 5. The more serious your injuries and the tougher your recovery is, the higher the multiplier used. Then the number they arrive at can be the total damages awarded.

Alternatively, an insurer can take just the medical expenses and use a multiplier. This result is your award for pain and suffering, and it gets added to medical expenses, property damages, and lost wages.

Do I Need an Attorney?

You are not required to hire an attorney, but proving negligence and dealing with insurance companies on your own can be difficult. Our lawyers have experience in this department, and you can be sure that they will do everything that they can to build the strongest possible case for you. Hiring a lawyer also allows you to focus more on your recovery and getting back into your normal routine. Let us handle the paperwork while you take care of yourself.

Contact Our Law Firm Today

When you are ready to move forward with your case, contact Hausman & Pendzick. We can tell you more about what our attorneys can do for you and how we have helped so many of our clients fight for the personal injury settlements that they deserve.