Early on when someone is involved in a car accident, one of the questions I always get is, “How much is my case worth?” And this is a good question to have, a smart question. If your property is damaged, and especially if you’re injured, you’re now burdened with expenses that you otherwise wouldn’t have had. The only real way to be reimbursed for these unfair costs is to be compensated by the other party’s insurance. If a settlement is too low, or if there’s no settlement at all, the victim of an accident could be left without transportation, at best. At worst, they are now saddled with hospital bills and medical debt that could haunt them the rest of their life, all because of someone else’s negligence. Finding out how much your case is worth really tells you to what extent this situation is going to be rectified for you. But accident value can be hard to calculate, due to all of the different factors in play. Even as soon as the accident happens, or even in the weeks following, it’s hard to tell so early because there are so many variables.
First is: how much insurance is available from the other driver? Is it 10,000? Is it 25, 50, 100, 250, a million? We don’t know. And beyond that, how much is their insurance actually willing to let go of to make this situation right. Then: how much insurance do I have? What insurance will I have available through uninsured motorist coverage? What are the injuries that I sustain? Do I need surgery? Finding yourself without insurance, without a settlement, and with injuries that require hospitalization and/or surgery is one of the worst-case scenarios for car accident cases. And getting the runaround from insurance companies can leave you feeling doubly abused.
So in the beginning, when the value of the case is such an unknown, we highly recommend just speaking to a lawyer, even if you don’t choose to hire them to pursue a case. We can really get you in the process, get you going, because you have to start with medical treatment, and you can’t wait on insurance estimates to tell you whether or not you can afford the cost of your treatment. Once you find out your injuries, find out what’s happening, see what’s going on, see the effects on your life. You can see what a proper value there’s in your case. Personal injury isn’t always physical; it includes the way an accident or an injury changes your life. If you can’t work like you used to, if you don’t enjoy the things you once did, or you aren’t capable of participating in your usual hobbies, all of that is relevant and all of that factors into the effect this car accident has had on your life.
Once you really get in and get all those questions thoroughly answered, that’s when you’re going to get the best idea of how much your accident is worth. If you’d like the kind of in-depth expertise we can bring to estimating your case’s value, contact us to set up an introductory meeting.
