Auto Insurance Claims: Car accident, Low Impact Injury Claim Damages Value


Question
QUESTION: Hello I was In a car accident on 12/24/2011. Someone hit me from the driver side. I have harrington rods in my back. When I had an mri done it showed that I have a disk protusion l4 l5. Had injections done.my medical bills are 6800. And the damages to the car was 1400. I will not be using a lawyer . Could you tell me what to expect.

ANSWER: Tia,

  In Texas depending on where you are, jury awards on injuries like yours are not too liberal.  I wouldn't dare give a figure without seeing an entire injury file and accident data.  There is just not enough data available for me.

  Keep in mind that a big argument that is commonly used is that your injury was not completely caused by the accident.  Your question seems to assume that nobody will argue about whether the accident is the cause of your injury or whether your injury or suffering is due some other factor, like your weight or occupation.  

  Without an attorney it will be hard for you to create a credible threat unless you will accept $10000.00 or less for your injury and sue in small claims court.  Unfortunately, unless you are a claims expert, the system basically forces you to get an attorney or face the wolves alone.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I didnt start having pain in my lower back until the accident. The person admitted to hitting me. So is it best to get a lawyer.

Answer
My suggestion would to be to find an attorney.  There are injury attorneys that are good AND that will help you on a contingency basis so you have no upfront costs.  

Although a skilled negotiator might be able to get a good settlement, most people are not practiced in negotiation and stand little chance against the tried and tested settlement tactics used by claims departments.  

If you aren't sure how to argue against it, then damage photos could be be shown to a jury as evidence of your "exaggerated claim".  If the damages don't look too bad, then in order to defeat the improper "common sense" belief of "big damage = big injury and small damage = small injury" one must employ impressive technical witnesses, which can be a prohibitive cost.  Plus the subject matter involves discussing physics formulas such as the conservation of linear momentum, and other technical issues like angle of impact, crush zone damages and dissipation / energy absorption efficiency of damaged material. . . .  In reading up on the matter in the past, I've developed an opinion.. . . it is virtually impossible to accurately infer injury severity from the severity of auto damages.  

Injury claims are complicated, and insurance companies know that and have attorneys ready to answer any suits that arise out of claims.  The fundamental measure of what to expect on an injury settlement is jury awards in your area for similar cases.  There are many factors you would need to go over to even find similar cases, but as a purely hypothetical example, let's say in your area the past awards for cases like yours were generally 2.50 times the medical damages proven.  So, if you can prove medical damages in the amount of $5000, then you might expect a settlement of $11000 or so.  They wouldn't offer the full $12500.00 (2.5 times) in my experience, but they would offer something slightly less but just enough to dissuade you from litigating the matter.

Of course, if you have any special circumstances that are relevant to your injury or damage severity, like you're a pro ballet dancer, or a yoga instructor, or pro athlete, etc, then the average jury awards are meaningless because your case isn't "average".  A good attorney is my suggestion.  I hope this helps!  Information is always free at Petty Details, LLC!

JP