Auto Insurance Claims: Settlement range for injury from rear-end accident, dear sirs, knee contusion

Question
Dear Sirs:
My son was involved in accident where his vehicle was rear-ended. The other insurance carrier accepted liability and has paid for totaling out our vehicle. My son was 19 years old when the accident took place in Washington state. He has had medical treatment for over 10 weeks for a back injury. The injury was reported to be a lumbar strain and phantom knee contusion. He states he feels better but still is having problems riding in a vehicle over two hours at a time. What should be the expected settlement range and what type of documentation will we need to support our position? He is a college student who missed out on working this summer. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Answer
This will depend on several factors:

-please list the medical expenses in detail - dollar amount, providers, type of service
-what is a "phantom" knee contusion?  I have not heard the term "phantom" used in a medical context before.  
-does the doctor believe he will have ongoing medical problems?
-did he miss time from work?  If so, what was the amount of the loss?

Setting a value on an injury claim is a very subjective process.  Three different people will likely come up with three different values.  Insurance companies normally develop ranges such as $1500-$2500 or $20,000-$30,000, depending on the specifics of the injury.

They will consider medical expenses, lost wages, permanent disability, pain, suffering, type of injury, and the severity of the collision when setting a value.