Is Your Personal Injury Suit Worth the Money?

With winter come car accidents and with car accidents come lawsuits. Not every car crash is worth going to court over.

In general, a person injured in a crash can’t file suit unless his medical bills total more than $ 2,000.00. Once you’ve passed this limit, however, you can sue not only for your medical bills, but also for pain and suffering.

It used to be that pain and suffering was worth from three to five times the cost of the medical bills. If you paid $ 3,000.00 to get better, you might expect from $ 9,000.00 to $ 15,000.00 from the insurance company. You’d get even more for a scar, a limp, a twitch or some other permanent impairment.

The insurance companies, however, have done a good job in recent years of convincing people that large jury awards end up driving up everyone’s insurance costs. As a result, jurors, who pay car insurance, are less likely to award large amounts to an injured a person. This has given the companies an edge in negotiations and the settlement amounts have dropped accordingly.

Fighting for just compensation might still be worth the effort. There are three factors to consider.

First, how bad are your injuries and is there permanent damage?

Second, was the accident totally the other driver’s fault, or were you partly to blame?

Finally, does the person who hit you have any assets? If the actual driver has money available to pay for a judgment that exceeds his insurance policy, he can, and will, put pressure on the insurance company to settle the case for any amount less than what the policy limits are.