If you are thinking of filing a personal injury lawsuit, the biggest question in your mind is probably, “how much is my case worth?” The answer to this question depends on which state you live in because state laws vary when it comes to calculating damages.
Generally speaking, you can be compensated for economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages refer to the compensation for monetary losses, such as hospital bills, lost wages, rehabilitative treatment in the future, loss of earning capacity, and property damage.
Non-economic damages, on the other hand, refer to compensation for losses that cannot be quantified in monetary terms. These are subjective in nature, such as emotional distress, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of companionship.
If you are involved in a lawsuit in which you expect a sizable settlement, you can obtain pre-settlement funding, which is essentially a cash advance on the funds you will eventually receive. Lawsuit settlement loans are non-recourse in nature, which means your lawsuit advance does not need to be paid back if you don’t win your case.
Key Factors that Help Calculate Your Lawsuit Settlement Amount
There are several different factors that are considered when valuing personal injury cases. The insurance company is required to compensate the injured claimant for lost income, medical treatment, any permanent disfigurement and disability, property damage, and pain and suffering.
If you are considering a pre-settlement loan, bear in mind that a standard settlement package is supposed to be based on certain documents to help with the negotiating and settling of the claim. These include:
Medical Records and Bills
This provides the most definitive proof of your injuries and the severity of them. You (or your attorney, to be more precise) should include these documents in every settlement package. Failure to do so will result in the insurance company severely undervaluing your case.
A skilled personal injury attorney can also hire medical experts to estimate your long-term medical costs, physical therapy, and rehab expenses, and the future cost of ongoing medications, assistive devices, and so forth. This will raise the value of your claim and any pre-settlement lawsuit funding that you receive.
Lost Wages
Apart from suffering physical injuries, an injured plaintiff can also receive compensation for lost income due to these injuries. To pay money for the lost wages, the insurance company usually needs documentation from your employer showing the time you missed following the accident, as well as medical records that support the fact that you missed work. If you have suffered a long-term full or partial disability, your attorney will also include the future loss of income in your claim.
Property Damage
This is the simplest one to calculate. A lot of the time, the property damage claim is settled prior to all other claims, however, if it’s not resolved early on, it should definitely be included in your settlement package. If your car or bike was damaged in a crash, take it to the repairs and include that bill for this part.
Pain and Suffering
This refers to the physical, mental, emotional, and psychological pain and suffering that you may have endured due to your accident. Unless you are a trained legal professional, it’s virtually impossible for you to determine a proper value for this claim.
If you have significant pain and suffering that did not resolve within a few weeks of the accident, it’s recommended to seek legal representation (if you haven’t already). In personal injury cases, pain and suffering are usually the largest financial component for damages.
A sizable pain and suffering award can greatly enhance the amount of pre-settlement funding you may qualify for. Whether you are interested in a car accident loan, construction accident loan, or any other type of lawsuit advance, working with an experienced attorney is extremely important in ensuring that you obtain the maximum amount of compensation.
Loss of Enjoyment of Life
This refers to the inability to do things that you once enjoyed doing before the accident. Again, only a skilled lawyer can accurately determine the monetary value of this type of subjective loss and thus how much this portion of your settlement will add to your available lawsuit funding.
Factors may include:
- Work activities (like driving yourself to and from work)
- Domestic and household activities (like doing the laundry or picking up your child in your arms)
- Studies/educational activities
- Sports activities (like working out or playing badminton)
- Hobby activities (like gardening or yoga)
- Traveling
- Social activities (like going out with friends)
Determining Damages in Car Accident Cases
There are many types of personal injury cases – vehicle collision, workplace accidents, product liability, premises liability, animal bites, medical malpractice, police brutality, and so on. The most common of these is car accidents.
In these cases, there are three types of damages:
- The damage to the car
- The damage to the people in the car; and
- The damage to the property inside the car
Most often than not, the insurance companies only pay for the damages to the vehicle. If your car was completely totaled in the accident, insurance is legally obligated to pay for the car’s value. They shy away from paying for anything that was damaged inside the vehicle.
Car Seats
If you didn’t know this already, let us remind you: insurance companies want to pay you as little as possible for whatever damage anyone inflicted on you and your property. This is why even though car seats are one of the most common things that get damaged in an accident, insurance providers try to get out of paying for them.
But regardless of which state you live in, you have the right to be compensated for them by the at-fault party’s insurer. Also, if they say they will pay you a “diminished value” for the car seats, don’t buy them.
A skilled attorney will make them pay for it all. And just imagine, if they are trying to nickel-and-dime you on the value of your car, how are they going to treat your medical bills? With an experienced attorney in your corner, you will be in position to maximize your settlement, which will qualify you for a sizable car accident loan in case you need some funds to get by until you receive your settlement.
Get a Lawsuit Advance to Fund Your Injury Claim and Ease Your Financial Situation
Even if you have a good lawyer and a compelling personal injury case, the wheels of justice turn slowly. Your injury case could take several months or even years to reach a resolution. Unless you have large alternative sources of income or significant family wealth available to take care of you, you’re probably going to have a tough time paying your bills.
At Direct Legal Funding, we offer low-interest lawsuit settlement loans to personal injury case plaintiffs to help them with finances until they receive a fair settlement offer or verdict. If you’re thinking of filing a claim and need pre-settlement funding to help pay your mortgage, rent, utility bills, hospital bills, groceries, credit card payments, or anything else, we are here to help.
Our lawsuit funding application process is very straightforward – you can fill out the application in as little as 5 minutes, after which we will work with your attorney to handle the rest. If approved, you could have the lawsuit advance in your bank account within 24 hours. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to our knowledgeable team online or call us at 866-941-5588.
