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Sep 8, 2023
Roughly 40,000 car accidents occur every year in Los Angeles County. In 2021, the Transportation Injury Mapping System (TIMS) recorded 4,477 motor vehicle collisions in L.A. leading to either severe injuries or fatalities.
As Dordulian Law Group has noted in recent blogs, car accidents have increased steadily across Los Angeles in recent years, with a 30% spike in serious traffic accident injuries occurring between 2020 and 2021.
When you’re injured in a car accident, the stress of medical bills, lost wages, and other financial burdens can weigh heavily. One of the most common questions our personal injury attorneys hear is:
“How much is my car accident settlement worth?”
Various factors can determine the value of a car accident civil claim. In the sections below, we’ll provide all the information you need regarding how much your car accident case may be worth.
Car accidents are a subset of personal injury law. These types of cases typically lead to settlements which include two types of damages – economic and non-economic.
Economic damages may include:
Non-economic damages may include:
The extent of your injuries – which typically correlates with higher medical bills – is one of the main factors which will impact the value of your car accident settlement. More severe injuries lead to higher economic damages (and therefore higher payouts in terms of settlements). If your injuries required procedures like surgeries, your condition takes months/years to improve, or you were left with permanent damage, the value of your car accident settlement would be much higher than if you suffered only minor injuries. However, while economic damages are a major part of motor vehicle claims, non-economic damages – which are not as easy to prove and require an experienced and skilled car accident lawyer – can significantly increase your final settlement amount.
Things like pain and suffering and emotional trauma often affect car accident victims. But not all attorneys are experienced in securing these type of damages. Asking your prospective attorney about their past cases and experience in securing non-economic damages is recommended during your free consultation.
While it’s important to understand that each car accident case is unique and claims can vary dramatically, the average settlement ranges from between $25,000 and $50,000. However, it’s important to note that most car accidents do not involve serious or catastrophic injuries. For these types of cases, settlements can be substnantially higher – with multi-million dollar valuations.
Hiring the best car accident attorney can help ensure you recover the maximum cash settlement you deserve.
Auto insurance companies use an algorithm to calculate car accident settlements. They will typically enter injury by type (whiplash, concussion, traumatic brain injury, etc.) and include a number of other various data points. A computer will then assign a value based on other similar car accident injury cases.
But the number generated by these computers is typically (and unsurprisingly) much lower than the true value of your case. Car insurance companies are in business to make money, and that means doing everything possible to keep settlements as low as possible – rightly or wrongly.
However, with an experienced car accident attorney who knows how to negotiate with auto insurance corporations, you can be confident that your final settlement will reflect the true value of your case and take into consideration the severity of your injuries, your pain and suffering, and the overall impact on your quality of life.
There are a number of steps recommended by car accident lawyers which you can take to help increase the value of your claim. Some of the most common include:
Taking these steps – particularly the first two – will help ensure that your case reaches a successful conclusion which includes justice through maximum financial compensation.
Rather than taking on the insurance company and their army of high-powered attorneys alone, be sure to first consult with an experienced Glendale, California, car accident injury attorney from Dordulian Law Group (DLG). We’ll review the facts of your case, discuss all of your available legal options, provide a timeline for how long your case may take to settle, and offer an estimate for how much your case is worth.
Schedule an appointment online for a free consultation today, or call us directly to speak to our top-rated, expert car accident attorneys.
By hiring a private personal injury lawyer, a recent study found that victims secured settlements that were 40% higher. And when compared with injured victims who represented themselves, the average insurance payout for those who hired private attorneys was 3.5x higher (and victims who are represented by private attorneys receive 85% of the money that insurance companies pay for bodily injuries).
Contact DLG’s car accident lawyers for a free consultation today by calling 866-GO-SEE-SAM. For over 25 years, we’ve maintained a 98% winning record while helping injured victims like you recover over $100,000,000.00 in settlements and verdicts.
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