What you’ll learn reading this article:

• Multiple factors will influence the worth of your personal injury claim after an accident caused by the negligence of a person, product or company.
• In many cases, the amount of financial losses you incur due to medical treatments, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more will help to shape your case.
• Indiana is a comparative fault state, meaning that in auto accidents, even if you are partially at fault, you still may be able to recover personal and economic damages. 

1.   The Nature of Your Injuries

Depending on the type or types of injuries you sustain in your motor vehicle accident, your case value will go up or down. Did you suffer soft tissue injuries? Broken bones? Traumatic brain injury?

Some injuries, while less serious in nature, can cause chronic pain and problems for the victim, whereas some more severe injuries may require surgery or more extensive treatment but not have any long-standing symptoms.

2.   The Scope of Your Treatment

The treatment needed for your injury can take a devastating financial as well as an emotional, mental and physical toll.

Were you transported from the scene in an ambulance? Did you have a surgery and a hospital stay followed by weeks of physical therapy? Or were you treated in the emergency room and then asked to follow up with your doctor?

Depending on the answers to these questions, the amount you had to pay out of pocket for medical expenses—and therefore compensation you deserve—may vary.

3.   The Extent of Financial Losses

Depending on the nature of your injuries and the scope of your treatment, your financial losses can be quite substantial. In addition to medical bills, factors determining the worth of your personal injury case could be property damage, lost wages and future lost wages if you’re unable to return to work. 

4.    The Permanency of Your Injury

Is this an injury that will heal or one that will result in chronic conditions and pain for you? Will you be required to seek special accommodations, receive ongoing medical care, or live with new physical or mental limitations because of your accident?

Put simply, is your injury permanent? What is your life expectancy or, in other words, how long will you have to suffer because of this injury?

5.    Liability: Who’s At Fault?

Indiana is a comparative fault state, which means that both drivers in an accident can be found some percentage at fault. This means that your compensation is linked directly to the percent liable you are for the accident and diminished accordingly.

However, if you are found over 50% at fault, you might not be able to recover any damages.

6.    The Insurance Policies of Those Involved

Certain insurance policies have limits that can range from $25,000 up to $1 million. Depending on the at-fault driver’s policy and its limit, the amount that the insurance company will pay is determined. Policies with a higher limit will allow for bigger insurance payouts.

Got Questions?

If you’re concerned or confused about the nature of your case, that’s normal. It can be overwhelming to be thrown into this situation, especially after experiencing an accident that resulted in your being injured due to someone else’s negligence.

Discussing your case with qualified personal injury lawyers can help you to determine the worth of your case and help you to secure the best chance at recovering damages.

Poynter & Bucheri Accident Recovery—Indianapolis Personal Injury Attorneys

If you or a loved one has been injured physically or mentally by a person, product or company, you need to know your legal rights. Our personal injury attorneys are experienced with cases like yours and can evaluate what your case may be worth. Our law firm will ensure that you are protected and compensated for your injuries and losses.

Why pay up to 40% in attorney fees? Our fee is only 25%*, and we fight to win your case or you pay no attorney fees at all. Don’t hesitate—one of our experienced attorneys can assist you right away. Call (800) 265-9881 for a free consultation and case review.

Video Transcript

Hi, I’m Rich Bucheri from Poynter & Bucheri, and today I want to talk about six factors that can determine how much your case is worth. So when we’re doing a case evaluation, the first thing we’re going to do is look at your injuries, the nature and extent of them. Was this a soft tissue case? Did you have broken bones? Was there a traumatic brain injury? Secondly, we’re going to look at your treatment. Did you go to the emergency room followed by some visits to your family doctor or was it something where you had to have surgery and follow up physical therapy? We’re also going to look at your bills to determine whether it was a few thousand dollars in out of pocket expenses for bills or was it tens of thousands of dollars? What were your lost wages? Is it something where you’re not able to go back to work? If that’s the case, then we’re probably going to hire an economic expert to determine what your lost wages are for the rest of your life. Permanency, so is this something that is going to be permanent?

Even if it’s just to a small extent, we’re going to be calculating how long you’re going to have to be dealing with based on the mortality tables. How long are you expected to live? Is it 50 years? If you’re going to be dealing with pain for 50 years, then we’re going to put a number on that. Liability issues are very important as well. In Indiana, we’re a comparative fault state, so if you’re at fault for a certain portion of the injuries that you sustained, then your compensation is going to be necessarily diminished by your portion of the fault. And if you’re over 50% at fault, you may not be able to recover at all. Finally, sometimes we’re going to be dealing with insurance policy limits. So in Indiana for car accidents, the auto insurance policy limits range anywhere from 25,000 to a commercial policy of a million. And depending on what level of insurance policy limits the at fault driver has, that’s going to be the limit that the insurance company is going to pay for your type of injury. So that may serve to limit your compensation.