Rear-end car accidents occur when a driver in a vehicle hits a vehicle in front of them, often due to driver distraction or following too closely. Even at lower speeds, rear-end crashes can result in significant financial burdens for accident victims, potentially leading to expensive medical bills, extended time away from work, and considerable pain and suffering.
Many people going through the ordeal of seeking compensation after someone else’s negligence has harmed them often wonder what the average settlement is so that they can set realistic expectations regarding their potential settlement. However, there is no average settlement amount. Some claims are worth a few thousand dollars, while others are worth significantly more.
Still, knowing the factors that can influence your settlement amount can help you get a better idea about the potential value of your claim. An experienced car accident lawyer from Cousin Benny Personal Injury can evaluate your particular situation and use their knowledge and experience of similar cases they have handled in the past to estimate your claim’s value. Contact us today to take advantage of a free consultation.
What Determines the Value of a Car Accident Settlement?
A settlement is an out-of-court agreement between two parties to resolve a pending legal matter. In personal injury cases, the agreement usually consists of an accident victim accepting a certain amount of money in exchange for not suing the at-fault party. The settlement value basically breaks down to the amount that the parties can agree on to forego further legal proceedings.
Factors That Can Affect the Value of a Car Accident Case
The parties may be influenced by any number of factors when making the determination about what they are willing to settle the claim for, such as:
Severity and Permanence of the Injury
Often, the most significant factor is the severity and permanence of the injury. Many rear-end collisions result in whiplash, which is an injury that occurs when the neck moves back and forth suddenly, mimicking the cracking of a whip. This injury usually heals within a few months, but some don’t and result in long-term injuries. Spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and other serious injuries can also result from rear-end collisions.
Additionally, how long your injuries last can impact your claim. For example, a temporary strain that resolves in a few weeks will likely result in a less valuable claim than a broken bone that takes months to heal. Some injuries are so serious that they take years to heal, or they never heal.
The severity and permanence of car accident injuries affect the value of your claim for various reasons, including:
- Longer recovery times
- Higher medical bills
- More invasive medical procedures, such as surgeries
- Long-term or nursing care support
- Future medical expenses
- More time away from work
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of enjoyment of life
Generally, the more severe and the longer the injury impacts the victim’s life, the greater potential value of the personal injury claim.
Medical Expenses and Treatment Costs
Even if two accident victims suffer the same type of injury, they could wind up paying different amounts for their medical expenses. Every medical bill can represent a different source of damages and potential compensation, such as:
- Emergency room visits
- Hospitalizations
- Surgeries
- Rehabilitation
- Physical therapy
- Prescription medications
- Medical devices
You have the right to seek compensation for such direct economic losses, so the greater the value of your medical costs, the greater the corresponding value of your claim.
Lost Income
You also have the right to pursue compensation for the income you lost due to the injuries. This includes your immediate lost wages you sustained, as well as any reduction in your long-term earning capacity if your injuries permanently affect your ability to work.
Full Tort or Limited Tort
Pennsylvania is unique in that it allows accident victims to determine the damages that they can seek and how a car accident claim will progress when they purchase auto insurance. Under the full tort option, you have unrestricted rights to seek compensation for the full extent of your injuries, including for non-economic damages like pain and suffering. Under the limited-tort option, you generally cannot recover compensation for your non-economic damages unless you suffered a serious injury, as defined by state law, or a limited exception exists.
Factors That Can Decrease the Value of a Car Accident Claim
Just as there are some factors that can potentially increase the value of your car accident claim, there are others that can decrease it, such as:
Delayed Medical Treatment
Not all injuries have immediate symptoms. If you were involved in a low-speed rear-end collision, you might initially think that you were not injured at all. But then you might start experiencing pain and tension in your neck and shoulders in the days and weeks following it.
Insurance companies look for any delays in your medical treatment to justify an early denial of your claim. They may argue that your injuries were made up or didn’t stem from the accident but some other cause.
Gaps in Medical Treatment
Insurance companies will also look for inconsistencies in your medical treatment, such as missed appointments, missing documentation, light medical records, or notes that you did not follow your doctor’s advice. All plaintiffs have a legal duty to mitigate their damages, meaning that they must take reasonable steps to prevent damages from becoming more expensive than necessary. If you seem like you haven’t taken your medical treatment seriously, the insurance company might try to argue that it shouldn’t be responsible for “extra” harm that you caused.
Statements Made to the Insurance Company
Insurance adjusters are trained to extract details from claimants that they later use against them. Sometimes, this is done through a recorded statement that the adjuster insists is necessary to process your insurance claim. Some tactics they may use are:
- Getting to say that you are “fine” when they ask “how are you?” and then arguing that you weren’t injured since you said you were “fine”
- Locking in statements about your injury before you realize its full extent
- Recording statements about how the accident occurred that contradict the facts to try to question your credibility
- Finding social media posts of you smiling or enjoying an activity to argue that you were not injured
Limited Tort Insurance
Pennsylvania is unique in that it allows accident victims to determine the damages that they can seek and how a claimant will recover compensation after the accident. Customers can purchase full or limited tort insurance. If they purchase limited tort insurance, they generally cannot seek compensation for pain and suffering or other non-economic damages, thereby limiting the amount of their possible recovery.
Limited Insurance
Claimants generally turn to their own car insurance first for coverage. The minimum amount of Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance is $5,000. If this is all that you have in insurance, your claim may only be resolved for the policy limit. Likewise, if you make a claim against the at-fault driver and they have the minimum amount of liability insurance of $15,000 in bodily injury and $5,000 in property damage, your claim might be capped at these amounts.
Contribution to the Accident
Pennsylvania follows a comparative negligence rule that applies when personal injury victims contribute to the accident. If the victim is more than 50% at fault for the accident, they cannot recover any compensation for their injuries. If they are less than 50% at fault for the accident, they can recover compensation, but that compensation is reduced by their degree of fault.
You Don’t Have Legal Representation
Claimants who don’t have legal representation are at risk of being taken advantage of by insurance companies and tend to receive lower settlements than those who are represented by an experienced lawyer. Insurance companies may try to blame you for the accident, minimize your injuries, or convince you to take a quick settlement offer. These tactics are designed to decrease the value of your claim.
Why Pennsylvania Personal Injury Attorneys Can’t Guarantee a Specific Case Value
Every single personal injury case is different. Even if you and another driver suffered the same type of injuries in similar rear-end collisions, their values could be very different. This is because car accident settlements can vary widely based on the specific circumstances, including how the accident occurred, the insurance coverage involved, the severity of injuries, whether the victims had any pre-existing injuries, associated medical costs, and many others.
The Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct prohibit attorneys from guaranteeing a specific settlement amount. Instead, lawyers can use their knowledge and experience to evaluate the facts, identify the factors that may most influence the settlement value, and try to negotiate for fair compensation.
How Insurance Companies Value Car Accident Claims
It can also be useful to know how insurance companies arrive at a particular settlement value. Keep in mind that insurance adjusters are interested and trained in minimizing the value of claims, so they look for any opportunity to undercut claim values.
They often try to stick to just the economic damages, adding up your medical bills and lost wages, ignoring your pain and suffering and how your injuries affect your daily life. They may also ignore future needs, such as future medical expenses or reduced earning capacity.
Even after minimizing your damages in this way, they may offer you an even lower amount if they think that you might accept it.
Estimating the Value of Your Damages
To overcome lowball offers from an insurance company, it is crucial that you account for, document, and demand compensation for all of the damages you suffered, which may include:
- Medical expenses: Add up the cost of your outstanding medical bills, the bills you already paid, and costs of future follow-up care.
- Lost wages: Consider the wages you lost during your recovery, as well as any projected future lost earnings. In some instances, an economic expert witness may need to evaluate your earning history and
- Property damage: Include the value of the costs to repair your vehicle. If the costs to repair it exceed its value, research the fair market value of your vehicle pre-accident.
- Out-of-pocket expenses: Don’t forget any expenses you had to pay while your claim was pending, such as medical copays or deductibles, rental cars, rideshare trips, or over-the-counter medication.
- Pain and suffering: If you are eligible for pain and suffering damages, you can include a fair value for your physical and emotional pain and suffering, emotional distress, mental anguish, and lost quality of life.
- Your personal injury lawyer can include all of these damages in your demand for compensation.
Car Accident Settlement FAQs
How Will I Know If a Car Accident Settlement Offer Is Fair?
Consider the value of the insurance offer compared to your known losses. Review the offer line-by-line to see if each form of damages is documented, what its associated value is, and whether that figure seems fair. Fair offers will include such itemized breakdowns.
You can also have an experienced car accident lawyer review the offer. If they don’t believe it is fair, they will tell you.
Are There Signs of a Lowball Settlement Offer?
There are various signs that a settlement offer is too low, including:
- It is the first offer.
- It does not include an itemized breakdown, relying on the accident victim thinking that the overall offer is fair when it might not be.
- It has a fast expiration date.
- It does not account for ongoing medical expenses or future losses.
- It does not account for pain and suffering and other non-economic damages when applicable.
Contact an Experienced Car Accident Lawyer to Learn More About the Value of Your Claim
If you were injured in a rear-end crash and would like more information about the potential value of your claim, reach out to Cousin Benny Personal Injury for a free case review. We can discuss the particulars of your situation and explain how we can help fight for fair compensation. Contact us today for your free case review.
