What is the normal settlement for a personal injury accident?
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What is the normal settlement for a personal injury accident?
Company paid for vehicle repair and tried to settle bodily injury claim. asked what happens if I have problems later on with my neck, who would pay for it. Told me that once claim was signed by me, they had no more responsibility to pay anymore medical. I offered a higher figure with me signing off accepting to pay additional medical out of my pocket and not the insurance. Medical right now is set at $3,624. Told agent that I wanted 12 plus medical and he says no.
Asked on December 1, 2014 under Personal Injury, Texas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 9 years ago | Contributor
If your current medical is $3,624, you're *not* going to get $12,000 plus that medical cost, or almost $16,000--i.e. you're hoping to get 4 times what your medical costs.
Yes, you would be giving up your right to claim for future medical, but you don't even know if you you'll have any. The other side will not pay you money for a mere possibility. If you have a medical diagnosis showing that there will be continuing problems and you'll need continuing treatment at a projected cost of $X, that's different; then you can add that projected cost to your current medical and settle for some portion (often around 25% - 50 or 60%) of that--you always take less in a settlement than you'd get if you went to trial and won, and you do that because you get the money faster, without the cost and uncertainty of trial, and paying less is the incentive for the other side to settle.
But without good medical support for future problems or costs, all you have as provable cost is $3,624, and no one is going to pay you four times that in settlement. If all you have is $3,624 (apologies for the font changing to "bold"-I'm not sure why it did), you might get at most $4,000 or $4,500...that is, your costs plus some small premium for your "pain and suffering."
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