How Much Are Personal Injury Damages Worth After a Car Accident?

Determining the true physical, financial, and emotional costs of personal injury damages after a car accident can be challenging.  At Moore Law Firm, our personal injury lawyers in Mobile, AL have helped more than 15,000 clients in Alabama recover the fair amount of compensation they deserve. We help you understand the types of personal injury damages you may be entitled to receive and how much your claim may be worth.

How Are Damages in Personal Injury Cases Calculated?

Although there’s no specific formula for calculating personal injury damages after a crash, there are many different factors taken into account when determining how much a claim is worth.  Some important factors that can impact damages in personal injury cases are calculable economic costs like medical bills and wage loss, the severity of your condition, and how it has affected your quality of life.

It’s important to note that Alabama law adheres to the concept of contributory negligence. This means that if you’re partially at fault for a car accident, you aren’t entitled to recover any personal injury damages. To avoid paying personal injury damages in Alabama, insurance companies often claim that the injured person shares responsibility for a crash. Our Mobile personal injury attorneys know how to counter the underhanded tactics they employ and fight to protect your rights and interests.

Recovering Special Damages in Personal Injury Cases

Also called economic damages, special personal injury damages are quantifiable losses. Economic losses associated with car accident injuries vary from case to case. If you’ve suffered a catastrophic injury that requires extensive ongoing medical care and leaves you unable to work, the amount of damages you may be able to recover is greater than if you suffered a minor injury. For example, if you or a loved one is paralyzed in a collision, you’d likely receive a much larger settlement or award than if you had only suffered whiplash.

Types of special personal injury damages may include:

• Medical bills
• Lost wages
• Cost of rehabilitation services
• Home modification costs
• Domestic service costs, such as housekeeping, childcare, lawn care, and other tasks you used to perform
• Ongoing nursing care
• Property damage to your vehicle
• Other accident and injury-related costs

Even though determining amounts of special personal injury damages may seem straightforward, the accurate calculation of future medical expenses and loss of earning capacity can be challenging. Car accident attorneys sometimes work with medical experts who specialize in estimating the costs of specific treatments, medications, and other interventions that may be required. Where you live, your age, and your general health prior to the accident are also considered.

To calculate future loss of earnings, personal injury lawyers may consult with economists and other financial professionals. Factors such as age, income before the accident, prospects for advancement, and the number of years you would have reasonably been expected to work if you hadn’t been hurt are just a few elements that may be taken into account.

Non-Economic Personal Injury Damages

To recover non-economic personal injury damages, your car accident lawyer must also evaluate the intangible ways in which an injury has affected your life. The greater the impact your injury has on your quality of life and general well-being, the more your claim will be worth.

Types of non-economic damages for personal injury include:  

• Pain and suffering
• Mental anguish
• Emotional distress
• Diminished quality of life
• Loss of companionship and consortium with a spouse or partner
• Disfigurement and scarring

The value of non-economic damages in personal injury cases is highly subjective. This makes them much more challenging to calculate. To come up with a realistic number, a personal injury lawyer considers vital elements such as the severity and nature of your injury, the likelihood that you’ll make a full recovery, and how the injury has affected all areas of your life.

Insurance companies often use the multiplier method to calculate non-economic damages such as pain and suffering. Usually, total economic damages are multiplied by 1.5 up to 5, depending on the seriousness of the injury and its impact on your life and physical and emotional well-being. A multiplier may be higher depending on the specific circumstances of the case.

Punitive Damages

If punitive damages factor into your personal injury case, certain monetary caps may apply in Alabama.  However, if you’re bringing a wrongful death claim against a negligent party, punitive damages are the only type you may receive and there is no limit on how much you may be awarded.

Insurance Policy Limits Affect the Value of Your Personal Injury Claim

Auto insurance coverage plays a major role when calculating damages in personal injury cases. For example, if your car accident attorney determines that your claim is worth $100,000 but the negligent party who caused an accident has an insurance policy with a limit of $50,000, that is the maximum you can recover from their insurer. If a negligent driver has minimal insurance but a substantial amount of assets, you may be able to bring a lawsuit against them to cover more of your damages.

The minimum insurance requirements for Alabama drivers are:

• Bodily Injury Liability: $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident
• Property Damage Liability: $25,000

These minimal amounts may not even cover all your medical costs, let alone additional car accident damages. However, you may be able to get additional compensation from your own auto insurance policy. Carrying adequate amounts of collision, comprehensive medical payment coverage and uninsured motorist coverage on your own auto insurance policy is well worth the cost.

Truck accident cases typically involve much higher insurance limit amounts, which can enable you to obtain maximum compensation to cover all your personal injury damages. However, this means that insurers fight even harder to minimize payouts and avoid paying claims, so it’s vital to have a tenacious personal injury lawyer by your side.

Contact a Mobile Personal Injury Lawyer to Learn More

Trying to determine how much personal injury damages are worth can be overwhelming and confusing. At Moore Law Firm, we thoroughly evaluate your case and advise you of all your options. To schedule a consultation with one of our personal injury attorneys in Mobile today, contact us, call us at 251-445-7602, or use the convenient chat feature on our website.