There is no precise formula for determining the value of a claim. Value depends on several factors, including the following:
- How much property damage is involved (indicates severity of accident)?
- Were you transported by ambulance?
- How much in medical bills do you have?
- Do you have broken bones that can be verified by x-rays?
- Do you have an injury that shows on a CT scan or MRI?
- Did you have surgery?
- Will you need surgery in the future?
- Are there any permanent injuries?
- Is there any disfigurement?
- Do you have significant wage loss?
- Have you been injured in the same body part before?
- Do you have any fault in the accident?
The range you can expect to receive is somewhere between 2 times and 15 times your medical bills, or more, depending on the factors I mentioned above.
Email me at jaime@walawgroup.com or fill out our Claim Calculator and I will email you these three articles regarding insurance company tactics which you may find interesting:
- A CNN article which describes how insurance companies like State Farm and Allstate are saving billions of dollars by underpaying accident victims;
- An Insurance Journal article which covers consumer group and whistle-blower allegations that insurance companies are manipulating computer claims programs they use to underpay injury claims; and
- An internal (and formerly confidential) Allstate memo which describes their tactics to keep your settlement value as low as possible.
Disclaimer: The information contained herein is provided as a free service to consumers and does not constitute legal advice. Nothing contained herein should be relied upon as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney.