How Much Will You Get From Car Accident Settlement?
If you have been injured in a car accident, you would probably be dealing with your medical bills, emotional distress, insurance payments, etc.
Car wrecks seem to happen at the wrong time, and they might leave you suffering from problems that you never thought you would ever have to deal with.
Car accident settlements may compensate you for the damages that you sustained. This can include lost wages, psychological or physical trauma and cost of replacing or fixing your car.
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How Much Should I Expect From Car Accident Settlement?
The compensation that you will receive depends a lot on the severity of the accident crash and the type of injury you suffered. Car accidents can either be minor or major.
So, your compensation cannot be the same, it varies based on the severity of the injury you have suffered.
If your injury resulted in hospitalization, physical or psychological trauma, etc, the compensation may definitely be high. But for minor injuries, the compensation isn’t.
In other words, the compensation actually depends on the circumstances.
You must also understand your car insurance policy. Most insurance policies provide two types of liability coverage for vehicle insurance.
- Bodily injury liability- it covers the medical expenses for the crash. It usually comes in two maximum coverage amounts, such as 15/30, 25/50, 50/100, 100/300, 250/500, etc. It means your insurer would pay up to $100K for a single person’s injury and $300K for all claimants or 15K for one claimant and 30K for all claimants, etc.
- Property damage liability- when the other driver is at fault, your attorney would find out what their max property damage policy coverage is. Many drivers carry the minimum $5,000 coverage.
Do You Pay Taxes On Injury Settlements?
If you have received a settlement following a car accident, you might wonder if you have to pay taxes on the money.
The answer in most cases, no. but that is not a hard and fast rule and it depends on the nature and circumstances of the settlement or judgment.
Usually, it doesn’t matter whether the money you have received is through settlements or through judgment following trials.
How Much Is The Average Car Accident Settlement?
When wondering what is the average payout for a car accident, you must know the amount might vary. Since the severity of the accident and the injuries are not always the same.
The damages are divided into three main categories.
- Special- it includes the past and future medical expenses, surgery cost, other treatments, loss of wages, property damage, etc. It is easy to calculate the special damages based on the amount the victim has incurred in the medical bills and other quantifiable damages.
- General- it includes the experiencing of pain and trauma as a result of the crash, such as mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, etc. These damages are difficult to calculate.
- Punitive- this is the compensation the jury decides to award if they think compensatory damages are not enough.
Statistics have shown that the average small car accident settlement actually falls between $14,000 and $28,000 or around $21,000.
More serious injuries have values above that up to and including 6 and seven figures payouts. Some plaintiffs receive millions of dollars in damages depending on their circumstances.
How To Get A Settlement From A Car Accident?
The first and most important thing is to contact a car accident attorney. You do not have the legal knowledge to handle and this is when the attorney would come to your rescue.
The attorney would take up the case, file it if necessary, and help you get a proper settlement. However, if you try to do it yourself, it would take a lot of your time and you will receive a smaller settlement. So, expert assistance is needed when thinking of getting a settlement from the car accident.
The insurance company plays a crucial role in determining the amount of your settlement, and the attorney you have hired would act as your advocate with the insurer. So, you don’t have anything to worry about when dealing with the insurance company, your attorney will handle them.
How Much Should I Settle For My Car Accident?
There are two concepts that need to be understood; your odds of winning; and the amount of your recovery. You need to do a little math.
Take this hypothetical: If you think you have a 50% chance of winning at the trial, and the jury is likely to award you something in the vicinity of $100,000, you can settle for $50,000.
But again, remember that every case is different and that this is just an extremely rough example outline of one settlement valuation. Others are different.
Your demand should be at least twice what you are looking to settle the case for, if not more. you must give yourself room to negotiate.
How Long Does Car Accident Settlement Negotiations Take?
Non-litigated cases usually settle after 6 to 10 months from the date of injury. The insurance company must respond within 30 days to plaintiff’s settlement demand letter.
After the settlement is reached, it would take four to six weeks to complete the settlement process.
Finally, if you have been injured in a car accident, make sure that you act quickly. You have two years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit for your personal injury.
