When an insurance company settles with a person injured in a car accident, it is generally because they believe the insured driver may be found legally at fault for the accident. The process for determining legal fault is the filing of a lawsuit, which eventually proceeds to a trial in certain cases. To win at trial, the judge or jury must determine that the driver failed to operate their vehicle with reasonable care and this failure caused the accident and your resulting injuries. Once fault is established, your injuries are evaluated to determine how much compensation you can receive. Not all injuries receive the same compensation, and each case is different. Nevertheless, our South Florida car crash attorneys outline what the judge or jury will consider.
How Your Injury Affects Your Total Compensation in an Auto Accident Lawsuit
The type of injury also plays a significant role in determining the amount of a Florida car accident settlement. Injuries that require surgery usually have a higher settlement value than injuries that do not require surgery. However, certain types of injuries can affect people differently, so you must evaluate injuries on how they affect the client in their normal daily activities.
For instance, a lower back injury can have devastating consequences for a person that works in manual labor. Those types of jobs often require a person to lift and pull heavy tools and machinery on a daily basis. If a person working manual labor injuries his or her back, they may not be able to return to their job and may not have the skills or training to transition to a lighter duty job. But a person that works at a lighter duty job who performs most of their work behind a desk, may have better odds of returning to their employment even with a serious back injury.
The age of a car accident victim also plays a role in determining a car accident settlement amount. Young people usually bounce back from serious injuries much quicker than older people. So an older person that suffers a broken arm in a car accident and has a slow, partial recovery may be able to recover more in a car accident settlement than a young person that responds quickly to the medical treatment and is back at work or school quickly.
If You Needed Surgery After a Car Accident, It’s Likely You Can Recover a Larger Amount of Compensation
Generally, car accident settlement values are higher for persons that require surgery following a car accident. Some of the more common surgeries that occur after a Florida car accident are:
- Spine surgery to the neck and back
- Ankle and foot surgery
- Wrist and elbow surgery, and
- Shoulder surgery
These joints in the body undergo a tremendous amount of stress when a car stops suddenly.
Contact the Maus Law Firm for Help After a Wreck
Establishing fault and damages is no easy feat under Florida law, so you need highly competent counsel to assist you. Our attorneys have handled over 130 jury trials and recovered millions of dollars for our clients. Call 1-855-999-5297 or contact the Maus Law firm online for a consultation today so that our Fort Lauderdale automobile accident lawyers can work hard for you.