How to Calculate Your Settlement for a Personal injury
Where should you begin when trying to calculate the settlement after a personal injury accident and what are the types of damages you are entitled to? No personal injury case is the same with another and each victim will have to calculate his/her own losses, both the material ones and those related to pain and suffering.
Calculating special damages with a personal injury calculator
A personal injury calculator is a useful tool that allows victims to gain a first glimpse into the types of compensations they should ask for and also receive an estimate of their settlement amount. This online tool can only be used for one type of damages, namely the compensatory/special damages or those that are purely economic.
There are three types of compensatory damages that can be awarded in a personal injury case:
- medical treatment: all of the medical expenses incurred after the accident and any future ones linked to those specific injuries;
- property loss: monetary compensation for the damages directly brought onto the victim’s property, including the vehicle, home or other types of assets;
- lost income: includes the wages lost if the victim was unable to work because of the accident.
All of these types of damages can be estimated and the plaintiff can use the calculator to obtain a first estimate or the lowest amount of settlement he/she should be asking for from the defendant.
Using formulas to calculate general damages
The other types of damages that can be compensated after a personal injury accident include the non-economic ones like pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and/or loss of companionship, emotional distress, post traumatic stress, depression and others. These damages are meant to provide some sort of solace to the victim especially in those severe cases where there are lifelong consequences like the loss of a limb or paralysis. The help of a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer is especially important in these serious cases and we recommend asking for professional assistance.
Finding the right lawyer to work with can have a tremendous impact on your case and the final settlement amount. We recommend that you use these calculation methods in order to gain a clearer image of the settlement amount you are entitled to and also talk to an attorney who specializes in your particular type of personal injury case.
