If you’ve been injured in an accident through no fault of your own and have incurred expenses and losses, such as medical bills or lost wages due to missed work, you may be entitled to seek compensation in a personal injury claim. However, you may wonder what an average payout in a personal injury claim looks like or how much compensation you may be entitled to in your case.
What Can You Be Compensated for in a Personal Injury Claim?
If you bring a personal injury claim against a party at fault for your injuries, you may be entitled to compensation for losses and expenses such as:
- Costs of medical treatment, including hospital bills, doctor appointments, surgeries, medication, physical therapy, and other out-of-pocket purchases
- Long-term care costs if you suffer lasting injury or permanent disability
- Lost wages or income if you miss time from work while recovering from your injuries
- Lost earning capacity when disabilities permanently impact your earn the same level of income you did prior to your injury
- Loss of quality of life from disabilities, physical scarring, or reduced life expectancy due to your injuries
- Pain and suffering
How Is Personal Injury Compensation Calculated?
Most personal injury claims are settled between the parties, or more frequently, between the injured party and the insurance company of the at-fault party. A couple of factors go into calculating personal injury compensation in a settlement.
First, compensation will include all documented expenses incurred by the injured party, including bills and invoices from medical treatment, and lost wages or income from missed work. If an injured party is expected to continue incurring losses into the future, medical or financial experts may be consulted to opine as to what further medical treatment the injured party may require, how much more time they are expected to miss from work, or what lifetime earnings they are estimated to have lost.
As for non-economic losses such as pain and suffering or lost quality of life, calculating the payout for those losses typically involves a multiplier method, in which the injured party’s financial losses are multiplied by some factor that is based on the severity of the injuries involved. A person who has suffered less severe injuries may only receive 1.5 times their financial damages as compensation for pain and suffering, while someone who has been severely injured and/or permanently disabled might receive three or four times their financial losses.
How Much Is an Average Personal Injury Payout?
Personal injury payouts can range from a few thousand dollars for cases involving less-severe injuries that heal in a matter of a few weeks, to millions or tens of millions of dollars where an accident victim was severely and permanently injured and disabled. However, the average personal injury claim value tends to fall somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,000.
Most personal injury payouts are often limited by the availability of insurance coverage. For example, many drivers in Florida only carry the minimum amount of insurance coverage required by law, which is $10,000 per person/$20,000 per incident. When an at-fault party has minimal or no insurance coverage and few other financial resources, it has the practical effect of limiting the payout in a personal injury claim.
Contact a Lake Worth Personal Injury Lawyer to Discuss Your Case in Florida
Did you or a loved one sustain serious injuries in Florida? Don’t let the medical bills pile up while you wait for the negligent party or their insurance company to do the right thing. Right now, you need an aggressive personal injury attorney on your side, fighting to get you the compensation you need, want, and deserve. The skilled attorneys at Gonzalez & Cartwright, P.A. represent clients injured in West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Pembroke Pines, Hollywood, and throughout Florida. Call (561) 533-0345 or email us to schedule a free consultation about your case. We have an office conveniently located at 813 Lucerne Ave., Lake Worth, FL 33460, as well as offices in Pompano Beach.
The articles on this blog are for informative purposes only and are no substitute for legal advice or an attorney-client relationship. If you are seeking legal advice, please contact our law firm directly.