Each personal injury case is different and so is the amount of compensations awarded to the accident victims. The settlement amount is meant to cover the expenses of the plaintiff which are directly related to the injury and, in some cases, those less quantifiable effects such as pain and suffering after the accident. Victims who are unsure of how to calculate the value of compensations for a personal injury can start with a simple add up of the monetary damages.
What is included in a compensation?
The compensation or settlement is meant to cover the losses of an accident victim. The amount is usually proportional to the sum of medical expenses, property damage and other losses the plaintiff wouldn’t have suffered if it weren’t for the unfortunate occurrence.
A personal injury calculator can be an useful tool for understanding the basic losses included in a personal injury claim. These include monetary damages that refer to the following:
- medical expenses, both present and future;
- property damages, for example, the car involved in a vehicle accident;
- lost wages, present and future, when the victim was unable to receive income as a direct result of the accident.
This type of calculator adds up all of the above mentioned expenses and uses a multiplier for the victim’s pain and suffering. Multiplier one is used as a medium one, for the normal distress that would appear in a vehicle accident, for example. In more severe cases, like those that involve catastrophic injuries, the compensations are calculated using a higher multiplier for pain and suffering.
How do you calculate the compensation according to accident particularities?
In a personal injury accident claim, there are two types of possible compensations: the special damages that include the economic losses and the general damages, offered for non-monetary loss in the accident, namely pain and suffering.
Because each case is different, the plaintiff, together with a personal injury lawyer, if he/she chooses to seek legal aid, will calculate the total compensation amount based on these two types of compensations and the severity of the accident.
The personal injury calculator, although a useful tool for receiving an estimate, should be used only as a basis for the minimum amount of compensation. Legal aid is recommended for a complete analysis of the settlement amount in your particular case.
