What is My Case Worth?

What is my Georgia Car Accident Case Worth?

This is, of course, one of the most common questions we get. The best thanks to answering the question is to interrupt apart claims into sure classes. Remember as you browse through this that you simply square measure the client however you're conjointly a merchant. Your injury case is treated by the insurance corporations as an artefact. It has a value in a very specialized market.

Injury lawyers supply free consultations and that I would counsel that you simply cash in of the "free appraisal." One sturdy note of caution. Crummy lawyers will promise you the moon. Be sure to raise them to list the last jury cases they tried to Associate in Nursing actual finding ahead of a jury, as well as the decide and tell them you will verify the information.

Sadly, many are liars so let them know that you will do your homework!

Some of the most important misconceptions regarding case worth that folks have are:

People believe that the insurance corporations can pay them a mass for a minor injury simply to avoid proceeding prices.

People believe that the worth of their case is mathematically determined to be 2 or thrice their medical bills.

People believe there is compensation for the hassle and annoyance factor.

Now that you simply understand what doesn't have an effect on the worth, let’s look at the factors that do matter.

Be sure to conjointly watch our careful series of videos addressing these issues:

Factor #1 The Seriousness of the Injury

This is by far the most important factor. The additional serious the injury is, the more a jury will care; and the more the jury will award in damages. The insurer’s supply is usually supported what a jury may ultimately do. They pay buckets of cash chase jury verdicts and tweaking their laptop primarily based evaluations to create certain that they worth their cases in such the simplest way to minimize cost and risk. If a jury would care regarding the injury, the insurance company can supply more cash for it.

Soft Tissue Injuries

Soft tissue cases area unit the foremost common form of case that Georgia courts see. If the shopper treated cautiously and created an honest recovery once therapy, then the jury can in fact care, however they're not planning to award an outsized amount of money. On the opposite hand, some individuals with soft tissue cases build a slow recovery and still struggle with pain problems for years. If the medical testimony is credible, then the jury will come a sizeable finding of fact.

However, as a general rule, if the x-rays associated MRI scans don't show an injury and also the diagnosing is soft tissue injuries, you must expect that the insurance firm will “low-ball” you and some will not even offer the full amount of the medical bills. This is a certainty if there was not a lot of damage to the car.

Many of the lower quality insurance firms can argue that soft tissue injuries area unit unimportant. For example, recently the adjusters that handle claims for an exact insurance underwriter of expedient in Georgia tried to “low-ball” a shopper World Health Organization had incurred $12,000.00 price of medical care from associate orthopedical medical doctor as well as injections and therapy that went on for 3 months. The insurance underwriter refused the demand for the $25,000.00 policy limits and their solely argument against paying the boundaries was "this is just a soft tissue injury." at that time speech, we place his case into the courts we tend to|and that we} can take a finding of fact in more than their $25,000.00 limits because of their sloppy claims handling. The point is, just because an insurance adjuster says your claim is not worth much because it is an injury to a soft tissue, does not mean he is right. You must settle for the very fact that to urge verity worth of the case, you may have to file suit and try the case.

So, “what is that the worth of a soft tissue injury in Georgia?” “Soft tissue” is a term that covers literally hundreds of body parts. A strain/sprain injury to the spine that was treated with associate ER visit and moderate therapy lasting but 2 months with an entire recovery and price less than $3,000.00 is price but $10,000.00 in front of a jury. There are of course exceptions to every case. Remember that for a soft tissue case, a dominant factor in the insurance company’s evaluation is how bad the damage to the car looks. Jurors area unit less possible to believe that associate injury occurred if there's lowest harm to the vehicle. These days, it doesn't take abundant to cause $1,000.00 in damage to a car, so the best predictor of the jury’s concern for the client is what the damage looks like. If it's serious, then the jury will take the case seriously. Conversely, if there's little or no harm to the automobile, a Georgia jury is going to hesitate before empathizing with the Plaintiff and the insurer will not pay much on the claim.

The investigator can take into account the quantity of the harm to the automobile, the dollar total of the gross medical bills, the total amount of the lost wages and the nature of the injury and how long it took to recover. These are all components of the seriousness of the injury.

You must also look at your pre-crash health. Did you have these same complaints in years past? Have you been injured in other car accidents in recent years? The insurance firm can have a print out of any previous insurance claims you've got ever created and these embrace staff compensation claims.

Simple whiplash cases involving sprains and strains:

A garden selection case with ER care and treatment care wherever there's property harm over $2500 and also the gross medical bills total $5,000-6,000. Cases like this in Dekalb, Fulton, Clayton and Gwinnett will typically get offers in the $2-3,000 dollar on top of medical bills range in the hands of a lawyer. For cases without a lawyer, the gross number will be less, but the net to the client can be higher, because of no attorneys fees.

The same case with medical care through an orthopedist but with physical therapy and the same billing totals would likely be worth $4-5,000 on top of the medical specials in the hands of a lawyer. The case has additional worth as a result of the jury is additional possible to respect a medical doctor and also the reasonably care a panelist would receive from their own Doctor.

Soft tissue cases that even have epidural injections or side injections or another advanced procedure. These cases area unit additional revered as a result of they mirror the seriousness of the injury. Your also will realize higher worth in cases with ruinous harm however modest injuries. Think of it as theatre. If the audience (the jury) goes to be affected by the harm or the care, their numbers will be higher. Because the request from these varieties of medical procedures area unit everywhere the map, it is hard to generalize. With epidural injections, you will often see the medical bill totals exceeding $10,000. If there's solely a $25,000 policy, odds are good that the insurer will have to pay the limits of the policy because there is a slim margin for error.

Serious Injuries

For serious injuries, it is impossible to generalize about value. One issue is certain; if the injury is serious, rent a attorney as a result of the insurance carrier won't pay the right worth on the claim unless they believe you are willing to file the lawsuit.

Factor #2: The Severity of the Crash

This one is pretty obvious. A lot of serious the harm to the cars, a lot of possible it's that a jury can perceive however the injury may have occurred. Even with huge medical bills, some carriers can refuse to pay if the property harm appearance low as a result of the difference of opinion that the injury couldn't occur during a low-speed collision is such a robust good judgment argument with the jury. I am bound there square measure some folks that claim a crash caused their injury once it very pre-existed, however, I'm equally certain that there square measure some folks that are just fragile and it does not take much to push them into the realm of lifelong pain. Understand that but you return down on the difficulty, the underwriter won't treat the claim with any respect if the property harm is low.

Factor #3: The Client’s Personality

It would appear obvious, however, many consumers square measure shocked to listen to that their temperament drastically affects the worth of a case. The true price of a case is set by twelve jurors sitting in judgment of the facts, and if they such as you, they award more cash. If they don’t like you well…. it goes the other way. I have had cases made and broken by the client’s personality. What I counsel all my shoppers before deposition and before trial is to recollect that jurors just like the accountable subject, not a bellyacher. The character you demonstrate in handling adversity says an excellent deal concerning United Nations agency you're and jurors can lookout of you if you behave sort of a cheap person. Be kind, be forgiving, be the kind of neighbour the juror wants on her street. Don’t exaggerate and speak with the earnestness of what you have gone through. Jurors are very good as sorting the B.S. from the reality, and they will award a verdict accordingly.

Factor #4: Venue

Venue for Georgia State and Superior and Magistrate Court cases is the County in which the case will be tried. All residents of Georgia, be they corporations or people, are entitled to be sued in their home county. There square measure some notable exceptions for truck collisions and for cases involving multiple defendants, but as a general rule, this holds true. Generally speaking, urban, lower-income jury pools tend to award higher verdicts for damages and insurance companies know this. For the Atlanta area, I would rank the most favourable counties to bring a case in as follows 1) Clayton County, 2) Dekalb County, 3) Fulton County, 4) Gwinnett County. Gwinnett is changing rapidly and is growing more generous in their verdicts. Outside of Columbus, Macon and parts of Savannah and Glynn County, the rest of the State is fairly conservative and juries do not award decent verdicts unless the injuries are significant.

Therefore, when evaluating a case, it is important to know where the suit will eventually be brought.

Factor #5: The Amount of Liability Insurance

The hardest news that I actually have to deliver to some shoppers is that the indisputable fact that our sensible ability to create a dollar quantity recovery for them is controlled to a large extent by the amount of insurance the defendant carries. We have handled wrongful death cases where there is only $50,000.00 in liability insurance and the defendant does not have any personal assets. While a Georgia wrongful death case is clearly worth over a million dollars, the $50,000.00 in the insurance money is sometimes the only money available. Clients can usually raise, can’t you sue the person individually? Sure, however, if the guilty driver doesn't have to make the most the bank or abundant equity in their home, you will not find a lawyer that will take the case on a fee basis as a result of there's no method for the professional to urge paid. The previous saw is true; you can't get blood from a stone.

The identity of the insurance carrier conjointly plays a task. Each insurance underwriter encompasses a totally different temperament, as do the individual adjusters. Certain carriers are dirtbags and will “low-ball” you all the way until trial while a scarce few will try to get things worked out without litigation.