Posted on Tuesday, August 7th, 2018 at 1:51 am
When another person or party injures you, California’s personal injury laws provide a legal remedy. You can file an injury claim against the party who caused your injury seeking compensation for damages. However, how do you how much your injury claim is worth? Do you use a personal injury calculator online or contact a Sacramento personal injury lawyer?
Do Not Trust Online Personal Injury Calculators!
You may find these “calculators” on various websites. They claim to have a formula for calculating the value of your personal injury claim. However, California does not have a formula for placing a value on an injury claim. There is not a magical multiplier that will tell you the value of your pain and suffering damages if the website even includes a value for pain and suffering damages.
In many cases, these websites advertise personal injury settlement calculators to entice you to contact and retain the office. However, you deserve and need an attorney who is honest with you about your claim. You need an attorney who will put your best interests first instead of settling a claim so that the attorney can collect a fee. You deserve a law firm that fights for full compensation for your claim, even if that requires filing a lawsuit and trying the case in court.
What is the Truth?
An attorney who is honest tells his clients that he cannot place a value on an injury claim until all relevant information is available. If you place a value on a claim before all information is available, the value is not correct. It is impossible to value a claim correctly until you have recovered fully from your injuries or your doctor provides a prognosis including a permanent disability. Valuing the claim before you reach maximum medical improvement (MMI) takes money out of your pocket.
How Do You Calculate the Value of an Accident Claim?
Many factors are used to calculate an accident claim including:
- The type of injuries sustained in the accident;
- The severity of those injuries;
- Cost of medical care and personal care;
- The value of property loss;
- Loss of income;
- The length of your recovery;
- Whether or not you suffered a permanent impairment, scarring, or disfigurement; and,
- The cost of future damages, including loss of earning capacity, lost wages, medical expenses, long-term care, etc.
In addition to the above, your physical pain, mental anguish, emotional stress, and loss of enjoyment of life must be considered when calculating the value of your injury claim. As you can see, most of the factors above cannot be determined until you have reached MMI.
At that point, our Sacramento personal injury lawyers use the information above to calculate the value of your claim to seek full compensation of all damages. By having all the information, we can maximize the chance that you receive compensation for the true value of your accident claim.
Call a Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyer for a Free Consultation
Do not trust an online calculator to determine the value of your accident claim. Trust an experienced lawyer who has your best interests as the top priority. Call The Tiemann Law Firm by calling (916) 999-9000 for a free consultation with one of our California personal injury lawyers.
