What Is a Good Settlement Offer for a Car Accident?

Factors That Determine a Good Settlement Offer for a Car Accident

When a personal injury attorney assesses a settlement offer from a car insurance company, they consider several factors:

The Seriousness of Your Injuries

The most important factor for determining whether a settlement offer is fair is how seriously you were injured in the accident. Unsurprisingly, a fair settlement for a broken bone is usually much less than a fair settlement for permanent paralysis.

Miami personal injury attorneys examine your medical records and consult with experienced physicians to determine how seriously you were hurt. Your insurance company presumably also does this, but it may come to a different conclusion, especially when you require large amounts of compensation.

Additionally, the seriousness of your injuries matters for a second reason. If you are injured seriously enough, state law allows you to file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver. 

Whether you should sue after a car accident or not is a decision you will need to make in consultation with your lawyer. But you can only make that decision if you are informed.

Who Was at Fault in the Accident?

If you were at fault in the accident, any settlement offer will be limited by the policy limit of your personal injury protection (PIP) policy. Many drivers purchase the minimum policy required by state law. This would limit any settlement to $10,000.

However, if the other party was responsible, you can receive additional compensation based on their liability coverage and potentially from a lawsuit.

Whether You Have an Underinsured Policy

Often, in serious accidents, the other driver doesn’t have enough insurance to provide as much compensation as you need. If you have an underinsured policy, your insurance will cover the difference.

How Is Pain and Suffering Calculated in a Car Accident Settlement?

Pain and suffering will only be a part of an insurance settlement amount calculation if you are injured seriously enough that state law permits you to file a lawsuit. However, since the insurance company will likely cover any judgment in a lawsuit, it may also include pain and suffering in a settlement offer to avoid being sued.

Typically, pain and suffering will be calculated based on the multiplier method. Under this method, after all expenses related to your injuries are calculated, that number will be multiplied by a value between one and five. The resulting value is compensation for pain and suffering.

The insurance company is likely to offer a multiplier between one and three. A jury award could potentially be higher. Jury instructions don’t limit the value in any way — they only require jurors to assign a fair and just value. 

You will likely have to decide whether you prefer the sure thing of a settlement or risk the decision of a jury, which can be one of the tricky decisions in navigating and understanding a car accident lawsuit.

The Average Settlement Amount for Car Accidents in Miami, FL

The average car accident settlement depends on the factors mentioned above. As a rule of thumb, the more seriously you are injured, the more money you will receive. A second good rule of thumb is that the more evidence you have supporting your claim, the more compensation you will receive.

Unfortunately, this means that there is a give-and-take between how much money you receive and how long it takes to receive it. Collecting evidence takes time; even a good lawyer can only reduce that time by so much.

How Long It Takes To Receive a Car Accident Compensation Offer After a Car Crash

With any luck, you will receive compensation reasonably quickly after a car accident. However, the insurance company has little reason to want to compensate you quickly. Typically, the longer it can delay the process, the more likely it will pay you less than you deserve.

However, it can’t indefinitely delay the process. At a certain point, it is acting in bad faith. This usually leads to one of several scenarios.

In simple claims, the insurance company is likely to take a few weeks. There aren’t many options to delay, and it doesn’t save much money by delaying the claim.

In complicated claims, the insurance company might make a very quick offer. This is likely if they expect your claim to result in long-term medical needs. They can make a quick offer that doesn’t provide enough to meet those needs. Should you accept the offer, the claim will be closed, and you won’t be able to get more money.

Alternatively, in other complicated claims, the insurance company may continue to delay for as long as possible. This can add months or even years to the process. Typically, the company hopes that you will drop your claim out of frustration.

What To Do if a Settlement Offer Is Too Low

Accepting a settlement is simple and can be easily handled by your lawyer. Rejecting an offer that is too low can be a bit more complicated. You have a few options for getting more money when a settlement offer is too low:

Negotiating a Settlement Offer With the Insurance Company

One way to get more money is to negotiate a settlement offer. To successfully negotiate a settlement offer, you need significant evidence that proves the value of your expenses. Unless you have a lot of experience doing this, negotiating is unlikely to be successful.

Filing an Appeal

Insurance companies have built-in appeals processes. Unfortunately, this process is controlled by the insurance company. Unless you can provide different evidence than was used to make the original decision or proof that the original offer violated the law, an appeal is unlikely to turn out in your favor.

Common Examples of Expenses Covered by a Car Accident Settlement

What does a settlement cover? The answer to that question depends on the specific circumstances of your car accident. In general, some or all of the following expenses are covered by a car accident settlement:

• Medical bills, past and future, resulting from the injury
• Therapy (physical, emotional, occupational) resulting from the car accident
• Lost wages
• Lost work opportunities due to missed time (like promotions)
• Pain and suffering when your injuries are serious enough
• Other expenses, like transportation costs, resulting from the accident

A settlement offer should cover all of these things. However, the insurance company will only include something in the settlement offer if it is aware of it. Thus, if you fail to include receipts for something like medical bills in your claim, the insurance company won’t calculate that into a settlement offer.

Do You Need a Miami Car Accident Lawyer To Negotiate a Car Accident Settlement?

Technically, you don’t need a car accident attorney to negotiate a car crash settlement, but you are unlikely to get positive results if you don’t have legal representation. Car accident attorneys have extensive experience dealing with insurance companies. They know exactly what type of evidence is needed to negotiate a good deal and how to get it.

Furthermore, car accident lawyers have the experience to calculate a fair settlement. If you are looking at a $10,000 medical bill and have already missed a week of work, a $15,000 settlement offer might look ideal. 

However, it isn’t ideal if there is a second $10,000 medical bill coming soon for service you already received or if you will need to miss another two months of work due to your injuries.

An experienced personal injury lawyer will ensure that you have received all of the bills for all of your expenses before negotiating with the insurance company. Furthermore, when an attorney negotiates for you, the insurance company is more likely to make a fair offer because their lawyers know you are willing to file a lawsuit if it doesn’t.

Contact Bernstein & Maryanoff Injury Attorneys After a Car Accident

Sources:

Chapter 316.027.

Florida Insurance Requirements.

Florida Standard Jury Instructions in Civil Cases.