Suffering a head injury is a traumatic experience that often results in both physical and emotional pain. If you have sustained a head injury due to someone else's negligence, you may have the legal right to compensation. However, determining the value of a head injury claim is a complex process that requires a thorough evaluation of various factors. These factors include the severity of your injury, its impact on your life, and the expenses you have incurred as a result.
There are many different potential results for your life when you have suffered a head injury in an accident. Although you may recover from your injuries, there is also a possibility that you will never be the same again for the rest of your life. Head injury claims are worth a substantial amount of money, but it is up to you to fight for it if you want to receive full compensation. No matter how seriously you have suffered an injury, the insurance company will never make the claims process easy.
You can establish and stand up for your legal rights by hiring a brain injury attorney. An Austin brain injury lawyer can do the legwork that helps you prepare for the coming battle with the insurance company by investigating the accident and helping you quantify your damages. Then, they can either negotiate with the insurance company in as tough of a manner as necessary or litigate your case in court.
Suffering a brain injury makes yours and your family’s life far more complex and can cost you a significant amount of money. The good news is that hiring a brain injury attorney will not cost you anything from your pocket. Not only does it cost you nothing upfront to speak with a brain injury lawyer during a free initial consultation, but you never need to pay them any money unless you receive a settlement or jury award.
Your Head Injury Case Can Result in a Wide Range of Financial Outcomes
The value of your head injury case depends on several factors. The foremost consideration is the scope and extent of your injuries because personal injury compensation depends on your situation. This compensation should pay you for the experience that you have gone through and will endure in the future, both in terms of your financial losses and the impacts that your physical injuries have had on you.
Head injuries can have a number of outcomes for your long-term future, and many will result in damage to your brain. The impact on your head has likely caused an injury to your brain, whether temporary or permanent. Any brain injury is an extremely serious matter, even if you will eventually recover from it. You may miss out on many aspects of your life for the entire time that you are dealing with a brain injury, and you have the legal right to compensation for everything that you have lost.
Knowing the Value of Your Head Injury Claim Is the First Part of the Battle
Before you can file a claim or lawsuit seeking compensation for your head injury, you must know the exact value of your case. Your first obligation in any personal injury case is to show that someone else was to blame for your accident injuries. This step will put you in line for financial compensation. Your second obligation is to prove all your damages before receiving your money. The burden of proof is to demonstrate all the harm you have suffered in a personal injury case.
Understanding the concepts that underlie your head injury case is helpful before you file a claim seeking any money. The overarching idea is that the responsible party must pay to restore you to the position you were in before your injury happened.
Initially, you need to know that your head injury compensation will cover what you have already lost and the damages you will suffer. Determining your damages is challenging, especially when you will not get paid for any speculative assertions of harm. However, this is a task you must complete when you seek to persuade a jury or insurance company to pay for your damages.
Economic Damages in Your Head Injury Case
The damages from your head injury will include financial losses, such as the money you spent on necessary medical care. Especially after suffering a brain injury, there is a high amount of costs associated with the short-term treatment that you need. Neurological tests and procedures are costly, given the complexity and risks. You may also need rehabilitation to regain or recover some of the functions that you have lost or to help you learn to live with a long-term injury.
The total medical expenses you need to pay vary widely, depending on the specific nature of your head injury. It is not uncommon for serious brain injuries to require millions of dollars in care. Further, you have to reimburse your health insurance provider for the costs they have already covered, and you will also need to pay back medical providers for any money you owe them. You must factor in what you may need to repay before you agree to any settlement.
Lost Earnings in Your Head Injury
Your economic losses for a head injury also include the earnings you were unable to earn from your job. You will almost always miss a significant amount of time from work to recover from your injury. Even a concussion requires at least several weeks of rest for you to heal fully. Many head injuries can lead to an inability to work again or being physically unable to perform the work that you did before your accident. The responsible party must compensate you for the lost money and future income you cannot earn.
Your non-economic damages are one of the most valuable parts of your head injury case. The injury that you have suffered will affect you in many ways and diminish your quality of life. Again, these are losses for which you must receive reimbursement.
How Non-Economic Damages Work in Your Head Injury Case
Pain and suffering is the most significant part of your non-economic damages. This compensation will cover many of the things you have gone through since your accident.
Specifically, pain and suffering damages may include the following:
- The physical pain that you are enduring
- Mental anguish from your injuries
- Loss of enjoyment of the loss you had before your head injury
- Emotional distress from the accident that caused your injury
- Embarrassment and humiliation from the effects of your injuries
- Scarring and disfigurement
In other words, pain and suffering is a broad umbrella that encompasses virtually all your injuries' subjective effects.
The difficulty in valuing pain and suffering damages is that you expect the insurance companies to rely on your reports of what you are dealing with, which they do not want to do under any circumstances. They want to superimpose their own vision of your experience onto your case by taking your narrative out of the equation.
The Insurance Company Often Tries to Underpay Pain and Suffering Damages
Insurance companies will try to make pain and suffering damages as “objective” as possible by using a mathematical formula to calculate what they will offer you in a settlement. They will select a number to apply to your past and future medical bills as a multiplier and use it as the basis of your pain and suffering damages.
Suppose you have suffered a severe brain injury. In that case, insurance companies will likely offer you several times your medical expenses as pain and suffering damages, but it is nowhere near enough to compensate you. The insurance company may provide you with hundreds of thousands of dollars or more in pain and suffering damages, but this amount may still fall short.
Pain and suffering damages is an area where an unrepresented accident victim can get the short end of the stick. It is important never to underestimate the effects that a lasting head injury can have on your life and how much your claim is worth. When you hire a brain injury attorney, they will not let you make that mistake.
You Need a Head Injury Lawyer to Know the Value of Your Case
There is little chance that you can figure out your personal injury damages on your own, and you will likely understate your damages because you are not familiar with the underlying concepts. For example, you may think that a concussion is a minor injury without realizing all the ways that it impacts your life. Insurance companies are counting on you not to understand the full extent of your damages because they want to make you a low settlement offer (assuming that they accept liability in your case in the first place). If you do not have sufficient evidence of negligence, the insurance company may deny your claim entirely.
A brain injury lawyer knows how to evaluate your case and help you figure out how much money you should seek when filing a claim or lawsuit. They will apply their experience and knowledge in handling claims similar to yours to arrive at that number. If your head injury is complex and will affect you for some time to come, your brain injury attorney may work with several expert witnesses to understand your condition and prognosis for the future.
For example, your brain injury lawyer may work with medical experts to learn more about your condition. They can contact a life care planning expert to understand what assistance you may need with daily activities. In the process, your brain injury attorney will also document your damages so you can fully support them when seeking compensation.
A Brain Injury Attorney Fights for You to Receive Compensation
Your brain injury lawyer will also fight to ensure that you receive all the compensation you deserve in your case. One of the ways they do this is by advising you to reject any low settlement offer and continuing to negotiate on your behalf with the insurance company. The threat of litigation is the backdrop under which they will continue negotiations.
Insurance companies want to avoid litigation for many reasons, mainly because you will make for a sympathetic plaintiff in front of a jury. Your brain injury attorney can skillfully use this threat to make the insurance company fear you. Ultimately, you may reach an agreement on a settlement that fully pays you without having to go to a trial in front of a jury. When you hire a brain injury attorney, they will advise you throughout the legal process to maximize the value of your case.
If money is a concern, you do not have to worry about paying a brain injury lawyer out of pocket. These lawyers often work on a contingency fee basis, meaning that you do not have to pay any upfront costs, and the lawyer will only get paid if they successfully win your case.
Contingency fees are a common practice in personal injury cases, including brain injury claims. Instead of paying an hourly rate or a fixed fee, you enter into an agreement with your attorney, where they will receive a percentage of any compensation you receive. This arrangement allows people who may not have the financial means to hire a lawyer to have access to quality legal representation.
When calculating the value of a head injury claim, working with an experienced personal injury attorney is vital. They will have the knowledge and experience to handle the legal process and advocate for your rights. An attorney can help gather the necessary evidence, negotiate with insurance companies, and ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.
A Brain Injury Lawyer is Standing By
Remember, every head injury claim is unique, and there is no one-size-fits-all answer to how much your claim may be worth. It is best to consult with a qualified personal injury attorney who can thoroughly evaluate your case and estimate its value accurately. Do not hesitate to seek legal counsel and protect your rights after experiencing a head injury.
