How to Calculate Auto Accident Settlements

A car accident can have devastating physical and emotional effects, but when the dust settles, an injury victim is often left facing the additional distress of the financial consequences of the accident. Under Utah’s law of modified comparative negligence, an injury victim may seek compensation for their accident-related losses against the at-fault party’s insurance. One of the first questions a car accident victim asks a Utah car accident lawyer is “How do you calculate my car accident damages to seek a settlement?”

Calculating the Economic Damages Before Seeking a Car Accident Settlement

Damages in car accident claims are divided into tangible economic damages and intangible damages like pain and suffering. First, a Utah car accident attorney looks at evidence, such as the injury victim’s medical bills, typical weekly income before the accident, employer statements showing time away from work and how the injury might impact their ability to do their job going forward. They also examine receipts for out-of-pocket costs for expenses such as travel costs to see specialists, or adaptive equipment and home health aide expenses. They may consult with medical experts and occupational therapists to project future economic losses related to the injury. Then, the attorney totals these economic damages to arrive at an amount to claim from the at-fault party’s insurer.

Calculating Non-Economic Damages In Utah Car Accident Claims

Non-economic damages are intangible, and less easily calculated than medical expenses and income loss, but these are the most devastating impacts of an accident on the victim, including pain, suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, or diminished quality of life for catastrophic injuries. To assign a monetary amount to these damages, an attorney doesn’t just guess. Instead, most personal injury lawyers use one of the following two formulas:

• The Multiplier Method: this method takes the total medical costs of the injuries and multiplies it by a number between 1.5 and 5, based on the severity of the injury and the pain level and disruption to life associated with the injury according to medical experts
• The Per-Diem Method: this method assigns a daily monetary amount based on a medical expert’s opinion about the injury victim’s pain level and then multiplies the daily pain level by the number of days the injury victim is expected to feel pain until such time as they reach their maximum medical improvement for the injury

While no monetary amount of compensation relieves pain or erases suffering, the increased financial compensation awarded to an injury victim for their non-economic damages opens doors to the best medical care and brings the injury victim a sense of justice.

Do All Utah Auto Accident Claims End In Settlements?

When an experienced Utah car accident attorney documents compelling evidence of the at-fault party’s liability and makes a strong case to an insurer, they begin negotiations for a settlement. Typically, all parties wish to avoid the additional costs, delays, and anxieties of a trial. According to the U.S. Justice Department, most car accident and personal injury claims end in settlements. Only about 4% of cases require a trial. If the insurance company fails to offer an acceptable settlement, an experienced car accident attorney files a lawsuit petition before Utah’s four-year statute of limitations expires.