Is There a Formula to Determine Accident Settlement Amounts?

Personal Injury Accident: Your Claim's Potential Money Damages     

     There is no such thing as a formula settlement because there are no formula plaintiffs. How each of us experience injury is personal to us.   There is no magic formula of “x times specials” that determines the proper settlement amount.  Occasionally, an adjuster will tell you that only “x times specials” is available, and that is all that will ever be available.   It may be that the appropriate amount for settlement is some multiple of the special damages, but that is a mere coincidence.  An accident settlement fits well because it is fair, not because it is the result of some pre-ordained mathematical formula. In some accidents, three times medical bills and lost wages (called together "specials") is an awful settlement; in others, it is fantastic.

     One thing insurance companies - thinking particularly of Nationwide and State Farm - have been doing of late is pitching offers in terms of how much more they are paying than the medical bills and lost wages. Someone smart came up with this because it is like calling something $9.99 instead of $10.00. It just sounds more palatable to say, "We are offering $50,000 more than the special damages" than saying "this offer is 1.8 times the medical bills plus lost wages."

    Maryland accident lawyers need to avoid the temptation engage in the slippery slope of talking to insurance adjusters in "___ times specials" terms because there is no formula in personal injury cases to calculate settlement value. An accident case is worth what a judge or jury would give the Plaintiff and there are about 10 variables far more important to this calculus than any formula. When Maryland accident lawyers use formula talk, they are telegraphing to the claims adjuster that you are looking at your client as simply a number that is a part of a formula, not a person. Accident lawyers that talk in "times specials" math are not the same lawyers that read and evaluate the medical records... or try accident cases in Maryland.

    Sure, in very small whiplash injury type cases, a formula will be correct in many of these claims. Still, even in those small soft tissue cases, accident lawyers tossing around formulas will send a loud message to the adjuster that will forever mark the lawyer as an advocate who is not really looking at cases and fighting for their clients. This makes for a weaker settlement offer in this case and the next one.

     Our Maryland accident lawyers look at cases on the merits of each case. If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury as the result of the negligence of someone else, call our lawyers at 800-553-8082 or click here for a free Internet consultation.

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Our malpractice lawyers handle personal injury vehicle accident, malpractice and product liability claims throughout the country. If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury or death as the result of the negligence of someone else, call our lawyers at 800-553-8082 or click here for a free Internet consultation.