As part of a personal injury claim, the injured party typically sets forth a monetary amount that he or she would accept to resolve the claim. The idea behind seeking a monetary amount is to make you whole again or as close as possible to the way you were before the accident. Depending on the extent of your injuries, it is possible that no amount of money will be able to make up for what was lost due to the injury. While it is possible to use exact figures for medical bills or lost wages, translating your pain and suffering to a monetary amount is challenging. There is no specific formula to follow. It depends on the person and the extent of his or her injuries.

You should consult with an attorney regarding your particular situation, but generally, when you bring a claim or lawsuit in connection with injuries sustained in an accident, you are seeking compensation related to the following categories:

• Medical Treatment
• Loss of Earning Capacity
• Pain & Suffering

Medical Treatment

As part of your claim, you are seeking to recover the cost of medical treatment that occurred due to the injuries you sustained as a result of the accident. This might include bills from hospitals, primary care providers, specialists, chiropractors, physical therapists, home nursing, etc. It is important to collect all relevant medical records and associated bills in order to clearly present the medical treatment portion of your claim. 

Even if your medical bills were paid for by health insurance, you may still present them as part of your claim. In some cases, the health insurer asserts a lien for the amount it paid, which will have to be paid out of any money you receive from a settlement or judgment. Regardless of whether there is a lien, your total amount of medical bills is considered to be the total amount billed by the medical providers. For purposes of calculating your total medical expenses, there is no differentiation between what was paid for by health insurance versus out of pocket.

Your claim may also include the cost of reasonably anticipated future medical treatment. Including this a part of your claim will require supporting documentation from your treating providers. 

Loss of Earning Capacity

As part of your claim, you can seek recovery of lost wages. If you had a job at the time of the accident and could not work for a period of time due to your injuries, you can calculate how much time you missed from work and what you lost in wages due to the missed time. Documentation can be ascertained by prior pay stubs and employer verification.

Even if you were not employed at the time of the accident, you may seek damages for loss of earning capacity. If you had the capacity to work before the accident and then, due to your injuries, lost the necessary physical or mental ability to earn money following the accident, you can calculate what you could have made during that period of time. In order to determine your reasonable likely earnings, factors to consider include what you did up until the injury, what you earned before and after the injury, and what training and experience you have. Whether your claim seeks lost wages or loss of earning capacity, It is important to document and outline this information clearly so that it can be presented effectively.

Pain and Suffering

As part of your claim, you can seek damages for your pain and suffering, both physical and mental. This can often be a difficult figure to generate as there is no specific formula to follow. To calculate physical pain and suffering, you would consider any physical injuries to your body as a result of the accident. This would take into account the pain and suffering experienced since the accident and into the future. This would also take into account any temporary or permanent loss of function or scarring to a particular body part.

To calculate mental pain and suffering, you would consider any nervousness, shock, anxiety, embarrassment, or mental anguish that occurred as a result of the injury. Pain and suffering might also consider what activities were missed such as work, play or family life. Pain and suffering damages attempts to compensate you for any reduction in the enjoyment of life you experienced.

It is certainly challenging to equate pain and suffering to a dollar amount. However, the more clearly you are able to show to what extent the injuries have changed your life, the more support you will have for the pain and suffering portion of your claim. 

Liability

While your medical treatment, loss of earning capacity, and pain and suffering are all considered as part of your claim, it is important to note that the value of your claim fluctuates based on the facts and circumstances of the accident. It is typical for defendants and their insurers to defend against the claim on “liability’ grounds. Liability refers to a party’s responsibility for the accident. 

There are some cases where liability is clear. For example, if Party #1 rear-ended Party #2 in a motor vehicle accident, in most cases it will be clear that Party #1 was negligent and responsible for the accident. In other words, Party #1 would be liable for the accident. In this example, liability would favor Party #2 and, in most cases, Party #2 would recover the damages sought. However, there are plenty of cases where liability is not as clear. For example, if a patron slips and falls in a store, many factors would have to be considered in order to determine whether the operator of the store was negligent or otherwise responsible for the accident. The mere happening of an accident itself is not evidence of negligence. If a defendant or its insurer believes that the injured party may not be able to show that the defendant was negligent or responsible for the accident, they may offer little to no money to resolve the claim.

An injured party might have a large amount of damages when considering medical treatment, loss of earning capacity and pain and suffering. However, unless the claimant can prevail on liability grounds, he or she may only receive a fraction of their damages. Defendants and their insurers are in a position to offer little to nothing on the claim if they are confident they will prevail at trial. On the other hand, an injured party might have extremely severe injuries resulting in exceedingly high damages, which may cause the defendant or its insurer to decide to extend a reasonable settlement offer in order to avoid the risk of a large verdict at trial. Depending on the amount of damages in question, there are times where the defendant or its insurer may decide to extend a reasonable settlement offer in order to avoid the costs associated with the litigation process. 

For these reasons, all of the evidence needs to be weighed when asserting a settlement demand or deciding to accept a settlement offer.