What Factors Affect the Value of Your Auto Accident Claim?
After you’ve been injured in a crash, you may be experiencing a lot of uncertainty. You might not be sure how long you’ll be out of work recovering from your injuries, whether you’ll ever recover fully, or whether your car will be repairable or completely totaled. Perhaps the biggest question you have is how much you can expect to receive in damages from your insurer or through a personal injury lawsuit. While it’s impossible to predict an exact outcome for any claim or lawsuit, there are certain guidelines that will affect a claim for damages. Read on to learn about the factors that affect the value of your injury claim after a New York auto accident.
The injuries you received
The single greatest factor that will affect the amount of an insurance settlement or jury award will be the type of injuries you received and the costs you have or will incur when treating them. Juries and insurance carriers tend to be swayed by the visibility of an injury. However, some injuries that appear mild will have a more substantial impact on the victim’s life and future than they first appear, and it requires skilled legal assistance to make this case to a jury. For example, if an accident victim suffers a broken hand, that injury will result in a larger award of damages to a physician who can no longer conduct surgeries than to someone who works behind a desk.
The defendant in your case
A defendant who does not appear to have any remorse after the accident, or who had been drinking prior to the accident, will not elicit a jury’s sympathy and will likely cause a jury to award a larger amount in damages. That said, if a defendant could afford only minimal insurance coverage and a substantial jury award would cause them to go bankrupt, or the at-fault driver was a meek older lady who made an understandable mistake, then the jury might not be willing to award a substantial sum in damages against them.
The skill of your attorney
Experienced personal injury attorneys will know how to present you and your story to the insurance carrier or jury in a persuasive and effective manner. Their deft use of evidence and testimony and skill as a negotiator can result in an increase in the monetary award you receive.
For assistance after a New York motor vehicle accident, contact a dedicated and effective Kingston auto accident attorney of Rusk Wadlin Heppner & Martuscello, LLP for a consultation, in Kingston at 845-331-4100, or in Marlboro at 845-236-4411.
