If you are involved in an accident requiring compensation from insurance, it can be difficult to know what’s best for you. In many situations insurance companies do not give you as much compensation as they can, instead they give you just enough or not enough money to cover the damages. Hiring an attorney can help you decide if your insurance company gave you a fair settlement. According to a personal injury lawyer with our friends at the Brandy Austin Law Firm, here are some ways to know if your settlement is adequate:
Current Expenses
One of the easiest ways to see if your settlement is adequate is by calculating the expenses you have to pay due to the damages caused by the accident. For example, if you were in a car accident and you were injured. If your car is damaged but fixable, does your settlement cover the cost to fix it? If your vehicle was totaled, does your insurance settlement help cover any ride-hailing services? Does your insurance settlement offer provide money to cover your medical bills such as x-rays or hospitalization? If the answer to these questions is no, then your insurance settlement is probably not enough. If you have any out-of-pocket expenses you have to pay due to your injuries it’s important that your settlement money is able to cover these bills. If your settlement does cover the current expenses, then you can move on to look further into what else you need to cover.
Future Expenses
Future expenses you may need to cover will be regarding how your injury will affect you in the future. If you are left partially or totally disabled, that diminishes your ability to get a paycheck in many situations. More future expenses can include payments for other doctor’s visits that may be required such as your co-pay or out-of-pocket payments you have to make toward treatments.
If it’s expected that you’ll need surgery later on due to your injuries caused by this accident, that counts as a future expense that you will need insurance to cover. Future expenses could also include any prescription payments you have to make in the future as well as physical therapy to help you heal. Anything that you will have to pay in the future because of your injury counts toward “future expenses”.
Pain And Suffering
The mess of dealing with a vehicle accident or any incident that caused you personal injury can be a headache. That on top of the physical pain you may be feeling due to your injury is something to take into consideration when reviewing your settlement offer. When this process is dragged out longer than it needs to be by factors such as lowball insurance offers, it causes even more unnecessary suffering that could have been avoided. The severity of your physical injuries can affect the amount you may require for pain and suffering as well as the severity of your property damage.
After asking yourself these questions and deciding if your insurance settlement offer is adequate, you may need to hire an attorney to help you get what you deserve. Personal injury cases are in no way easy to deal with but an attorney can assist you. Your attorney has an expert opinion in subjects like these and will be able to guide you and help inform you of what you deserve. When all is said and done, it is their goal to get you maximum compensation to cover your injuries, property damage, and pain and suffering. Reach out to an attorney near you for help determining your settlement numbers.
