Settlements for personal injury claims in New Jersey can vary greatly depending on the damages the victim sustains. What compensation is required in one case will differ from others.
Still, you are under no obligation to accept a settlement and can pursue damages in a trial if an insurance company refuses to pay what you are owed. Our team can review any settlement offer made to you and determine what coverage it provides. While each case will have a different value, an average settlement offer should compensate your economic losses, like medical expenses, and your non-economic damages for the pain and suffering you have lived with. If the defendant’s conduct was egregious and we have the evidence to prove it, a settlement offer should include something for punitive damages.
Contact our New Jersey personal injury attorneys at Agrapidis & Maroules, P.C. today at (201) 777-1111 for your free case review.
Types of Damages that Should be Included in a Typical Personal Injury Settlement in New Jersey
When someone negligently or recklessly injures you, the next step is usually to file a lawsuit against them to recover the damages they caused you. After that, both side’s attorneys will gather evidence and negotiate a settlement, which is how most lawsuits resolve. However, there is no “average” for how much a particular case should settle for since numerous factors will impact its value, like the severity of your injuries and how the defendant caused them.
While personal injury cases do not have an average settlement, our New Jersey personal injury attorneys would counsel you against accepting a settlement offer that does not account for your economic damages and “pain and suffering.” Essentially, a good settlement will cover any damages the evidence supports, and the court will most likely award if the lawsuit goes to trial.
Economic Damages
Determining the value of a personal injury claim typically starts by assessing your economic losses. Financial damages can begin piling up immediately after your accident. If emergency medical services rendered care on the scene and transported you to the hospital, you will likely have bills before meeting with our attorneys. Emergency room care and hospital stays will only increase your economic damages.
In all likelihood, you will still treat your injuries as your lawsuit progresses and perhaps well into the future. As our team collects medical records and tests, we will also be evaluating invoices as they come in so that we keep a running total of your expenses. However, your case can be settled before completing treatment, but you should reject an offer if it does not account for future medical damages. Your doctors and other medical experts can evaluate the necessary treatment for you to reach “maximum medical improvement,” and our team can assign a value that will compensate for it.
An ”average” settlement should also include lost wages if your injuries prevented you from working. You should be compensated your daily wages for each day you were out and the time you had to take off to attend doctor’s appointments. Future work-related damages should also be accounted for in your settlement. For instance, if your injuries forced you into a lower-paying position or caused you to lose out on promotions or raises, our team can ensure these expenses are included in your demand for damages.
Property damage should also be included in your settlement. For example, you will likely have repair costs after a car accident or need market value because your vehicle was totaled. Perhaps you needed a rental vehicle until yours was repaired. If the costs stem from the defendant’s negligence, your settlement should address it.
Pain and Suffering
“Pain and suffering” represent the non-economic damages you sustained in and after your accident. This is typically the area of a personal injury claim that can be heavily contested since assessing non-economic losses is challenging. These damages do not correspond to invoices and receipts, so they cannot be easily calculated, like economic damages. For example, putting a value on the physical pain you endured when injured and the emotional suffering after the accident is difficult. However, the damage caused by pain and suffering is just as real as the economic damage you sustained, and thus, you would be offered in a good settlement.
While evaluating these damages is challenging, our team knows a few methods for valuing your pain and suffering. Under the “per diem” approach, we can use your daily income as a base and multiply it by the number of days you are expected to suffer non-economic damages. In other situations, using the “multiplier” method might be better. With this approach, a number between 1.5 and 5 corresponding to your injuries’ severity will be multiplied by your economic damages. No matter which method we use, it is critical to accurately calculate your financial damages so that your non-economic losses are not undervalued in your settlement.
Punitive Damages
Unlike the other two types of damages, punitive damages are rarely awarded in a trial, so they are usually not included in the average settlement offers. Punitive damages are “exemplary” and only awarded in a civil case when aggravating circumstances exist. They are intended to penalize defendants and discourage similar actions from others in the future. For instance, punitive damages would likely be awarded in a case where a drunk driver caused the victim’s injuries.
However, You need “clear and convincing” evidence to recover punitive damages. This is a higher standard than necessary to prove the above damages. Essentially, you need evidence that leaves little room for doubt that the defendant acted with wanton and reckless disregard for your safety. If we have clear and convincing evidence of aggravating conduct, like a police report showing the defendant was arrested for drunk driving, we will demand punitive damages in a settlement. If the insurance company refuses, we can pursue these damages in court.
Call Our New Jersey Personal Injury Attorneys Today for Help Settling Your Claim
Call Agrapidis & Maroules, P.C. at (201) 777-1111 for a free case assessment with our Union City, NJ personal injury lawyers today.