Accident & Personal Injury law firm and lawyer services in Houston, Texas at www.texasaccidentinjurylawyers.com. One of the often asked questions about a personal injury claim is, “what is my injury worth?” Unfortunately, the answer is not very satisfying. For most people, no amount of money is enough to pay for their injury. Contact us today.

1. CALL US NOW FOR A
FREE PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM REVIEW
Houston: 713-957-2030
(TOLL FREE: 888-777-6391)
Factors Affecting Your Personal Injury &
Accident Claim In Houston, Texas
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2. Introducing Factors Affecting Your Personal Injury & Accident Claim
» One of the often asked questions about a personal injury claim is, “what
is my injury worth?” Unfortunately, the answer is not very satisfying. For
most people, no amount of money is enough to pay for their injury.
Money cannot heal broken bodies; money cannot restore a person’s
dignity and a feeling of self worth; money cannot bring back a lost loved
one.
» That being said, money is about the only way we have of trying to make up
for an injury or a loss of life. This means that someone must place a value on
each injury, each life, and there are some very harsh realities when that
happens.
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3. How Your Earnings Can Affect Your Accident / Injury Claim
» If a person who suffers an injury or loses his life didn't work, or had no
prospects of working, a smaller value will be placed on their damage
claims.
» The same is true of someone who worked very hard every day, but they
didn't earn much money. Perhaps they were not well educated, or maybe
they were older and had suffered the effects of age discrimination in the
workplace.
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4. » And what about this: Maybe they were “just” a stay-at-home Mom. Or
perhaps they were contributing significantly to society by working for a
charity or by doing other volunteer work, so they were not earning any
money. What impact will this have on their injury claim?
» Most of the time, the settlement or trial value of a claim for a loss of life,
or for an injury, is determined in large part by the amount of lost earnings
that can be calculated. Is this fair? Does this make it any easier for the
injured or the deceased or their families? Of course not, but it is the bitter
reality of the situation that claimants often face.
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5. Insurance Companies Calculate Injury Settlements Based on Multiple
Factors
There are other considerations when placing a value on an injury or the
loss of a loved one. How much pain and suffering did an injured person go
through, or how much did a person suffer before he died? Is the pain and
suffering a thing of the past, or will it continue into the future? Will there
be future medical expenses? The answers to questions like these have a
significant impact on the value of an injury or death claim, whether it is
resolved through settlement or through trial.
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6. » Ironically, how much someone really suffered may not have as much
influence on a settlement offer or a judgment as one might think. Not
everyone is capable of describing their pain in a way that will resonate
with a jury at trial, for example.
» And when a case is settled, the insurance company is quite likely to use
some kind of formula to decide how much to offer the injured party or
the family of someone who was killed.
» The insurance company will assign a value to a claim based on its own
assessment of how a loss should be valued.
» Most of the time the insurance company knows it must pay the medical
bills, and believe it or not, an insurance company may very well use a
multiple of the medical bills as a way to calculate and offer a settlement
for pain and suffering.
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7. » I am not talking about large multiples here, so don’t start calculating
some very large numbers. The multiple may well range from 1 to 5,
and the multiple may also be influenced by the type of injury.
» Did the person suffer broken bones or lose a body part, for example? If
the answer is yes, the multiple will usually be higher. Did the person
suffer or claim to have suffered only soft tissue injuries? If the answer is
yes, the multiple will usually be lower.
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8. » Was the injury something that was treated and the injured person
made a full recovery? If yes, the multiple goes down.
» But was the injury something that will require continuing treatment and
perhaps the injured person may never fully recover? If yes, the multiple
can be expected to go up.
A head / brain injury, or even a concussion, will typically increase the multiple, and
hence increase the settlement value of a claim.
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9. Many Variables Affect How Much Your Injury Case is Worth
» Are there other factors that affect the value of a claim for injury or death?
Certainly there are. Things like the age, occupation, health, family, career,
and so forth are all factors that can affect the value that an insurance
company or a jury will place on a personal injury or wrongful death claim.
» If a claim is against a company or an individual and not against an
insurance company, the value of the claim may be heavily influenced by
the net worth of the defendant.
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10. » You get the point. There are many variables, but once you understand
the system, you can make a more realistic assessment of the
settlement or trial value of your claim.
» And keep one thing in mind: It is an unfortunate truth that your emotions,
or the emotions of the grieving family, may count for little when a value is
placed on an injury or death claim.
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11. Choose an Experienced Accident & Personal Injury Lawyer
» An experienced accident injury trial lawyer can be an invaluable resource
when it comes to helping you place a realistic value on an injury claim or a
death claim.
» It won’t be a value that the trial lawyer believes will make the injured person
or the grieving family whole; instead, it will be a value that the trial lawyer,
through years of experience, can reasonably expect the insurance company
to pay, weighed against the risk and the likely outcome if the case is taken to
trial.
www.texasaccidentinjurylawyers.com

12. CALL US NOW FOR A
FREE PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM REVIEW
Houston: 713-957-2030
(TOLL FREE: 888-777-6391)
Kennedy Hodges & Solomon Personal Injury Lawyers
510 Bering Drive, Suite 300,
Houston, Texas 77057
info@texasaccidentinjurylawyers.com
www.texasaccidentinjurylawyers.com