You've been hurt in an accident, and now you're wondering what your case is actually worth. It's probably one of the first questions on your mind. At Herschensohn Law Firm, PLLC, we help injury victims understand what they can recover after someone else's negligence causes harm.
How Do Insurance Companies Calculate Personal Injury Settlements?
Insurance companies start with your economic damages. That's everything with a paper trail. Medical bills, pay stubs showing lost wages, and repair estimates for your car. They add it all up. Then comes the trickier part. Non-economic damages like pain and suffering don't have receipts attached. Adjusters might use multipliers or daily rate calculations, but here's what you need to know: their first offers almost always undervalue what you're actually going through.
What Are Economic Damages In A Personal Injury Case?
Economic damages are your out-of-pocket losses. The bills you can hold in your hand and the paychecks you didn't receive because you couldn't work. These include:
- Medical expenses from emergency rooms, surgeries, hospital stays, and prescriptions
- Future medical costs if you need ongoing treatment or physical therapy
- Lost wages for every day you missed work during recovery
- Lost earning capacity when injuries prevent you from returning to your old job
- Property damage to your vehicle or belongings
We don't just tally up what you've already spent. If you're dealing with permanent injuries, those future costs matter. We work with medical professionals to project what's coming, because that needs to be part of your settlement too.
What Are Non-economic Damages?
Non-economic damages compensate you for losses that can't be measured in dollars and cents, but they're just as real as any hospital bill. Pain and suffering cover the physical discomfort you've endured. The sleepless nights. The chronic aches that won't go away. Emotional distress addresses psychological impacts like anxiety or depression that developed after your accident. Loss of enjoyment of life applies when injuries stop you from doing things you love. Can't play with your kids the way you used to? That's a real loss.
Does Fault Affect How Much My Case Is Worth?
Yes, it does. Washington follows comparative negligence rules under RCW 4.22.005. If you share some blame for what happened, your compensation gets reduced by your percentage of fault.
Let's say you're found 20% responsible. Your settlement drops by that same 20%. But here's the good news: you can still recover damages even when you've contributed to the accident. As long as you're not completely at fault, you've got a claim. A Seattle personal injury lawyer can help minimize how much blame gets assigned to you.
What Factors Increase The Value Of My Personal Injury Claim?
Severity matters most. A broken arm that heals completely won't carry the same value as a traumatic brain injury requiring years of treatment. Clear liability helps tremendously. When evidence clearly shows the other party caused your accident, insurance companies become much more reasonable.
Documentation strengthens your case. Medical records, witness statements, and photographs of the accident scene. It all adds up to a more valuable claim. Your ability to show how injuries changed your daily life matters too.
Can Insurance Policy Limits Affect What I Recover?
Unfortunately, yes. If the person who hit you only carries minimum liability coverage and your damages exceed those limits, you won't get the full value from their policy alone. That's when your own underinsured motorist coverage becomes important. We review every available insurance policy to find all possible sources of compensation.
Why Are Initial Settlement Offers Usually Low?
Insurance companies make lowball offers for calculated reasons. They're betting you need money fast and might accept less than you deserve. They also make early offers before your doctors know the full extent of your injuries, which means they're not accounting for complications that might show up later.
That's exactly why you shouldn't accept anything without talking to a Seattle personal injury lawyer first. We can tell you whether that offer actually covers what you're facing.
Online calculators won't give you anything useful. They can't account for your specific injuries or how Washington's laws apply to your situation. We provide real case evaluations based on what we've seen in Washington courts over the years of practice. We look at jury verdicts in similar cases and review settlements for injuries like yours. If you're wondering what your case is worth, reach out and let's talk about the specifics.
