What are you really looking for when you ask for compensation? What are you trying to get when you file a personal injury claim?
You want justice, don’t you? And you want peace of mind. You want compensation for the damages that your family has sustained. But how is this compensation determined? How does the numbers guy account for the difficult experiences that your child went through because of their injuries?
You have suffered, and not just physically. Not just in a way that’s easy to put a price tag on. So how do insurance companies go about deciding the compensation that you deserve? Do they take into account all of your family’s hardships? And do they expect money to cover all of your damages? Find out here.
What Can Be Compensated For?
An insurance company will take the following information into account when determining the damages you sustained and the compensation you will get for it:
- Medical expenses such as bills and care.
- Loss of educational experiences such as attending lectures, job training, seminars, conferences, or school.
- Loss of social experiences such as missing vacations or special events.
- Property damages.
- Emotional damages. This is where feelings of stress, frustration, depression, worry, embarrassment, anger, etc. will be compensated for.
- Loss of work.
Calculating Compensation
It is fairly easy to determine monetary compensation, so long as the victim keeps record of medical bills, loss of income, etc. However, it’s hard to put a price on the pain and suffering experienced by a victim of personal injury. To try to solve this problem, insurance companies have created a formula for determining compensation.
In this formula, the company first adds up the monetary expenses lost or paid. This is considered the base figure. Then, the insurance adjuster adds in general damages related to suffering and loss of opportunities. If the injuries involved in the case are minor, the base number will be multiplied by 1.5-2. But if the injuries are severe, or if they last for a long time, the base number can be multiplied by up to 5. During negotiation, this is the number that your family will be quoted.
Fault Can Take Away From Compensation
If you were partially at fault for the accident that caused your injuries, even by just a small percentage, the compensation will be reduced – not drastically, but a bit. If it is found that you were a little bit at fault for the accident, the initial compensation quote might decrease by a little bit.
