Personal Injury Settlements
Pain and Suffering with Broken Finger and Surgery

Last year, I was in a car accident which was entirely the fault of the other driver.

My car was totaled and my right pinky finger was broken (I am right-handed).

For about 3-4 weeks after the accident, each time I drove, I would have at least one episode of extreme anxiety. Now, 7 months afterwards, it has decreased to once per 1-2 weeks.

I was planning on driving to join my family for a vacation a few days later, but of course I had to cancel after the accident.

The fracture required surgery, and I wore a cast over my hand and wrist for about 4 weeks total. Since I am right-handed, my everyday activities were extremely limited.

Right before the accident, my job assignment had ended, so I was officially out of work. On the day of my surgery, I received a job offer, but I was forced to turn it down since I was unable to begin work when they needed me.

Initially after the surgery, I was completely unable to move my finger. I did exercises 3x/day, at home and at physical therapy, in which I was instructed by the doctor to reach “the point of pain and beyond”—and he was right, the pain was so excruciating that I was involuntarily kicking my feet—but I kept at it.

After about 8-9 weeks of therapy, my mobility had improved greatly, and I was almost back to my previous ability. But even now, 3 months later, I still can’t straighten or bend my finger completely, my typing has more errors since my finger is stiff, and my finger cramps up after writing for a while. Typing and writing were both activities I spent a great deal of time doing beforehand, both for work and as a hobby. My fingers do not look symmetrical anymore—the lower half of my pinky is fatter, the finger is slightly crooked, and there is scarring.


The medical expenses totaled about $24,000. I used the personal injury calculator on this website (the property damage part was not included, since it has been taken care of) and it gave the answer that my claim is worth $72,000 to $120,000.

I wanted to confirm with you to see if you think this sounds like an appropriate amount.

What should I set as
1. An initial demand amount and
2. An amount I should expect to settle with in the end?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading!