Settling personal injury claims for high amounts depends on many things. The two main factors that are used in the personal injury settlements calculator are:
1) The type of injury you suffered
2) The type of treatment you received
In addition to these, there are 5 more ways you can increase settling personal injury claims.
1. Length of Your Recovery
It’s logical to assume that the more serious your injuries, the longer it will take you to recover. The longer your injuries last, the longer will be your pain and suffering. Which means you should be settling personal injury claims for more money.
The best way to capture your length of recovery is to have it noted in your medical reports. This means repeat visits to the doctor’s office.
Visiting the doctor multiple times does two things. First, it demonstrates that your injuries were serious and ongoing. Second, the doctor can write down your continuing pain and discomfort in your medical reports.
This gives your injuries more credibility and increases your chances of getting a higher settlement from the insurance company.
2. Long Lasting Injuries
Some injuries can last years or may be permanent. These types of injuries are referred to as residual injuries. Residual injuries include scarring, broken bones, torn ligaments, lost limbs, brain damage etc.
Many times, the impact of residual injuries is not presently visible. For example, a head injury can cause complications, such as concussions, months or years after an accident. It is therefore important that your doctor writes down the potential long term consequence of your injuries in your medical report.
The best way to make sure this happens is to simply ask of any potential side effects to your injuries. Doctors are well aware of the claims process. If you tell them you need to document your injuries for an insurance claim they will understand.
This will increase your chances of settling personal injury claims for more money.
3. Taking Medication
If you were prescribed any medication by your doctor, emphasize this in your claim. The fact that you are taking regular medication lets the insurance company know that you’re frequently experiencing pain and suffering. The stronger and longer you are taking the medication, the higher your personal injury settlement.
Make sure to emphasize the purpose of your medication. For example, are you taking it to reduce swelling, severe headaches, inflammation, relieve joint pain?
This further helps you describe the extent of your pain and suffering and settling personal injury claims for more cash.
4. Your Physical Discomfort or Emotional Pain
The type of injury you suffer can impact your life in several different ways. For example:
- A strained neck may give you discomfort while trying to sleep at night.
- Being in a wheel chair limits your ability to take care of your kids or elder parents.
- You feel embarrassment and anxiety from a visible scar.
You should document how your injury has impacted you both physically and emotionally. You can keep a separate injury diary to note your pain and discomfort. The key points you should emphasize is how the injury has limited your experiences and created new problems.
As always, you should discuss your discomforts with the doctor so that they can be noted down in your medical report.
This helps settling personal injury claims because it pushes the psychological and physical impact of being injured.
5. Any Life Disruptions
Your injuries may have caused you to miss an important life event. This also falls under the emotional impact of your injuries and you should be compensated. These events include:
- Missing graduation
- Unable to attend a friend’s wedding
- Missing a family vacation
- Skipping a semester of school
There is no way to put a dollar value on any of these meaningful events. The amount of money you get will depend on how convincingly you can argue the significance of each event. Typically, the less frequent an event, the more special and significant it will appear.
For example, missing a one time event (like your best friend’s wedding) will appear more “special” than missing playing a weekly poker with the guys.
The only way to get a specific amount of money back is if you spent some money for a special event that you could no longer attend, like a vacation. If this happens, then you should get compensated for the amount you spent on that vacation.
Bottom Line
Settling personal injury claims for more money will depend on how much proof you can give about your pain and suffering. The best and most credible source for your injuries is the medical report. The better you document your injuries and their impact on your life, the better your chances of getting more money from your injury settlements.
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