How Is the Value of My Compensation Determined After a Car Crash?

Giving a monetary value to damage that affects your health, mental state, quality of life, and professional status is often complex.

Car accidents can have unexpected consequences, inflicting injuries, and property damage that victims have to deal with in the event’s aftermath. To reduce the stress brought by your car accident claim, it is best to be informed and know what to expect from it from the very beginning. 

The best chance of having realistic expectations from your car accident claim is to discuss the specifics with an experienced St. Louis car injury lawyer who specialized in these types of cases. They can deal with the legal matters while you focus on recovering from your injuries.

How Is Your Car Accident Compensation Calculated? 

Giving a monetary value to damage that affects your health, mental state, quality of life, and professional status is complicated since there are so many variables to consider. From a legal perspective, you will receive compensation for the damage you can prove with concrete evidence. 

This is why the evidence you collect, sort, and add to your claim will influence the amount you will get when your claim is settled. 

Economic Damages

The most evident damage you will likely receive compensation for is easily quantifiable and is known as “economic damage.” This includes property damage, medical bills, lost income, car repairs, and other evidence. 

The amount you will receive to cover these damages can easily be calculated by adding them together. That’s why it’s essential to make sure that you have a document for every expense the accident has brought. You will have to prove that the accident directly causes the expenditure or cost. 

Non-Economic Damages

Getting compensation for non-economic damages is more difficult, but not impossible. These include the distress and mental injuries that many victims suffer from after such a traumatic event. While mental anguish can be proven with a psychiatrist or psychologist’s help, certain things might be established with witness accounts, diaries, and more subjective evidence. 

In most cases, adding non-economic damages to your claim requires a more simplified method of calculating the compensation. This is often done by using a multiplication factor for economic damages. 

For example, suppose your economic damages add up to $2,000, and you can prove that the accident has lowered your quality of life and inflicted “pain and suffering” (the legal term for emotional and mental distress, lost relationships, etc.). In that case, your attorney might demand doubled or even tripled compensation based on these facts. 

Working with a Lawyer Maximizes Your Chances 

There is no way of calculating your compensation value before all evidence is collected. Still, your best chance of getting an accurate estimate is to speak with an experienced St. Louis car accident lawyer and let them use their experience to help you.