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How Insurance Companies Calculate a Personal Injury Claims Worth

Personal injury cases can be extremely traumatic. It helps to have a solid support from those closest to you, and it also helps to have the expertise of a skilled personal injury attorney at your side. If you’ve been injured in Oklahoma, you should contact the insurance agency of the liable party after you receive the necessary medical care. The compensation from the liable party will help to pay those medical bills and other financial damages you incur.

Unfortunately, it is often the case that the liable party’s insurance will only offer to pay a compensation which is far below what you justly deserve. In these situations, Parrish DeVaughn can provide a top-notch Tulsa personal injury lawyer to win you a full and fair compensation. In order to fight the insurance companies, Parrish DeVaughn knows it’s crucial to understand how insurers evaluate personal injury claims, and they want you to understand the process as well.

Calculate What Your Claim Is Worth

In a personal injury claim, the liable party’s insurance company is required to pay for a series of damages—financial, physical, and mental—that you experience:

  • The insurer must pay your medical bills in relation to your injury. Whatever medical expenses you accrue to heal your injuries will be covered by the liable party.
  • If you suffer lost wages due to an accident related injury, the liable insurer must compensate for your lost income.
  • The liable insurance company must build in payment into the compensation to cover disfigurement or disability from the accident.
  • If you are unable to spend time with your family due to your injuries, the liable insurer must pay for that intangible damage. You may also miss out on vacations, public events or your education, all of which are damages you should for which you should receive compensation.
  • Injuries can often lead to emotional trauma, including anxiety, depression, embarrassment and a fraying of family bonds. If you experience emotional trauma due to your accident, you may be eligible to receive compensation.
  • The liable party’s insurance company must compensate for the value of any property damage you undergo.

The Insurance Company Calculates “General” and “Special” Damages

The insurance agency will compensate you for all the tangible damages you experience. These damages can be added up easily with a calculator. The intangible damages, however, are harder to evaluate, and the liable insurer will try their best to pay you as little as possible for the subjective value of intangibles.

First, the insurance company calculates the value of your “medical special damages.” These damages refer to the medical expenses you pay in order to receive proper treatment for injuries related to the incident. The insurer then evaluates how much to pay you for general damages, which include the intangible injuries you sustain.

You Need a Tulsa Personal Injury Lawyer

After calculating your special damages, the insurance company will multiply the number based on the extent of the injuries. Usually, the multiplier falls between 1.5 to 2, but in cases of really severe injuries, the multiplier can reach a magnitude of 10. The product of this multiplication is the foundational number from which the insurer builds the rest of your settlement. The insurer must add general damages to the total, but because the valuation of these damages is subjective, they will argue for as low a general damages number as possible.
A Tulsa personal injury lawyer can battle with the insurer to increase the general damages compensation and get you a fair compensation for all of your injuries. You need a trustworthy, relentless personal injury lawyer, and in Tulsa, Parrish DeVaughn will provide you with the help you need.