If you’ve been injured in some type of accident and are looking to file a personal injury claim, you may find it tempting to accept the insurance company’s offer to settle and be done with everything. After all, going through the process of a personal injury claim can be frustrating and stressful. Before you decide to accept the offer, consider the following information:

How Insurance Companies See the Injured Individual

Unfortunately, even though the laws mandate that the insurance company consider the individual’s own unique circumstances, many times the liable insurance companies compute their settlement offer based on a computer program, not the injured person’s own unique circumstances. This means that they don’t consider the age of the victim or the physical health of the victim.

Computing Pain and Suffering

When the insurance company plugs information into a computer in order to compute the “value” of your case, it is only taking into account the injuries at hand. Most compensation claims handled in personal injury cases take into account the value of pain and suffering, which is easy to compute once a judge listens to your story, trying to understand the emotional toll your injury has had on you. A computer program cannot do that.

Also, settlements should include the amount of any lost wages you’ve incurred as the result of the injuries, along with any anticipated medical treatment you may need in the future. In order to compute those values, you’ll need to provide an accounting of wages you’ve not received since your accident, along with a statement from your doctor of any anticipated treatment.

Retain An Attorney

While taking a settlement seems like the quick and easy way out, it’s really not that simple. In order to receive the compensation you deserve for the injuries you’ve sustained, contact us for a consultation.