Sustaining a brain injury can be a life-changing event, affecting not only your physical well-being but also your emotional and financial stability. It does not matter whether you have sustained a concussion or a more severe effect.
Anytime that an accident impacts the brain, there is always a chance that your life will never be the same. Accordingly, you may have to deal with significant financial and physical costs that result from a brain injury.
When you can prove that someone is responsible for what happened to you, there is the possibility of a substantial settlement check or jury award. However, you often deal with an insurance company with a vested interest in seeing you get as little money as possible.
The best way to strengthen your legal position in your case is to hire a brain injury attorney to represent you in the legal process. Your brain injury lawyer will understand how to handle the tasks that can lead to the compensation you need.
You should contact a Chico traumatic brain injury attorney immediately to discuss your case and the potential for a settlement check.
If you are not in a position where you can make this call yourself, have a family member do it for you. A brain injury lawyer will make it as easy as possible for you to speak with them and begin the process of seeking financial compensation for your injuries.
Brain Injuries Are Worth a Considerable Amount of Money
Every brain injury is a serious matter, but not all of them are the same. Some are incredibly severe and leave lasting effects that will impact you for the rest of your life, and you may lose vital functions and have a reduced quality of life.
In other cases, you may regain some function after rehabilitation and recuperation. Thus, you may face a wide range of financial outcomes after you have suffered a brain injury.
Before filing a claim for a brain injury, you must know the full extent of your condition and how it will affect your life in the future.
Until that point, any contention you make about your damages is speculative. You may even settle your claim for less than it is worth because you do not yet realize that you suffered a permanent injury that will never fully heal.
It may take some time to reach the point when you know and understand your actual condition, and before that point, you may need to undergo extensive rehabilitation to learn what functions you may regain.
Maybe rehabilitation can improve your condition somewhat. Then, you will reach the point of maximum medical improvement, where further treatment will not make a significant difference in your condition.
What Factors May Affect My Brain Injury Compensation?
When you reach the point of maximum medical improvement, your brain injury lawyer will calculate your damages.
This calculation requires extensive work and forethought because it forms the basis of your claim. Your brain injury lawyer needs time to research because it is important to get it right.
In many cases, they will work with various experts to understand how your brain injury will affect your life.
Your brain injury lawyer must understand:
- Whether you will work again and what effect your injury will have on the work that you can do
- Whether you will need care to assist you with the activities of daily life
- The extent of the medical care that you will need in the future
- How your brain injuries impact you physically and mentally
- How inflation and increased costs may affect your needs in the future
Your brain injury settlement must pay you for a variety of things, and you will receive compensation for both the economic losses that you suffer as well as for the effects that the brain injury has had on your life.
When you have suffered a serious injury, it goes without saying that you will get substantial compensation. However, you should not simply accept a settlement check. Even what you think is a significant amount of money may not adequately compensate you for your losses.
Economic Damages in Your Brain Injury Case
Your economic damages will comprise a large part of your brain injury settlement. Theoretically, you must get paid for money you had to spend because of your injury and income you could not earn.
Medical expenses are part of your economic damages. The responsible party must pay for the care you have already received and that you may need in the future. Brain injuries have a wide range of treatment costs.
You may have received immediate emergency care to help stabilize your situation soon after your injury. Your short-term medical care may have totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars, which may only be part of your required treatment.
Brain injury medical costs may include:
- In-patient hospital treatment
- Surgical costs
- Doctor’s office visits
- Medical equipment
- Rehabilitation
- Prescription medications
A brain injury lawyer may work with a medical expert to understand the nature of the care you need and its cost.
Your brain injury compensation can include payment for the care that you need in the future. You may require assistance with daily activities, and the amount of help you need will vary depending on the severity of your injury.
Lost Earnings in Your Brain Injury Claim
Then, the responsible party must compensate you for all the income you have lost from being unable to work. Those who have had to undergo in-patient rehabilitation at a brain injury treatment center have an extremely high rate of unemployment because they cannot work.
Only 35 percent of people undergoing this treatment get employed one year after their injury. Even those who can return to work may never do the same job duties they did before their injury.
The responsible party must pay you both for your lost earnings and any reduction in your earnings capacity. Your brain injury lawyer may work with a vocational expert to understand your job duties and your potential career path had you not suffered a brain injury.
You have the legal right to compensation for what you may have earned in the future, not just the earnings you made before your injuries.
Non-Economic Damages for Your Brain Injuries
Your economic damages are just part of your brain injury claim. In some cases, depending on the severity of your injury, you may have more significant non-economic damages. The responsible party must also compensate you for the effects that the brain injury had on your life.
Brain injuries can affect you by:
- Causing you physical pain and discomfort
- Worsening your mental health because you are depressed or anxious about your condition and your future
- Embarrassment and humiliation that come with your diminished physical condition and the need for help with activities of daily life
- The loss of the enjoyment of the life that you had before you suffered a brain injury
The Insurance Company Will Understate the Amount of Your Pain and Suffering
Insurance companies claim to know how your injury has impacted your life by looking at your medical bills and expenses. When you have suffered an injury, they will apply a multiplier to your medical expenses to arrive at the amount of pain and suffering damages they propose to pay you.
You will have a high multiplier for a severe injury, and for the most serious brain injuries, the insurance company often proposes to use a multiplier as high as five.
While this may seem like you are getting substantial money for your pain and suffering, it does not tell the entire story, which matters in calculating your pain and suffering damages.
Insurance companies cannot claim to know how much money you deserve when they have just mechanically applied a formula to your medical bills.
A brain injury attorney will fight to tell your story to either the insurance company or the jury so that they can understand what you are going through in the wake of your brain injury.
Other Types of Non-Economic Damages for Your Brain Injury
You may also have the legal right to other non-economic damages for the accident that caused your brain injury
For example, you may have suffered emotional distress from the accident itself, and you are now dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Your spouse may have sustained consortium damages from the loss of their physical relationship with you. When someone causes your brain injury, they must pay you for all of these damages, no matter how much they are.
There Are Multiple Steps in Your Brain Injury Case
Before discussing the compensation you should receive, you must show that someone else owes you money. The first phase of any personal injury claim or lawsuit is proving that someone else’s negligence caused your brain injury.
With the help of your brain injury lawyer, you will first gather evidence of someone else’s negligence, which gives them the legal obligation to pay you damages.
At that point, you will discuss how much compensation you should get, or you will need to persuade the jury of your damages. Insurance companies do not like to write large checks, and it may take considerable time to persuade them to pay you what you deserve.
You Can Take the Fight to the Insurance Company
You may have more leverage than you think when you negotiate compensation with the insurance company.
Often, the last thing that insurance companies want is to have your case before a jury. They certainly understand that seriously injured plaintiffs can appear sympathetic in the eyes of a jury, and it may lead to a significant damages award that is far more than what they would have offered you in a settlement agreement.
Of course, if the insurance company will not settle the case on reasonable terms that fully pay you, there is always the option of taking your case to court.
Litigating a brain injury case can take time and add risk to your case, but it is a step that you may have to take to get the money that you deserve. You only have one chance to get compensation for a brain injury, and you must present the most compelling case to whoever it is that will decide how much money you should get.
Hiring a brain injury lawyer is the most effective step that you can take to strengthen your legal case.
Hire a Brain Injury Lawyer as Soon as Possible
After hiring a brain injury lawyer, they will thoroughly investigate your case and gather evidence to support your claim. They have a network of resources, including medical experts and accident reconstruction specialists, who can provide valuable insights into the cause and extent of your brain injury.
With this evidence, they can build a strong case on your behalf, ensuring you have the best chance of receiving fair compensation.
In addition to their investigative skills, a brain injury lawyer is well-versed in negotiating with insurance companies. They understand the tactics often used by insurance adjusters to minimize payouts and will fight to protect your rights.
A legal advocate can level the playing field and increase your chances of securing the maximum compensation possible.
When it comes to obtaining the compensation you deserve for a brain injury, you do not have to face the legal process alone. A brain injury lawyer can provide you with the guidance and support you need, protect your rights, and ensure that you tell your story.
Do not hesitate to contact an experienced personal injury lawyer who can help you through this challenging journey and secure the compensation you deserve.