When you have been injured in an accident caused by another party, you have the right to be compensated for your damages. Insurance companies and defense attorneys will try to settle your claim for as little as possible.
You need an experienced Oklahoma City personal injury attorney representing you to help accurately calculate the value of your claim and hold the insurance company and at-fault parties accountable for paying the full value you are entitled to.
At Warhawk Legal, we often work with medical and economic experts to ensure all your current and future expenses, lost wages, and other damages are included and correctly calculated to determine the value of your case.
You must be sure that you know the actual value of your claim. Otherwise, you won’t know whether a settlement offer is fair. And once you accept an offer, you can’t go back later and ask for more if you realize you settled for too little.
How Did Your Attorney Determine Your Claim’s Value?
Your attorney should determine the value of your claim before negotiating with the insurance companies and defense attorneys. Many factors must be considered to value your case accurately.
Were All Your Current and Future Economic Damages Included?
You should be able to recover all economic damages caused by your injuries. These damages include expenses you have incurred and those you will likely incur.
This is especially important if your injuries will likely lead to the need for future medical care, the need for long-term assistance with daily tasks, therapy costs, and other out-of-pocket expenses you may have because of your injuries.
For example, do your injuries require modifications to your home or vehicle? If you have been permanently injured, you may need to consider how many specialized vehicles, wheelchairs, and other medical assistance devices you will need in your lifetime.
You also need to ensure all your current and future lost wages, income, and lost opportunities have been included and calculated for inflation. An economist can help determine and accurately value these losses.
Were All Your Current and Future Non-Economic Damages Included?
Non-economic damages are more difficult to quantify. However, they are often even more devastating than economic damages.
You are entitled to recover for your pain and suffering, mental and emotional distress, loss of consortium, loss of enjoyment of life, scarring and disfigurement, permanent disability, and all other intangible damages.
You need to understand which intangibles were included and how they were valued. Your Oklahoma City accident attorney may need experts to help identify and accurately value these subjective damages.
Were All My Property Damages Included?
Your property damage in a car accident will likely include the cost of repairing your vehicle and replacing any other damaged items.
In other accident cases, your property damages may include different types of possessions. Be sure they are all included and fairly valued.
Ask Your Attorney What the Insurance Company’s First Offer Was
Most insurance companies will first offer a much lower settlement than they are willing to pay in hopes that a vulnerable injury victim will take the offer and go away.
In general, you should never accept the first offer. Even the second offer is likely to be much less than is fair.
Of course, your Oklahoma City wrongful death attorney cannot guarantee you will recover a certain amount. If you do not settle your case, you must go to trial. At trial, a jury will determine the value of your damages, which can be risky. Additionally, it will take much longer to recover your compensation if you go to trial.
Insurance companies and defense attorneys know this and use it to their advantage. If the settlement offer negotiated by your attorney is less than the full value of your claim, find out why.
Are there good reasons to accept a settlement offer that is slightly lower than the full value of your claim?
Warhawk Legal Is Dedicated To Recovering Maximum Client Compensation
When we accept a case, we carefully investigate the accident or incident to determine its causes and all potentially liable parties, helping to maximize compensation.
We also carefully calculate the current and future value of all your damages. We often use experts to ensure your claim is valued fairly and to provide supportive evidence for calculating your damages.
Our attorneys are excellent negotiators who can help resolve your claim fairly as quickly as possible.
Call (405) 397-1717 or complete the short form on our contact page to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case.