Table of Contents
2. The Principle of Comparative Negligence
3. Seeking Motor Car Accident Damages
Determining the Worth of a Car Accident Claim
Finding out the value of a car accident claim is not a science but actually more of an art because many considerations go into putting a dollar amount to the compensation. Moreover, no two cases are identical so no standards can be established.
The factors that influence the amount of the claim include the nature and extent of your injuries suffered in the accident, the strength of the evidence, the duration and value of time lost at work, the extent to which you were responsible for the accident, and the insurance cover in force.
To obtain the most realistic value of the damages, you should contact a personal injury lawyer, who will use his knowledge and experience of past cases to determine a likely value of your accident claim.
Car Accident Damages That You Are Allowed to Claim Legally
If you are injured in a car accident, you are entitled to claim certain types of compensation that your attorney can help you to determine. Some of the more common compensation types that you can hope to recover include:
- Medical expenses that you have incurred that are related to the injury and will incur in the future on a long-term basis. The documentation of the hospital and the doctor is of vital importance to support your claim.
- Income lost due to your not being able to attend to your workplace, fully or partially, depending on the nature of the injuries. The actual amount of loss of income can be included in your claim.
- Damages due to the pain and suffering caused by the accident. This is typically a figure that is worked out by legal counsel of both the parties involved in the accident taking into account an amount that is fair based on the extent of injuries suffered in the accident.
- You are also allowed to claim damages on account of any disability or disfigurement that is suffered permanently or for the long-term.
- If any injury sustained in the car accident also results in affecting your normal life in some way or the other, you may be able to factor in an amount as compensation.
The Principle of Comparative Negligence
Your ability to claim damages for a car accident may be significantly affected by what is known as comparative negligence that takes into account the extent your actions contributed to the accident. Typically, after an accident, one of the prime tasks is to determine who was responsible for the accident, which usually boils down to determining which party was negligent. If there is any dispute, the court decides which party was at fault. It is the onus of the party seeking to recover damages to prove that the other party was responsible for causing the accident. Juries in Florida, if the case reaches the court will take into account the comparative negligence of all the parties involved in the accident, which means that if the party seeking compensation also contributed in some way with negligence to cause the accident then the accident award will be reduced proportionally. For example, if the jury believes that your own negligence accounted for one-third of the reason why the accident happened and caused your injuries, the amount of the award will be reduced by one-third. The principle of comparative negligence is used to ensure that the liable person should be responsible for the amount that is their fault.
Seeking Motor Car Accident Damages
If you or some you love have been injured in an auto accident, you can hold the driver responsible and claim damages for your injuries. For an expert evaluation of the potential of a lawsuit or a settlement, you can consult the experienced auto accident attorneys at Lavalle, Brown & Ronan, P.A., among most experienced personal injury law firms in Boca Raton. Possessing more than 130 years of accumulated personal injury litigation experience, our attorneys have both the skills and the competence to assist you to meet your legal needs. Call us today!