Personal Injury Settlements

Getting injured can be costly.  Not only do you have medical bills to pay, but you might be out of work due to the injury.  No work equals no pay and now all your other bills are getting behind.  When the injury is something you caused, there’s not much you can do to recoup the costs.  But what can you do when it’s someone else’s fault? Can you get Personal Injury Settlements?

There are a lot of people out there that will automatically think “sue” when an injury occurs.  We’ve all heard the large settlements award to some people.  The lady who claimed her coffee was too hot initially got medical costs of $160,000 and then punitive damages in the $2.7 million dollar range! The award was later reduced by a judge to $640,000.  The amounts awarded are sometimes staggering.  Angela Stone v. Christopher S. Marcone in a Florida Circuit Court had an Award by Jury for $330,516,483.   This lawsuit was filed as a wrongful death lawsuit.  Mr. Marcone killed Angela Stone’s daughter in an auto accident resulting from his drunk driving.

It would seem that settlement amounts are indiscriminate but there are many factors a judge takes into account when determining how much to award a plaintiff in a personal injury lawsuit.  It must be clear who caused the injury and what insurance that person has.  Will the injured person be mentally and/or physically impaired?  Will this injury affect any future income earning?  Figured in to the settlement award will be any property replacement costs.  Insurance companies have a formula they use to figure out a settlement.  The amount of an award is calculated by different amounts depending on the severity of the injury.

Deciding to take someone to court for a personal injury settlement is a decision only you can make.  Holding someone financially responsible for causing you pain and financial loss is understandable.  However, sometimes emotions get in the way and cause a victim to seek outrageous amounts from the defendant.  The key to a successful resolution in a personal injury claim is to be accurate and reasonable in the amount sought.  Fight the urge to “make someone pay” for what they did to you.  Judges once awarded extreme amounts to people, but the trend is now to be more realistic.

Hopefully, you will never need to file a personal injury suit.  If you find yourself in that unfortunate situation, consult an attorney on how to proceed.