Calculating Fort Worth Truck Accident Damages
When a truck accident occurs, the party responsible may be required to pay the victims compensation for damages. The injured claimant’s attorneys will calculate their losses, including pain and suffering, property damage, and lost wages. They will then seek compensation from the responsible party’s insurance company or will seek damages in court.
A common formula to determine the rough settlement value of a case is calculated by inputting a person’s medical expenses and using a multiplier to reach an estimated dollar amount for pain and suffering. Next, they will add the value of other recoverable damages such as medical bills, property damage, and lost income with the assessment.
Once each of these categories of damages is added, a truck accident attorney could calculate a rough estimate. Some information that can help a person calculate a rough settlement value of every truck accident case include medical expenses and the total of all a person’s medical bills including emergency room visits, ambulance or helicopter transportation, prescription drugs, surgery expenses, rehabilitation or other therapy, and any other medical expenses incurred as a result of their semi-truck accident.
A knowledgeable truck accident attorney could evaluate your losses and help you seek compensation from the party responsible for your accident. Speak to a diligent attorney to learn about calculating Fort Worth truck accident damages.
Quantifying Damages
Many insurance companies simply use a multiplier approach to obtain a rough sum when calculating Fort Worth truck accident damages. The appropriate multiplier to use will be determined by the seriousness of a person’s injuries, the level of pain generally associated with the injuries and the long-term impact of such injuries. Determining the appropriate multiplier is often a point of tension between victims, trucking companies, and insurers. An attorney could assist them in assigning this value.
Future Medical Expenses
Injured claimants may be eligible to recover compensation for future medical expenses. If the injuries a person sustained will require ongoing medical treatments such as additional doctor visits, therapy sessions, surgeries, and prescription medications, then compensation may be recouped. A truck accident attorney will estimate the cost of this future treatment to the best of their abilities using past treatment as a guide and add this estimate to their past medical expenses.
Property Damage
Compensation for property damage could also be recovered following a tractor-trailer collision. An 18-wheeler crash frequently results in significant damage to a person’s vehicle. One method to calculate this value is to obtain a professional estimate of the cost to repair a vehicle or use an online guide such as the Kelly Blue Book to estimate the value of their vehicles. What they have is a value they can add to their medical expenses.
Loss of Income
Loss of income is another type of recoverable truck accident damage in Fort Worth. If a person missed work due to injuries, that person’s lost wages are recoverable. To calculate this amount, a skilled attorney will use resources such as paycheck stubs to determine the total amount of missed work time that resulted from their injuries.
Future Lost Income
Depending on the nature and severity of a person’s injuries, injured claimants may be eligible to recover compensation for future lost income. They may be prevented from fully returning to work or may be forced to take additional time off to complete their treatment. If this is the case, they estimate a person’s lost future earnings and add this to a person’s medical expenses, property damage, and lost earnings.
Pain and Suffering
Calculating the value of pain and suffering could be complicated. There is no formula that can quantify the exact amount of a person’s pain and suffering caused by the accident. An individual’s truck accident attorney can assist a person with estimating the value of their pain and suffering by using a combination of experience and research tools available to them.
Common Issues When Settling a Claim
Some of the issues a person might encounter when negotiating a settlement include liability findings. If it is determined that a person is partially at fault for the accident, this will negatively impact the overall value of an individual’s claim. It may require additional time for that person’s attorney to negotiate.
Medical Treatment
Another issue is the summary of medical treatment. Depending on the severity of a person’s injuries, there may be an extensive amount of medical documentation for the insurance company to review.
Available Insurance
Another issue is the amount of available insurance. If the victim is left with traumatic life-altering injuries or the case involves a wrongful death, the time it takes to negotiate may be minimized. For example, each state has specific wrongful death laws that dictate how much a person’s particular estate can be awarded. If a death occurs, the full amount under state laws is often issued.
Reach Out to a Truck Accident Attorney
It could be challenging to calculate damages following a truck accident without experienced legal help. A knowledgeable truck accident attorney could calculate an injured claimant’s losses and help them recover compensation for damages. Schedule a consultation today to learn about calculating Fort Worth truck accident damages.