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Suffering from a head injury can be a life-altering experience with long-term consequences for your health and well-being. Head injuries can be permanent and can change the rest of your life. Even if your head injury is temporary, you may have lost the ability to perform specific tasks before recovering to the fullest extent possible.
When you have suffered a head injury in an accident, it is best never to make any assumptions about the amount of compensation you deserve. The severity of your head injury plays a crucial role in assessing its worth, and even if you do not think that you suffered a severe injury, you may still have the legal right to more compensation than you think. There is a broad range of head injuries that you can suffer in any accident, and you may be dealing with the extended long-term effects. The more severe and long-lasting the impact of your injury, the higher the potential value of your claim. Factors such as lost earnings, medical expenses, ongoing rehabilitation, and the effect on your quality of life will all determine how much compensation you can get.
You should always hire a personal injury attorney to represent you in the legal process after a head injury. A personal injury lawyer can improve your chances of getting the most compensation for what happened to you. An attorney will work tirelessly to gather evidence, negotiate with insurance companies, and fight for your rights, allowing you to focus on your recovery. They will also help you learn the value of your case and work for you to get full payment for your injuries. Schedule a free initial consultation with a personal injury lawyer to begin work on your case. Not only is the consultation completely free, but you also pay nothing to an attorney unless you win your case.
Head Injuries That May Entitle You to Financial Compensation
Head injuries can include a diffuse axonal injury, which is a shearing of neurons and cells in your brain. You may also suffer a coup Contrecoup injury when your brain slams back and forth within your skull. These injuries are more permanent, and you may not recover fully, even after extensive rehabilitation. You may be unable to work or enjoy the life that you did before your accident.
A concussion is also a serious injury. Here, trauma or a sudden movement of your brain can cause changes in its chemical composition, and it can take you a considerable amount of rest before you can recover. Some accident victims have to deal with post-concussion syndrome, in which they will experience symptoms for a lengthy period. Either way, there are several physical and financial costs associated with a concussion.
The first step to brain injury compensation is to establish that someone else was negligent and the cause of your brain injury. When you hire a brain injury lawyer for your case, they will investigate what happened and work to establish your legal right to financial compensation. If you can successfully do that, the next phase of your case is to discuss the amount of money you deserve.
Factors That Can Influence Your Head Injury Compensation
Your head injury’s worth depends on several factors. The most important consideration is how badly you have suffered an injury and its impact on you. The amount of insurance coverage can also determine how much money there is to pay for your injuries. For example, if there is a corporate defendant involved in your case, this can increase your chance of receiving significant compensation.
When seeking damages, you cannot present insurance companies with anything that looks like speculation or guesswork. Although they certainly have ideas about what your case may be worth, they want to see your work and understand why you think that your case has the value it does. In other words, calculating your damages from a head injury requires considerable work. Even if you are proceeding in court, a jury will want to see this same documentation.
Economic Damages in Your Head Injury Case
To understand the value of your head injury case, you should familiarize yourself with the concepts that underlie personal injury compensation. When someone causes your head injury, they assume a legal obligation to fully pay you, no matter what damages they have caused. The category of things that you can receive compensation for when you have suffered a head injury can be far broader than you think.
Your head injury compensation analysis begins with the financial costs you have incurred because of your injuries. You can get paid back for any money you had to spend because of your injury because medical expenses can be significant. If you have suffered a severe brain injury, there is even a possibility that the lifetime cost of your care will exceed $1 million.
You also have the legal right to get paid for the money you could have earned from work but did not. You may have been unable to work for a considerable amount of time before you recovered, or your head injury may leave you unable to work in the future or do the job that you once did. Compensation includes actual lost earnings and payment for any reduction in your earnings capacity, whether it is a forgone promotion or having to do work that pays you less.
Like the rest of your case, economic damages are backward and forward-looking. You can receive payment for the harm you have already suffered and for what you will lose in the future, which can be challenging to determine. Thankfully, hiring a head injury lawyer takes much of the guesswork out of your claim. They will work with the following types of experts to know what the future may hold for you in light of your injuries:
- Medical
- Vocational
- Economic
- Life care planning
Non-Economic Damages in Your Head Injury Case
One of the significant challenges in head injury cases is coming up with a value for your non-economic damages. Your head injury has affected you in ways beyond just the financial harm that you have suffered. Non-economic damages may include the following:
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Emotional distress
- Embarrassment and humiliation
- Depression and anxiety
Non-economic damages can be tricky in your head injury case because no two personal injury plaintiffs are exactly alike. You live your own life, and your injury can impact you differently, where what may be the case for you may not hold true for someone else. In other words, non-economic damages are subjective and depend on your situation.
Insurance companies have motives for placing a value on your non-economic damages and want to take you out of the equation to the fullest extent possible. They know that listening to your side of the story can cost them more money, so they try to impose some form of arbitrary objectivity onto your case. Specifically, insurance companies will try to use a numerical formula to estimate your pain and suffering damages instead of basing the calculation on your unique situation, as they should.
If you have suffered a head injury, the insurance company’s calculations may result in a large payment for pain and suffering. However, it may still be nowhere near enough money to compensate you for your ordeal. Although it is up to you to tell your individual story, insurance companies often do not want to hear it. However, they must consider your situation because your compensation depends on the personal impacts of your head injury.
Insurance Companies Will Always Underestimate the Value of Your Damages
One of the main rules you should know is that your head injury is not worth what the insurance companies say. Their role is to represent the party who was to blame for your head injury, and essentially, they are your adversary in the legal process at every step of the way. However, insurance companies do not have a say in your legal rights. All they can do is decide whether they want to try to settle your case and how much they want to offer you in head injury compensation.
You have a voice in the process because you can decide whether and how you want to resolve your case with the insurance company. If the insurance company is unreasonable in the claims process, you can even choose to disengage from it entirely and take your case to court anytime. You can even elect to start your legal case by filing a lawsuit, giving control to a jury while still retaining the ability to settle if you want.
You May Have to Negotiate for Head Injury Compensation
If the insurance company does not value your head injury correctly, you need to reject any offer it makes you. You must get the money you deserve because insurance companies will not willingly put it in your pocket. Instead, there may be intensive negotiations before you can reach a final settlement. If you are having difficulty reaching an agreement, consider mediation to help resolve any impasse.
The negotiations are even more contentious when your case involves a lot of money. You need a tough personal injury lawyer who can refuse a low offer on your behalf. Insurance companies should have a certain degree of fear of your lawyer, causing them to raise their offer in negotiations. Your lawyer can threaten litigation, which gives them the capacity to make the insurance company pay in court.
You can use the court system if you have a high-stakes head injury case. If the insurance company is recalcitrant, you may need another entity to force the responsible party to pay what they owe you. In every head injury case, you always retain the option to take your case to court and let a jury decide whether you deserve money and how much you can get. A trial adds time and risk to your case but may be necessary if you cannot settle your claim. Always hire a personal injury attorney with experience in the courtroom and a track record of success in litigation.
Even if you have to file a lawsuit for your head injury, it may still not guarantee that your case will go to trial. In fact, a vast majority of personal injury lawsuits will result in a settlement agreement between the two parties at some point before the case reaches a trial. Nonetheless, you must put up a robust showing in the court case for insurance companies to decide that they must settle your case. They may fear the outcome at trial and decide they do not want to face a jury.
It Costs You Nothing Out of Pocket to Hire a Head Injury Lawyer
If you are worried about the cost of hiring a personal injury lawyer, the good news is that they work on a contingency fee basis, which means they only get paid if they win your case. This fee structure allows individuals who may not have the financial means to hire an attorney access to legal representation.
When you hire a head injury attorney, they take on the responsibility of handling your case’s legal aspects. These tasks include conducting a thorough investigation, gathering evidence, negotiating with insurance companies, and representing you in court if necessary. They aim to build a strong case on your behalf and fight for the maximum compensation possible for your injuries and losses.
In addition to working on a contingency fee basis, many head injury lawyers offer a free initial consultation. During this meeting, you can discuss the details of your case, ask questions, and better understand the legal process. This consultation allows the attorney to evaluate your case and determine if they can help you. It also allows you to assess whether you feel comfortable working with the attorney and confident in their abilities.
Remember, if you or a loved one has suffered a head injury due to someone else’s negligence, it is crucial to seek legal representation. Hiring a head injury lawyer can level the playing field and ensure you have someone fighting for your rights. Together, you can work towards securing the compensation you deserve for your injuries and losses.
