If you have been involved in an accident as a pedestrian, you may qualify for personal injury compensation. The amount you can get after the accident will depend on a variety of factors, including the expenses you face as a result of the accident, the insurance companies involved, and whether or not your injury resulted from your own negligence.
Your Expenses
The purpose of personal injury compensation is to cover the costs you face as a result of an accident. The expenses can include:
- Hospital bills
- Doctor visits
- Lost income from missing work
- Lost earning capacity
The heavier the costs you face, the larger the settlement will generally be. Thus, a broken arm will likely get far less compensation than paralysis from the waist down.
Insurance
Your personal injury compensation will be paid through an insurance company. In general, your own medical insurance provider will cover the costs initially, but the compensation for the injuries you suffer will ultimately come from the other party’s auto insurer.
This can get tricky if neither of you has any insurance. In this case, the personal injury lawsuit is made directly to the other party. This may or may not be viable, however. If they are unable to pay for your injuries, there really won’t be an
Comparative Negligence
Illinois law uses a comparative negligence standard when determining whether you get compensation for your accident. If you were in part at fault for your injuries (such as if you were texting while crossing the street), then your settlement amount will likely be reduced. If it is determined that you were more than 50% at fault, then you get nothing at all.
If you are less than 50% at fault for the injury but still showed some negligence, your compensation will be decreased by that amount. For example, if you would have been able to get $40,000 for your injury, but the court finds that you were 30% at fault for the accident, then the amount would be reduced to $28,000.
Additional Factors
Many other elements will factor into the amount you can settle for. These are often harder to define and therefore rely on skillful negotiations in order to get the most for them. Additional factors may include:
- Pain and suffering, which can be difficult to negotiate
- Whether the injury resulted in the loss of normal life
- The type of treatment you received, since some treatments may have more significance than others
- The likelihood that you’ll recover from the injuries since a lifelong disability will get you more
- The skill and experience of your attorney
That last one is a bit unfortunate, but that’s how lawsuits go. You need a knowledgeable attorney who will handle your case with skill. Otherwise, settlement negotiations will probably go south pretty quickly. To get a lawyer you can trust to see you through settlement negotiations successfully, contact Hart & David today.