The amount of settlement you receive for your personal injury accident is directly dependent on the policy limits of the insurance that the defendant carries. This article provides more insight into this.

When you are involved in a personal injury accident, your first reaction would be to hire a personal injury lawyer. Your second reaction would be to file a personal injury claim or case against the guilty party. You may be having the evidence needed to sue the defendant in court, but you may still prefer to pursue a personal injury claim against him or her. Your personal injury lawyer may have informed you that this is a ‘surefire’ way to ensure that you receive the settlement that you want and deserve from the defendant.

Your personal injury lawyer in Placentia will tell you that the nature, extent, and severity of your personal injuries plays only a very small role in determining how big your personal injury settlement will be. Another more important factor is the policy limits of the insurance that the defendant is carrying.

How significant are your damages?

You’re the plaintiff and the extent and severity of your damages will directly determine how large your medical expenses, lost earnings, and pain and suffering are. If you suffered a sprained ankle from a slip and fall injury in a department store, you wouldn’t receive a large settlement since your medical expenses, lost earnings, and pain and suffering would be almost negligible. The same would not be true if you broke your hip from a slip and fall incident in a grocery store.

How much insurance coverage does the defendant have?

Let’s face it, you could have over a million dollars in expenses, pain, and suffering, and lost income/wages from your personal injury accident, but you’re only going to get $100,000 in settlement money if the defendant’s policy limits are $100,000. In that instance, you’ll be on the hook for the other $900,000+ in expenses.

Personal injury law is complex

As is evident, since your final settlement amount largely hinges on the limits of coverage of the defendant’s insurance policy, personal injury law is complex and you need to hire a good personal injury lawyer to help you get the settlement that you want, need, and deserve. The fact remains that the damages that you as an injured victim are eligible for damages based on the insurance cover of the at-fault party. Most of the insurance companies only look at the dollar amount on the policy that an individual holds and is not responsible for payouts of large sums as compensation if the insurance policy is of a low amount.