The aftermath and impacts of a serious car accident feel overwhelming, with effects that are often far-reaching into all aspects of the accident survivor’s life. The after-effects of a car accident often go beyond a damaged or totaled vehicle and extend to medical expenses and lost earnings. A successful car accident claim in Everett requires a careful assessment of all damages a car accident victim experiences from an accident and the help of a car accident attorney in Marysville.
Accurately Assessing Car Damage After an Accident
Sometimes car accident damage to a vehicle is obvious—a crumpled front end, a dented rear bumper, or a crushed car door—but some damage requires an expert assessment. Determining car accident damage to an involved vehicle requires the following:
- An appraiser or insurance adjuster inspects the damaged vehicle
- After the assessment, the insurance adjuster issues a benchmark estimate of the cost of repairs based on the value of the vehicle and the anticipated cost of parts and labor for repairs
- The accident victim or car owner must obtain estimates from two or more trusted repair shops
- If the cost of repairing the damaged vehicle is close to, equal to, or exceeds the actual value of the car (according to the Kelley Blue Book value and other estimate measures) the insurance company considers the vehicle totaled
Assessing car damage after an accident requires careful examination by experts to identify problems that extend beyond cosmetic damage such as scratches and dents. Damage to the vehicle’s frame, alignment, and mechanical functions can contribute to an insurance company considering a car non-repairable or totaled.
Calculating Economic Damages For Car Accident Injuries
Serious car accident injuries are expensive as well as painful and potentially life-altering. Calculating the economic damages of injuries requires a careful totaling of injury costs such as:
- Reimbursement for medical expenses already paid by the injury victim
- Anticipated future medical costs related to the injury
- Compensation for lost wages
- Expected future income loss
- Diminished future earning capacity if the accident caused permanent disability
- Out-of-pocket expenses such as travel costs to see specialists or the cost of hiring home help for yard work or housekeeping during recovery
- Wrongful death benefits to close family members if the accident caused a fatality
A Marysville personal injury attorney for a car accident victim performs a careful calculation of a car accident’s economic damages to the victim to help ensure that an injury victim misses no avenue for recovering compensation.
Determining an Amount for Non-Economic Damages After a Car Accident
Car accidents cause significant pain and trauma when they result in injuries as well as property damage to a car. While assigning a monetary amount to non-economic damages like pain and suffering doesn’t directly correct or erase pain, it is the civil court’s only means of legal redress or remedy. Calculating an amount for pain and suffering typically requires using one of two formulas. One formula multiplies the total cost of an injury victim’s medical treatment by a pain level between one and five, while the other method assigns a daily amount of compensation based on the level of pain and the number of days medical experts believe the pain will last until the injury victim reaches their maximum medical improvement.
A successful claim for non-economic damages substantially adds to the total amount of compensation a car accident victim recovers, helping them to focus on the best medical care and relieving financial concerns during recovery. Contact Wells Trumbull today.