What Is the Average Payout for a Personal Injury Claim in Philadelphia?

Figuring out how much money fairly represents your damages or losses following an accident could be immensely tough. There is no special formula you can use to calculate the right amount because every personal injury claim is different. This means that there’s really no answer to the question, What is the average payout for a personal injury claim.

What you need to know is that your settlement would depend on the specific circumstances that led to your injuries. To give you a rough idea of how much your claim might be worth, you need to place a dollar value on your medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Personal Injury Losses Equal Damages in Philadelphia

Regardless of how you got injured, you will incur losses, which are also known as damages in personal injury claims. Damages come in two categories:

1. Economic Damages – Also known as special damages, these are measurable or tangible amounts of losses that you may also continue to lose because of the accident. These include your medical expenses, lost earnings, and property damage, etc.
2. Non-Economic Damages – Also known as non-economic damages, these are intangible or immeasurable losses you have suffered and/or will continue to suffer. These generally include pain and suffering and emotional distress.

How to Calculate Economic Damages

You can calculate your economic damages by adding up all the hard costs that resulted from your injuries, such as:

• Medical expenses, including hospitalization, emergency care, diagnostic testing, therapy, rehab, nursing care, etc.
• Lost past and future earnings
• Out-of-pocket expenses like medications, transportation costs for medical appointments, crutches, etc.
• Damaged or lost personal property
• Replacement costs for housekeeping and/or childcare while you were recovering and needed to hire someone else to do your house chores and/or care for your kids

The closest you might get to answering what is the average payout for a personal injury claim is the total of your economic damages will that will serve as the foundation for calculating your personal injury claim payout. So make sure to add up and include all your medical bills, even if some of them have been covered by your health insurance plan.

You should also know that some medical services usually involve multiple bills. For instance, CT scans, MRI scans, and X-rays typically provide bills for the use of the equipment and another bill from the physician who interpreted the results of the scan. Also, emergency departments usually send separate bills for the hospital and the doctor who provided emergency care.

How to Calculate Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages are inherently tougher to calculate since you cannot really measure pain and suffering objectively. Answering the question what is the average payout for a personal injury claim in terms of non-economic damages is much more difficult. Since personal injury claims vary widely from one case to another, your pain and suffering won’t be the same as another victim’s pain and suffering. Two individuals could suffer from the same injuries, but one of them might experience more significant pain and suffering than the other individual.

One individual might develop anxiety, PTSD, and/or depression while the other might not. Similarly, the same injuries might prevent one individual from working while they might not affect the other individual’s ability to work. Regardless, non-economic damages are usually referred to as pain and suffering and might include:

• Physical pains and aches
• Emotional distress
• Persistent sleep problems
• Depression
• Anxiety
• PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)
• Issues with concentrating
• Loss of consortium or companionship

Factors That Increase the Amount of  Non-Economic Damages

• Permanent Injuries, Disabilities, and/or Chronic Pain – Persistent pain from complex wounds or invasive medical treatments, as well as permanent injuries like paralysis, amputations, or severe scarring could raise the value of your non-economic damages.
• Extreme Mental Anguish – Basically, you can receive a higher compensation amount if you suffer from extreme mental anguish and psychological complications because of the accident and injuries. This will, however, require expert testimony from your doctor and mental health professionals.
• Traumatic Accidents – If a traumatic event such as a shooting, being trapped in a car wreck, or plane crash led to your injuries, you could generally recover a higher compensation amount for your non-economic damages.

You shouldn’t be with what is the average payout for a personal injury claim, you should receive the compensation owed to you. Assigning a dollar amount to any type of non-economic damage is challenging, but only you can really evaluate the depth of the pain and suffering you are experiencing. However, your biggest challenge is convincing the defendant’s insurance provider to compensate you fairly.

Seek Legal Help From an Experienced Philadelphia Personal Injury Lawyer

The main job of insurance adjusters is to settle personal injury claims as swiftly and for as little money as possible. The last thing they want is for claimants to work with lawyers because of the possibility of a lawsuit. So, what is the average payout for a personal injury claim in Philadelphia? Mattiacci Law, LLC, doesn’t focus on average, we focus on negotiating the best possible settlement amount with insurance companies for our clients. And are also not afraid to take insurance companies to court if they are not playing fair.

If you are thinking of filing a personal injury claim, our experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyer is ready to help. Schedule a free review of your claim with our Philadelphia personal injury lawyer online or by calling 215-709-7915.