Sustaining a back injury in a car accident can have a significant impact on your life, both physically and financially. Understanding the potential value of a back injury claim is important to ensure you receive fair compensation for your damages.
You may not think of a back injury as one of the more severe consequences of a car accident because you may not need immediate and emergency medical attention. However, the effects of a back injury will become more apparent in the days or weeks after the accident, when you feel debilitating pain and cannot live the life that you did before the crash. These injuries often do not go away without medical treatment, and you may even need surgery. In the meantime, you may find that your ability to work and enjoy hobbies is limited or nonexistent.
When someone else is to blame for the car accident that caused your back injury, they will take on a legal obligation to pay you total compensation. Many things must happen before you can get fully paid for your back injury, and the check rarely comes without a fight.
The best step that you can take to prepare for this battle is to call a car accident lawyer immediately to discuss your case. A skilled personal injury lawyer understands personal injury law and how it applies to back injury cases. They will protect your rights throughout the entire process. From gathering evidence to negotiating with insurance companies, an attorney will be your advocate every step of the way.
Back Injuries You Can Suffer in an Accident
Car accidents result in back injuries because your body is not supposed to move in the unnatural way that it does in a sudden motor vehicle crash. Your head and neck can snap forward violently, or the rest of your body can experience a sudden and wrenching motion.
You may sustain the following types of back injuries that have a lasting impact on your life:
- Herniated discs: the gel in the discs that coat your spine can protrude through the disc
- Broken vertebrae: the bones that protect your spinal cord in your back may break
- Spinal cord injuries: broken or compressed vertebrae can damage or sever the spinal cord
- Lumbar strains: you may suffer an injury to the muscles or tendons in your lower back
- Sciatica: your sciatic nerve may become injured, causing numbness and tingling in your body
- Spinal stenosis: the spinal column can narrow, causing pressure on your spinal cord
- Degenerative spinal disorders: your injuries can cause your spinal cord to deteriorate and lose its structure over time
- Back spasms: your injuries can cause involuntary muscle contractions in your back
These injuries may result in constant pain and a reduced range of motion.
Know How Much Your Back Injury Claim Is Worth Before You File It
Your back injury damages represent losses you have suffered and those you will sustain. Given the uncertain nature of back injuries, knowing how you may struggle in the future can be difficult. However, as the personal injury claimant or plaintiff, you have the affirmative obligation to prove your damages. Everything depends on your medical records and future prognosis, and your doctor will diagnose your injuries and give you medical records that show the extent of your injuries. Your lawyer may further work with experts to learn how your back injury impacts your career and personal life.
There Are Significant Financial Expenses For Your Back Injury
Your actual financial losses are a significant part of your back injury settlement check or jury award. Back injuries can be costly, resulting in substantial economic losses. The first major expense that you have is for your medical care because you will likely need ongoing medical treatment for your back injury. Any type of medical care can be expensive, and back injuries can be even more so.
Back injuries require many visits to the doctor over time, and you may even need physical therapy to help you recover to the fullest extent possible (which you need to follow up on because it can affect the value of your claim). You may require one or more surgical procedures for severe and lingering back injuries. The average discectomy may cost up to $35,000, not including other tangential costs associated with any surgery. If you need spinal surgery, the medical expenses for that procedure can reach six figures. Then, you may need additional procedures because one back surgery is often insufficient to correct the problem.
Back injuries can also mean that you either miss time from work or you can no longer perform the type of labor that you did before you suffered an injury. If you have a physical job, you may be unable to do it because a back injury can leave you weak and in constant pain. You may even struggle to perform a job that requires you to work at a desk because a back injury may leave you unable to sit for extended periods. Additionally, you may miss considerable time from work to attend doctor’s appointments.
Your back injury compensation may include your actual lost earnings or any reduction in your earnings capacity. Of course, there may be a significant difference of opinion between the insurance company and you regarding what that means and its impact on your case. Insurance companies may always claim that you can work, or they may underestimate your lost earnings. Since lost income is a large part of your back injury claim, getting your calculations right and fighting insurance companies when they try to pay you too little is essential. A personal injury attorney can battle the insurance companies to get the compensation you deserve.
Non-Economic Losses from Your Back Injury
Back injuries can involve extensive non-economic costs that may result in many issues in your life. These injuries are known to be debilitating and long-lasting; most of all, back injuries may lead to constant pain and discomfort. You will have physical limitations for an extended amount of time and be unable to live the life that you did before your back injury. The non-economic costs of your accident are as much part of your harm as the actual financial losses you have suffered. In fact, your non-economic damages may be worth even more than your economic costs.
Pain and suffering are your back injury claim’s most considerable non-economic damages, and many things fall under the umbrella of pain and suffering. Of course, the physical pain that you are experiencing is entirely compensable. Still, pain and suffering also include the anxiety and mental anguish that you may be feeling as a result of your back injury. Because back injuries stay with you for a long time and can lead to constant discomfort, your mental health may suffer.
You may also be unable to enjoy the life that you did before the accident. For example, you may have had hobbies and things you enjoyed that you can no longer do because of your back injury.
The problem with pain and suffering is that it is an entirely subjective part of your damage. These damages should depend on your own story. Yet, insurance companies often try to take you out of the picture by assigning a so-called “objective multiplier” to your medical expenses. They may seem like they are pulling a number out of a hat because it feels very much unlike your current reality. Insurance companies try to act like they are being evenhanded when they select a multiplier, but the fact is that they are doing everything in their power to reduce the amount of your damages.
Your Personal Injury Lawyer Stands Up for Your Legal Rights
When you hire a personal injury lawyer for your case, they will do their job to tell your side of the story and stand up for your legal rights. Knowing your pain and suffering damages may be challenging when you do not have a personal injury attorney. You may take the insurance company’s word for what you deserve, but the numbers it gives you have little connection to reality. Only when you retain a personal injury attorney can they quantify your pain and suffering damages and stand up for you when the insurance company is not offering enough money.
You Need to Fight for Full and Fair Financial Compensation
Your back injury claim’s value will depend on how hard you fight the insurance companies because you can expect them to make numerous settlement offers for far less than your damages. Your personal injury attorney will review any settlement offer the insurance company makes to determine whether it is in your interest to accept it. The initial settlement offer, and several ones after that, will most likely not be enough to compensate you for your back injury. Remember that you have suffered an injury that may last indefinitely; thus, you must get fully paid.
Your personal injury attorney may continue to negotiate with the insurance company for you if it makes sense for your situation. Whether you want to stick with the claims process depends on the facts and circumstances of your case. Sometimes, it may be better for you to continue talking to the insurance company to get a full settlement. More often than not, insurance companies may slowly raise their offer to the point that is more reflective of your reality, although this process will happen over time.
You Can File a Personal Injury Lawsuit if Necessary
Of course, you will always retain the right to file a personal injury lawsuit against the party responsible for your back injury. They are personally liable to you for the damages they have caused, although the insurance company will defend the case and compensate you up to the policy limit. You must prove liability to the jury, which is only sometimes a sure thing. However, if insurance companies are dragging their feet, filing a personal injury lawsuit may pressure them to do the right thing. Even if you take your case to court, there is still a high chance that you will reach a settlement agreement.
Why You Need a Personal Injury Lawyer for Your Back Injury Case
Hiring a personal injury attorney is the key to maximizing the value of your back injury case. Your personal injury lawyer will quantify the value of your damages so you know how much to seek in a claim. Then, your attorney’s job is to stand up for your right to full and fair compensation for your back injury.
As an accident victim, you can receive more money for your claim, even after paying a personal injury attorney, than you would receive if you represent yourself. The insurance company’s initial settlement offer will only be for a small fraction of your actual damages, and you are more likely to accept it if you do not know any better.
An attorney can accurately assess the value of your back injury claim. They will consider various factors such as medical expenses, lost earnings, pain and suffering, and future rehabilitation costs. By comprehensively understanding your case’s actual worth, your attorney can fight for a fair and just settlement on your behalf.
You do not need to worry about cost when hiring a personal injury attorney. Your lawyer never asks you to pay them out of your pocket, whether for the initial consultation or any of their services afterward. Your personal injury attorney only gets paid if you receive a settlement check or win your case in front of the jury. If you do not win your case, you do not owe your personal injury lawyer anything for their time or services.
Call Today, for Your Free Consultation With a Personal Injury Attorney
The worth of a back injury claim in an accident depends on the extent of your injury and its impact on your life. Seeking legal representation from a knowledgeable Langston & Lott personal injury attorney is vital in ensuring you receive the compensation you deserve. Remember, the sooner you take action and consult with an attorney, the better your chances are of achieving a favorable outcome.
