How Much Does Insurance Pay For a Neck Injury in a Car Accident?

How is a Neck Injury Claim Valued in the Bay Area?

Valuing your injury claim after a car accident involves assessing how much the jury will likely award you (the plaintiff) for your injury should your case go to trial.

It also involves estimating:

• How much the insurance company (the defendant) is willing to pay
• How much you’re willing to settle for in order to close the case before trial

The most significant factors in valuing your neck injury case include the severity of your injury and how likely the jury is to find the defendant responsible for causing them.

Severity of the Neck Injury

The severity of a neck injury can range from minor sprains and whiplash to neck fractures that require surgery. The more significant the damage and the longer the recovery time, the higher the value in a jury verdict or insurance settlement. If you suffer a “hard” injury, like a cervical fracture, you’ll be awarded more than you would for a soft tissue injury, like a pinched nerve or whiplash.

Cost of Medical Treatments

The cost of medical treatment that your injury requires is one of the most significant and concrete factors that insurance companies consider in valuing your claim. A neck injury that requires a spinal fusion or other surgery will be awarded a higher amount of compensation than a sprained neck that requires a brace. Most insurance adjusters will view your injuries as more severe if your injuries are treated by a physician rather than a chiropractor or physical therapist.

Assessing how much your injury claim will be awarded isn’t easy. If your case goes to trial, a jury usually decides how much the insurance company will have to pay in damages for your injury, so it depends on the jury. There are two primary types of damages involved in California’s injury claims: economic and noneconomic.

Economic Damages

All costs tied to your injury after the accident are considered to be economic damages. Expenses that can be documented, like medical bills, lost income, and future medical treatments, are all considered in economic losses. These amounts are objective and the more straightforward of the two types to prove.

Noneconomic Damages

More subjective losses that are harder to estimate, like pain and suffering, are considered noneconomic damages. Predictions of future losses that your neck injury will cause are often based on past awards in neck injury cases that were similar in nature. Every trial and jury is different, so even with expert opinions, an estimation of future suffering and loss of quality of life is difficult to determine.

Bear in mind that if you had any previous neck injuries before the accident occurred, the awarded damages would likely be reduced because the defendant’s acts didn’t entirely cause your injury and pain.

A notable factor in how much an insurance company will pay is how likely a jury will find the defendant liable for causing the accident. If you have very little evidence supporting your claim that the other party’s negligence caused the car accident that induced your neck injury, the value of your claim drops dramatically. Gathering proof can significantly help your case in proving the other driver was responsible. That kind of proof can include:

• A police report
• Photos from the accident
• Eye-witness testimonies

Even if your injuries are severe and the damages are great, if you have little to no proof – a defendant will be less willing to settle and be more prone to take the case to trial. Likewise, you might be more willing to accept low compensation because you run the risk of getting nothing when you have little proof to show in a trial.