Because each case is unique, there is no true average settlement for an accident in South Carolina. How much compensation you may receive can depend on the severity of your injuries, what insurance coverage is available, and whether you work with an experienced personal injury attorney.
What Factors Can Affect the Final Settlement Amount?
Various factors can influence the amount of compensation you may be eligible to receive through your personal injury claim, including:
- The extent of your injuries
- Whether you can work and how much income you lose
- The overall impact on your quality of life
Every case is unique. Accounting for all relevant factors when negotiating with the insurance company is key to receiving the full compensation you’re eligible for.
What Types of Damages Can I Seek in an Accident Lawsuit?
A personal injury claim can provide you with compensation for losses such as:
- Medical bills
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
Insurance companies and personal injury lawyers use formulas to assign dollar values to these losses.
Injured parties often benefit from settling their personal injury cases out of court. However, the insurance company might refuse to offer the compensation you deserve. If settling out of court isn’t an option, you may file a lawsuit to seek damages.
How Is an Accident Settlement Calculated?
Attorneys and insurance companies calculate personal injury settlements by:
- Determining what types of losses a victim sustained
- Reviewing documentation of losses, such as copies of medical bills or tax returns showing lost income
- Adding up all economic losses, including costs of medical treatment and missing work
- Estimating the potential value of future losses, such as long-term medical expenses or loss of earning potential
- Assigning a potential dollar value to non-economic losses, such as pain and suffering
You and the insurance company may disagree about the dollar value of certain losses. For example, the insurance company may believe your pain and suffering is worth less than you believe it is. Negotiation may be critical in maximizing your South Carolina personal injury settlement, which is where the help of an attorney is essential.
Should I Accept the First Settlement Offer?
It’s rarely advisable for claimants in personal injury cases to accept the insurance company’s first offer. Here’s why:
- There may not have been enough time to account for all losses – The insurance company might offer a settlement relatively quickly when you file a claim. As you see medical expenses and other bills growing fast after an accident, you may feel tempted to accept this offer right away. However, neither you nor the insurance adjuster might have had time to add up all your losses. There’s a good chance the initial offer is lower than what you may be owed.
- You may be eligible for compensation an insurance adjuster won’t tell you about – The insurance adjuster will likely act as if they’re on your side. While they may be a very compassionate person in their private life, professionally, they work for the insurance company. It’s their job to minimize how much money their employer pays out to claimants like you. Because of this, you can’t trust an insurance adjuster to thoroughly explain all the losses for which you may deserve compensation.
- You may not have a full sense of how your injuries impact your life – In the early weeks and months following an accident, the degree to which injuries can affect your quality of life might be unclear. An early settlement offer might not accurately reflect the impact your injuries will have on your future well-being. You might need to spend more time adjusting to life with your injuries to understand their overall effects.
The insurance company may pressure you to accept the initial settlement offer, insinuating that it’s the best one you’ll get. Don’t let fear dictate your decision at this critical time. If you suspect an insurance company’s first offer might be too low, you are under no obligation to accept it. Instead, get in touch with a South Carolina personal injury lawyer.
What Steps Should I Take Following the Accident?
What you do in the days and weeks after an accident can have a big effect on your claim. Be sure to see a doctor if you haven’t already. You may visit the emergency room, a nearby urgent care center, or your primary care physician.
Factors like adrenaline sometimes cause injured parties to not realize they’re injured. You may have sustained injuries you don’t know about because they haven’t caused visible harm or immediate symptoms.
Err on the side of caution and see a doctor regardless of how “fine” you may feel. You might need treatment without knowing it. Additionally, if you develop symptoms later, an insurance company might argue your injuries may be from another cause. Guard against this tactic by seeing a doctor as soon as possible.
You should also start gathering whatever evidence of the accident you may have, including by writing down your memory of events while it’s still fresh. Assemble any documents about the accident in a folder, including medical bills, communications with your employer about time off work, and anything else related to the expense of the accident.
Finally, get in touch with an attorney for help pursuing your personal injury claim.
Is There a Time Limit in South Carolina for Filing an Accident Lawsuit?
South Carolina law establishes deadlines for how long injured parties have to take legal action. In South Carolina, you have three years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury lawsuit. You’ll waive your right to compensation if you wait too long.
Contact a South Carolina Personal Injury Lawyer
Do you still have questions about how much your settlement could be worth? A South Carolina personal injury attorney with McKinney, Tucker & Lemel, LLC can review your case and give you some answers. Contact us today for a consultation to learn more.
