Facts about Negotiating California Personal Injury Settlements

You may have the right to get compensation if another party’s negligent or reckless act brought about your injuries. Many injured people understand that, but they do not understand what to say and what to do to negotiate a fair settlement. To settle your personal injury claim for no compensation is the last thing that you would want.

Your Insurer’s Role in Negotiating an Injury Settlement

You have perhaps been told that most California injury cases are settled before they go to court, but do you know that most of those are settled for an amount which falls short of what the injured parties deserve? A reason why this occurs is that several injured parties settle their injury claim without relying on an attorney and without the required experience and tools to achieve the deserving results.

Insurers cannot be happier than dealing with one, who is not legally represented. This presents them with a chance to shift the blame onto the victim, pointing at insurance policy terms and conditions that they invent. These non-existing details in the victim’s policy reduce compensation.

Seek Medical Attention

The first step that you need to take before trying to negotiate it is seeking immediate medical attention. Your physician will need to find out the following things.

• What kind of injury you sustained;
• How serious it is;
• How it will impact your quality of life and earning capacity;
• What form of treatment you need to recover;
• Whether you will completely recover or not; and,
• Approximate how much money your treatment will cost.

After your medical professional determines, evaluates and documents all of the aforementioned elements, you can go ahead with your injury claim.

Calculate Special and General Damages

Unfortunately, several injured parties ignore this step, assuming that their insurer will calculate everything for them. You should never think that the things they calculate reflect the real level of your damages.

Special damages include loss of income, medical expenses, property damages, and several other tangible costs. Future monetary loses can be regarded as tangible costs too, provided that determining how your condition will influence your earning capacity is easy.

It is pretty difficult to calculate general damages without the help of a personal injury lawyer. This is because there is no receipt proving your damages, and no formula to work out intangible costs either. These damages include pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment and emotional distress.