What Impacts the Value of Your Neck or Back Injury Settlement?
Like most car accident settlements, the value of your neck or back injury settlement depends on multiple factors, including:
- Severity of the injuries – The extent of your injury, including the severity of pain, limitations in mobility, and any long-term effects, will heavily influence the settlement value. More severe injuries often lead to higher settlements.
- Medical treatment costs – The cost and extent of medical treatment your injury requires, such as surgery, therapy, and medication, plays a significant role in the value of your settlement, with greater expenses translating to higher settlement value.
- Lost wages and income – If your injury prevents you from working or reduces your earning capacity, your lost wages and income will be factored into the settlement. The greater the losses, the greater the value of your potential settlement.
- Permanent disability or impairment – If your injury results in permanent disability or impairment, such as paralysis, loss of limb function, or chronic pain, the value of your settlement may be higher to account for long-term consequences.
Our Back & Neck Injury Settlements
At Brown & Crouppen, we’ve secured millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for clients who have suffered back and neck injuries in various accidents. Our case results speak for themselves. Here are some notable results:
Client injured neck & back after at-fault driver hydroplaned across a multi-lane highway, hitting the them head on
Client injured back after being rear-ended
Client suffered a neck injury while he was stopped at a red light and was rear-ended by a semi truck
Get started with a free consultation with one of our skilled Personal Injury Lawyers today.
Types of Damages Available to Back & Neck Injury Victims
People who sustain a neck or back injury due to another’s negligent actions are eligible for two types of compensation: economic and non-economic damages.
Economic
Economic damages are directly related to the financial losses you experience due to your neck or back injury from a car accident. They may include:
- Medical expenses
- Future medical expenses
- Lost income or wages
- Loss of future earning capacity
- Lost employment benefits
- Home modifications
- In-home assistance or care costs
Non-Economic
Non-economic damages compensate for the losses that are not easily quantifiable, such as:
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Permanent impairment and disability
- Mental anguish
- Emotional distress
How To Prove a Back & Neck Injury
Proving a back or neck injury from an auto accident involves four key elements: duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages. This process can be complex, as many factors can contribute to each phase, so it’s important to have help from a skilled auto accident injury lawyer.
Your lawyer will begin by establishing the defendant’s duty of care. Since this is an auto accident case, your lawyer would establish that the at-fault driver was responsible for operating their vehicle safely to avoid causing harm to another person.
Next, your lawyer must prove that the at-fault driver breached this duty of care. For example, suppose the other driver was on their mobile phone while driving, thus breaching the duty of care through distracted driving. This step requires various types of evidence, which may include:
- Accident reports
- Eyewitness testimonies
- Expert testimonies
- Surveillance footage
- Cell phone records
- Vehicle maintenance records
- Photos and videos of the scene and injuries
Using this information, you must prove that the at-fault driver’s negligent actions caused your accident. Each case varies, but in this example, your lawyer must demonstrate how the at-fault driver could have avoided the accident and prevented your injuries had they not been on their phone.
Lastly, your lawyer will connect the dots, bringing the causation points to the resulting damages. They will demonstrate the damages you have suffered because of your back or neck injury, such as medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Your lawyer plays a pivotal role in each step of the car accident settlement process. By hiring a skilled auto accident injury lawyer, you can fight for the most compensation possible.
Call Our Experienced Auto Accident Injury Lawyers
Every car accident back and neck injury case is unique. Factors specific to your accident, such as the severity of your injury and the extent of the medical bills resulting from it, can cause the value of your case to fluctuate. Given the complexity of these cases, from determining liability to establishing a fair settlement amount, having help from a skilled lawyer is essential.
Brown & Crouppen is an award-winning personal injury law firm with more than 250 legal professionals and over 40 years of experience. We provide top-tier legal representation to members of our communities injured by auto accidents. Call us at (800) 536-4357 or contact us for a free consultation.
