What Is Your Minor Injury Worth?

Have you been the victim of a minor injury and are now struggling to pay medical bills and living expenses? If so, find out whether you may be entitled to receive some compensation using the following information and the aid of a New Jersey personal injury lawyer.

Medical Expenses

• Medical expenses are often the most significant concern in a minor injury claim.

• However, medical bills do not necessarily demonstrate a victim’s physical suffering, mental distress, or inconveniences caused by injuries and recovery.

• It may be especially difficult to receive compensation in the form of medical expenses in cases where injuries require little medical aid.

Loss of Paycheck

• Because loss of earnings signifies an out-of-pocket cost that directly stems from the injury, compensation regarding loss of earnings can be more easily determined than medical expenses.

• There is a difference between “gross loss of earnings” and “net loss of earnings”; the “net loss of earnings” is the amount of income tax and Social Security contributions subtracted from the “gross loss of earnings.”

• If you utilize an adjuster, he or she will usually choose to withhold a fee of 20% of the total amount of lost earnings.

Living Expenses

• A minor injury claimant can also work with a New Jersey personal injury lawyer to attempt to reclaim compensation for living expenses.

• Living expenses can include household assistance, automobile repair or rental car fees (if the claimant’s automobile was damaged or destroyed in the accident), and child care.

• Adjusters sometimes require receipts to verify expenses, and can refuse to compensate a claimant’s living expenses without documentation.

• Even with proper documentation, claim adjusters may question assertions of household assistance performed by family members, such as an injured claimant paying his mother to babysit his children.

Pain and Suffering

• Adjusters consider general damages, or reparation for pain and suffering, based upon the aforementioned claim aspects (medical bills, loss of earnings, and living expenses).

• The formula to determine the value of the aforementioned factors is “damages multiplied by liability.”

• Adjusters will use this value to determine the final settlement offer.

• For example, if a claim adjuster concludes that the claimant was 50% at fault and the entire case has a financial value of $10,000, the final settlement offer will be $5,000.

If you are buried under a mountain of medical bills and can no longer earn a paycheck because of a minor injury, you may need help from a New Jersey personal injury attorney. You do not have to fight alone; call the Clark Law Firm at (877) 841-8855 and take the first step toward recovery.