Personal injury accidents happen all the time. Insurance companies know this and hire adjusters whose job is to use predetermined formulas to determine the total settlement amount to pay. However, this formula is only part of the equation. Other non-numerical factors are considered when calculating the final and total settlement amount.

Need for insurance companies for a damage formula

Your personal injury lawyer Compton, will tell you that the person at-fault is legally required to pay for any and all injuries and grievances his or her actions caused the defendant. Examples include:

● Medical bills and related expenses
● Missed time from work and/or other lost income
● Pain and suffering
● Long term physical disability or disfigurement
● Loss of social, family and educational experiences
● Emotional traumas resulting from any of the above examples

Insurance adjusters must use the damages formula to calculate a fair amount to assign to pain and suffering since this is difficult to quantify.

How does the damage formula work?

Personal injury lawyers know that insurance adjusters tally and sum up the complete medical expenses the defendant has suffered in a personal injury accident. This is referred to as the ‘medical spend damages,’ or ‘specials.’ The figure for pain and suffering is arrived at by multiplying the total amount determined for ‘medical spend damages’ by a factor of one and a half to three for minor injuries and five for major injuries. The adjuster will factor in any lost income and call this the final settlement amount.

Insurance adjusters try to keep these formulas a secret

Insurance adjusters try to keep these formulas a secret. You must ask your lawyer for this formula for this reason. Adjusters want to stick by negotiation rules which dictate that they do not reveal what they are thinking or doing in relation to the personal injury case. The defendant will have to negotiate the final adjustment amounts with his or her lawyer to come up with a number which both sides deem to be fair and reasonable.

The first thing you should know about these formulas and deciding factors is that the formula is determined by multiplying the total amount for special damages by the appropriate factor. Other factors are taken into consideration once the baseline figure has been established. The second thing you should know is that different factors can produce different end figures. Now that you know how damages and compensation are calculated, you will need to hire a personal injury lawyer, if you are ever involved in a personal injury accident and want to win your case in court.