Typical Payout for Whiplash Injury in Florida
With Florida being notorious for auto collisions, it follows that whiplash injuries are common throughout the Sunshine State. However, like most injuries that affect the soft tissue, whiplash is not easy to document in medical records because the injury does not show up on diagnostic tools such as x-rays. Because of this kind of complexity, you could lose out on the compensation you deserve. Having the best Orlando car accident attorney can explain the typical payout for whiplash injury and help you evaluate all your accident damages, ensuring you get your rightful compensation.
Factors determining whiplash injury settlement
It is not easy to know the typical payout for whiplash injury in Florida. However, several factors can help determine what your whiplash case is worth.
1. Nature of injuries
Much like most personal injuries, the nature and the severity of your whiplash will play a vital role in determining the settlement amount. In most cases, insurers will not pay unless your whiplash injury is permanent. Hiring an experienced Orlando car accident attorney can help prove your injuries’ severity is more than just a few days of discomfort.
2. Cost of treatment
Using the symptoms presented and the medical evidence, insurance adjusters evaluate the amount of money spent and the projected expenditure until you attain full recovery. However, if the emergency treatment you received right after the accident was all there was to treat your whiplash injury, your injuries may not be considered as severe as to warrant compensation.
It’s important to note that frequent visits to the hospital due to whiplash injury can add weight to your case. Therefore, ensure you document all the medical expenses related to your whiplash injury. These include referral to a specialist, bills from psychiatrists, time lost, and family and friends’ written accounts about the effects of your injuries on your physical activity.
3. Lost wages
Lost wages are a significant factor in every personal injury claim settlement. They serve as evidence of the economic damages occasioned by your injuries and could also be considered the major cause of other non-economic damages such as depression.
If your whiplash injuries keep you from doing gainful work, ensure that you document the losses incurred due to lost wages. Getting your employer to submit in writing the hours lost due to your injuries can be a great way of substantiating your claims.
How is a whiplash injury claim calculated?
To establish the total compensation a claimant deserves, insurers often calculate the sum of all medical bills and wages lost.
For instance, if you spend $6000 in medical expenses and suffer $4000 loss in wages lost, your payout will be $10,000. However, your compensation should also account for future expenses and losses relating to your injuries.
Under normal circumstances, the insurer and the lawyers use a 1.5 pain and suffering multiplier to provide additional compensation. At other times an insurer may use a per diem method where a specific daily rate is payable for every day you experienced pain.
Insurance companies do not always treat whiplash as a severe injury and hence apply a lower per diem rate for whiplash injury victims. Sometimes, they may fail to account for future losses. Retaining an experienced Orlando car accident attorney can help estimate all the losses and argue the appropriate per diem rate that matches the level of pain experienced.
Consult with an experienced Orlando car accident attorney
While whiplash may not be considered a severe injury, sometimes it could take days or weeks to establish the injuries’ full extent. Working with our best Orlando car accident attorney can be a good idea to be on the safe side in the unfortunate event you get a whiplash injury.
Contact us online or give our law office today at 888-522-0222, and we will be glad to help you.
