Personal Injury Settlement Amounts for Truck Accidents

Personal Injury Settlement Amounts for Truck Accident

Written by Jeremy D. Earle, JD

May 28, 2023

Best Truck Accident Lawyers in Denver

Semi-truck collisions can be destructive and lethal, and that doesn’t even consider fitting the parts back together afterward. If you’ve been involved in a semi-truck accident, the legal system may be intimidating, and it’s tough to know where to begin.

If the truck driver was to blame, you might be asking what actions you need to follow to seek damages and medical bills, as well as what kind of compensation you’ll get. You seek a personal injury settlement if you opt to seek compensation rather than file a lawsuit. This alternative is a process and a task, but it might also be quite lucrative to give you the assistance you need.

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Settlements for Personal Injury and Wrongful Death

The idea of negligence is used to prove guilt (who is liable) in both personal injury and wrongful death settlements. The negligence hypothesis asserts that a party owed you a duty of care, that the party failed that duty of care, that the violation of a duty of care affected you, and that the injury left you damaged.

There are economic and non-economic (pain and suffering) damages in both sorts of settlements. Personal injury and wrongful death settlements vary in terms of who may file a lawsuit and the forms of compensation that can be given.

The individual who experienced the harm, and often the injured party’s spouse, is the party who brings the lawsuit forward in a personal injury settlement. Compensation for personal settlements is usually given for three reasons:

Lost earnings — wages that you could not earn due to your accident recovery or disability.

Medical Bills – previous to the demand, medical care was required and predicted future treatments.

Agony and suffering – this covers the injured party’s pain, discomfort, and disruption of life as a consequence of the carelessness.

When the harmed individual has passed away, wrongful death compensation is reached. The personal representative of the decedent is the one who initiates the action. The personal representative is responsible for collecting the damages award for the deceased’s survivors who were financially reliant on them. Typically, a settlement is granted for:

Wages lost — based on the deceased’s future earnings.

Medical care — based on the medical care received till death.

Funeral expenditures – depending on the cost of the deceased’s funeral arrangements.

Investigating all parties who could be legally responsible for damages is one of the first stages in submitting a claim. Even if the truck driver is at fault, other parties may be responsible for damages.

The driver, the truck owner, the driver’s employer, the insurance provider, the party that loaded the truck, the party who owns the cargo in the truck, the last mechanic to service the truck, potentially the manufacturers of the truck, and all of its parts, and sometimes even those who paved the road if it is implicated in the accident may all be held liable for third-party liability.

Should I settle instead of filing a lawsuit against the trucking company?

The fact is that it is very dependent. Taking a truck accident claim to court is a time-consuming procedure. Many insurance companies prefer to settle rather than take a dispute to court.

An insurance company may first offer a low settlement hoping that the injured party would accept it and relinquish their ability to pursue more compensation. Accepting a settlement may save time and energy when opposed to a lawsuit.

Investigating the claim and pursuing reasonable compensation with the help of a truck accident lawyer who knows the difficult process of inquiry, liability, local laws, and federal rules may improve the odds of achieving a fair payment.

If a settlement with an insurance company cannot be reached, a truck accident lawyer may suggest filing a lawsuit and going to trial to collect damages. A lawsuit may be necessary when an appropriate settlement cannot be achieved.

Even if the truck driver seems to be at blame, having a truck accident lawyer on your side throughout the trial ensures that you have an advocate eager to protect your interests against an insurance company that may want to restrict or reject a claim for a variety of reasons. An insurance company may try to minimize a settlement by claiming only partial liability, disputing alleged losses, or attempting to persuade the injured individual to accept for much less than they are entitled to.

Which Losses Will Be Covered by the Settlement?

A settlement is intended to compensate the aggrieved person and their property losses. This includes:

Medical expenses and treatment before the settlement;

Medical costs projected after the settlement; and

Property damage;

Lost pay for the period the injured person is recovering or may be unable to work;

Pain and suffering — to account for the negative effects on the injured person’s life and wellbeing caused by the accident’s fault. Intangible losses, such as catastrophic injuries that result in impairments, deformity, or disabilities, may significantly affect the quality of life.

Amounts of the Minimum Settlement

There is no assurance that a certain minimum settlement amount will be reached. The type and amount of injuries and other damages, as well as the rules regulating guilt and negligence, the investigation and its results, and the nature and extent of the injuries and other damages, are all factors that make nailing down a finite figure difficult. If a settlement is provided, it is usually negotiated to the damages mentioned above.

Amounts of Maximum Settlement

Due to blame, carelessness, and the result of an inquiry, maximum compensation amounts may vary substantially. The number of damages for various damages will be determined by the inquiry, lawsuit, settlement, or jury.

Economic damages: these are concrete real-world losses such as the cost of medical care, property damage, or wage loss.

Non-economic damages are non-monetary losses that are not quantifiable, such as pain and suffering.

Punitive damages: compensatory damages granted to punish the offender for egregious behavior in the hopes of instilling change or deterring others from repeating it.

Several governments impose limitations on personal injury damages to discourage disproportionate judgments based on emotion rather than reason (a sum that cannot be exceeded).

Set up a free consultation with a lawyer to explore the specifics of a truck accident case, typical inquiries, kinds of crashes and accident injuries, possible settlement amounts, and damage limitations for the state of Colorado.

How does my claim get investigated by the insurance company?

The insurance company conducts a preliminary and a discovery investigation to better understand the event and determine whether the injured party is at blame, inspect papers for evidence of damages, and ask the injured person to testify. T

hey will contact all parties to get as much information as feasible. A hired attorney will also conduct investigations and advocate for the wounded party, supplying necessary documents and assisting in preparing testimony.

What Are Some Examples of Actual Settlement Amounts?

The following examples are not intended to predict the result of all cases. Still, they may give insight into the settlements, verdicts, and circumstances involved in each case, which may be useful when comparing claims.

$18,75,000,000

An $18.75 million compensation was given to the family of a Stamford woman who died eight days after being hit by a semi-tractor-trailer that ran a red light. The settlement was reached after two weeks of trial rather than allowing the matter to proceed to a civil jury.

1 million dollars

While crossing an intersection near her school, a seven-year-old pupil was hit and murdered. Her family was granted $4 million, which the city of Chicago would pay, which was deemed liable due to its extensive influence over the contractor that owned the trucks and recruited its seasonal staff.

million dollars

A sanitation worker was hit from behind by a commercial car, trapping his left leg between the car and the trash truck. Amputation below the knee, physical agony, and a loss of pleasure in life were consequences of the accident.

$26,000,000

After a 90-mile “cat and mouse” road rage encounter that resulted in the deadly catastrophe, two truck driver businesses were ordered to pay $26 million to a surviving spouse who was also injured. The drivers’ actions were described in the lawsuit as cutting each other off, blasting horns, refusing to let each other pass, and making “rude and violent hand gestures.” These activities resulted in a head-on accident with the truck in the wrong lane.

If you’ve been in an accident and need an attorney, please don’t hesitate to contact Warrior’s expert legal team. We serve clients all around the country and are accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Warrior Car Accident Lawyers

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Colorado Springs, CO 80904

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