1-800-964-0361
Adjusting the Value of Your Personal Injury Case
Once Barrie, Stouffville or Orillia personal injury lawyer has established what your personal injury claim is worth, adjustments will made by calculating the amount to reflect these factors:
- Court and trial location – in Ontario Province, some venues are more conservative than others. Consequently, settlements awarded in these areas tend to be much lower than what juries award in heavier populated, urban communities. Whenever insurance adjusters are negotiating a settlement, they usually remember this factor.
- Liability – if liability is established in your case, this could afford you a higher settlement amount. However, if contributory negligence is a factor (in other words, you contributed to your injuries by virtue of your actions), then your settlement amount will be decreased based on you contributing to the fault.
- Mitigating damages – whenever it is reasonably possible, the injury victim or plaintiff should try to reduce (mitigate) the damages in their case. For instance, your medical expenses are higher because you did not get proper medical treatment after your accident. Since you failed to get treated, your injuries are now harder to treat. As a result, your claim’s value may be reduced due to failure to mitigate.
- Multiple defendants – whenever there is more than one defendant in a personal injury case, there may be differences and issues with the amount of percentage of the total settlement amount that each one is responsible for paying.
- Plaintiff characteristics – interestingly enough, the value of your settlement can easily be influenced by your own characteristics. Factors that could possibly influence the final settlement amount include your age, like ability, occupation, past medical history, and so on.
A personal injury lawyer plays a significant role throughout this process. Consequently, you should never attempt to handle your claim on your own and always rely on the experience and expertise of a personal injury lawyer to represent you and your case in Ontario.
Submitting Your Settlement Offer
At this point in the process, you and your lawyer are ready to submit your settlement offer. A settlement demand letter will be submitted by your lawyer to the defendant and/or their insurer. At this particular point in your case, it is not uncommon to see a lot of back-and-forth negotiations between you, your lawyer, and the defendant’s insurance company regarding what your case is worth in Barrie, Orillia, or Stouffville.
Until a settlement is reached, negotiations could be ongoing. Naturally, the insurance company will try and settle as cheaply as possible. After all, they are trying to protect their own interests and do not care about yours. The reality here is that if a settlement cannot be reached, a judge and jury will be determining how much your damages are worth in court and it could take years to resolve your case as a result. It is best if your lawyer can find a price that can make the settlement faster so that you don’t have to undergo financial crisis.