Figuring Out if Your Auto Accident is Serious
Many auto accident settlements are anything but cut and dry affairs. When you are negotiating with an insurance company for a settlement, on of the biggest numbers that may be thrown around is pain and suffering. This is a hard number to come up with exactly, as it is supposed to represent the amount of livelihood taken out of your life as a result of the accident. The more serious of an injury you’ve sustained, the greater the settlement you can expect to pay. But what exactly constitutes a serious injury?
Some serious injuries are very easy to identify. Fractures can count and of course so does anything else that is more serious. Other injuries, however, such as whiplash, can be serious or relatively mild. While things vary state to state and insurer to insurer, you usually need to meet one of three criteria for something to be considered a serious injury. First, you can have significant limitation as a result of the accident. You can also fall under something called permanent consequential limitation, which is when the injuries as a result of your accident can significantly impact your daily activities for the rest of your life. Finally, a serious injury can also be established if someone missed at least ninety days of work in the 180 days after the accident as a direct result of the accident. The third criterion is the most common one for establishing that there has been a serious injury.
If it is deemed that you’ve suffered a serious injury, in most cases you should seek legal representation to deal with the insurance company. Personal injury attorneys have years of experience and will be able to make sure that you get all the money that you deserve for your car accident claims that you file after the accident.