Car Crash: Getting the Most From Your Personal Injury Settlement

A personal injury settlement may be offered by an insurance company after a car accident. You may accept a personal injury settlement and settle out of court, relieving the other driver and his insurer of all future liability. On the other hand, if you don't accept a settlement, you may be able to sue and collect higher damages... but in doing so, you take a risk. To get the most from your personal injury settlement arising from a car crash, it is important to know and understand the laws in your state and to evaluate all of your options carefully.

What are Your Options

There are 12 states in the United States that impose no fault rules. This means in these states, for any non-serious injuries, you are not permitted to sue the other driver in an accident, even if he was at fault. Instead, no matter who was at fault, you are permitted to recover your medical bills and lost wages from your own personal injury protection coverage that you are required to buy.

In no fault states, you are allowed to sue, but only if your injuries are considered serious under the law. Different states use different thresholds, but generally any injury that is permanent, serious, disabling or disfiguring may constitute a serious injury. It is important to understand when you are allowed to sue in a no fault state in order to get the most from your personal injury settlement, since you can recover only actual economic damages from your personal injury protection.

In other states, you are entitled to sue an at-fault driver even for minor injuries. However, you can also accept an out of court settlement and give up your right to sue. Make sure before accepting a settlement that it is fair and completely covers your damages. The benefit to going to trial is you may be awarded more than the insurance company would offer, but the risk is that you may be awarded less or nothing at all. By settling, you have more control over just how much you get.

Understanding Your Damages

Damages for personal injuries arising from a car accident can include:

• Medical bills
• Lost wages
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress

Any settlement offer that is not sufficient to fully compensate you for all of these things may be insufficient and you may wish to pursue a lawsuit to try to be awarded a larger amount. Remember, though, the insurance company will pay only up to the policy limits- anything over and above the policy limits, you will have to collect directly from the negligent driver's personal assets (if he has any)

Getting Help

The best way to get the most from your personal injury lawsuit is to get the help of an experienced auto accident attorney. Your attorney can help you review a settlement to determine if it is fair and can help you to either negotiate a better settlement or to file a lawsuit if necessary.