Did you know…
The car accident settlement calculator being used by most insurance companies across the U.S. puts a higher value on cases where crash victims are represented by attorneys with:
a) a track record of successful trial verdicts and settlements; and b) a reputation for going to trial.
Use Our Car Accident Settlement Calculator: To find out how much your case is worth fill out our car accident settlement calculator form below.
There are two main types of car accident settlement calculators being used today. One type is used by the insurance industry. This type of personal injury settlement calculator, whether it is Colossus, Xactimate, or another type of insurance claims car accident settlement software, gives a claims adjuster a range of authority to settle a claim that is usually based on an average settlement value of that particular injury in that particular venue.
The second type of car accident settlement calculator that can be found on the internet today are the ones that can be found on many personal injury attorney websites. Unfortunately, many of these personal injury settlement calculators act more like a marketing lure – a “bait and switch” to get new clients. These personal injury calculators tend to spit out a big “car accident settlement” number to entice people to call the law firm. If you read their reviews, however, these car accident cases never seem to settle for what the settlement calculator said the case was worth when they called the attorneys office.
But these attorney car accident settlement calculators fall short in one other key area. They all leave out one of the most important value drivers that insurance companies use in determining just how much money a case will settle for:
Who is your attorney?
Who your car accident lawyer is is actually the single biggest value driver in determining the amount of your personal injury settlement. The insurance industry’s own internal data, revealed primarily through bad faith litigation cases and the testimony of former claims adjusters, shows that settlement values for cases with experienced attorneys who have a proven track record of success and who have also demonstrated a willingness to go to trial are able to settle automobile accident cases for 4 to 8 higher. Insurance companies track attorneys. In fact, this is one of the key features of insurance company personal injury settlement calculators like Colossus and Xactimate. Insurance companies know which personal injury lawyers pose a credible trial threat and which do not. Lawyers who never take cases to trial, or who are known to always settle cases “short” at the door of trial, simply will never get settlement offers as high as those lawyers who do.
How does your choice of lawyer affect the car accident settlement calculator?
The car accident settlement calculator used by auto insurance companies across the country will likely determine the settlement value of your case. Settlements can be 4-8 x higher if you are represented by an experienced auto accident attorney with a track record of success and a reputation for going to trial.
A study from the insurance industry itself shows that personal injury claims from motor vehicle crashes settle for an average of 4 to 8 times more when the crash victim’s lawyer has a record of top-reported trial verdicts and settlements and is known for going toe-to-toe with the insurance companies at trial. This is the single biggest “value driver” that insurance company claims adjusters can use in evaluating how much money to offer to settle a claim from an automobile crash. Insurance company car accident settlement calculators and claims software programs evaluate a claim and determine the range of settlement authority a claims adjuster has, but this amount of authority can increase significantly based on the reputation of your personal injury attorney because the attorney increases a claims exposure and risk for the insurer.
How much is my case worth?
In Michigan, the short answer is that the settlement value of your motor vehicle personal injury case is probably worth a lot more than what the other driver’s insurance company is voluntarily offering.
In states where an at-fault, negligent driver’s insurance company is allowed to contact an injured individual directly (in many states this is forbidden as it is considered the unauthorized practice of law), these claims adjusters receive bonuses for how many claims they can resolve because the insurer knows these personal injury claims are being settled for less than if that injured individual had been represented by an attorney.
What are the factors that a car accident settlement calculator might consider?
A car accident settlement calculator may consider the following factors in determining how much your case is worth: (1) the nature and extent of your personal injuries; (2) your current and future medical needs; (3) whether you were able to return to work or whether you are partially or fully disabled from working, including any physician-imposed restrictions and whether you have reached MMI (i.e., maximum medical improvement); (4) whether you were disabled from engaging in other important non-work-related pre-accident activities; (5) the at-fault driver’s liability limits, available collectible personal assets, and the particular insurance company involved; (6) the experience, track record and reputation of your personal injury lawyer (attorneys who are known for going to trial can settle cases for more money and often much faster); (7) the amount of economic “specials” – usually the amount of money incurred in medical bills and wage loss to date; (8) the county or legal venue in which your case will be litigated.
What is the average settlement for a car crash?
There is no public data entity – at either the state or the national level – that collects, analyzes, updates, reports and/or publishes data about the average amount a motor vehicle crash case settles for. However, this is precisely what car accident settlement calculator software programs like Colossus and Xactimate are designed to do for claims adjusters.
Even if there was public data available, the information about what the “average” or median personal injury settlement amount for a motor vehicle crash in a particular venue should be of little value to you because this number reflects settlements by all lawyers – including those who grossly under settle cases because they have no idea what the value truly is. Every time a divorce lawyer or general practice lawyer tries to make a quick buck and settles an automobile crash case short, it lowers the average settlement value of that specific personal injury. It also reflects settlements made by the big legal mills and television advertisers who have business models that depend on moving massive file dockets to “feed the advertising beast” and who are known to rarely maximize the settlement values of a claim. When a TV lawyer has 300+ cases, they cannot even return phone calls from clients, let alone properly document and litigate a motor vehicle crash case to recover the full settlement value that a case is worth.
However, Michigan Auto Law is different. With 20 personal injury lawyers who truly specialize in helping people who have been injured in automobile crashes and who focus their practice exclusively on this one area of the law, our experienced auto attorneys are in a better position to understand the range of what an average settlement will be based on where the crash occurred (what venue) and based upon the settlement factors discussed above.
Our attorneys have a proven track of winning more million-dollar auto accident results than any law firm in Michigan, and they are known for treating every client with compassion, care and respect.