How the “Damages & Compensation Formula” Impacts Your Claim

Over the course of an injury claim, there are several factors that people want to know about, but the most important one is how your final compensation amount will be calculated. Many people understand that insurance companies use a formula to calculate claim amounts, but few people realize how the formula is used and why it exists.

Luckily, there is no mystery to what’s known as the “damages and compensation” formula, and once explained, it’s easy to get an idea of how this formula will determine your final claim amount. Find out how insurance companies use the damages and compensation formula to decide how much you’ll receive for your personal injury claim.

WHY THE DAMAGES AND COMPENSATION FORMULA MATTERS

Before diving into how the damages and compensation formula is employed, it’s a good idea to get a sense of why it exists in the first place. Calculating damages in a personal injury claim is not as straightforward as you might believe and can include several different factors that you should be aware of.

For instance, while it’s fairly simple to calculate the monetary worth of physical harm and a loss of income, deciding how much compensation your emotional and social losses entitle you to is less easy to decide. The reason the damages and compensation formula was invented was so that insurers had a simple method for calculating damages that would take into account both physical and mental losses.

LEARN HOW THE FORMULA IS USED

The first step of the damages and compensation formula is to determine your “medical special damages” or “specials”. Medical special damages are made up of the medical expenses that you have accumulated as a result of your injury.

Next, your insurer will determine your “general damages”, which encompasses the less concrete forms of harm you’ve suffered, such as a loss of social functioning and mental pain. To calculate your general damages, your insurer will multiply your medical special damages by 1.5 to 5 times. The higher the number on the scale, the more serious your injuries and the more compensation you will receive.

Finally, your insurance company will add your medical special damages, your general damages and the income you’ve lost together to comes up with your total personal injury claim amount.

FIGHTING FOR YOUR PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM

There are a few other factors to be aware of when you’re trying to decide how much compensation you’ll receive for your injury claim.

First, if you want to make sure your general damages are calculated using the higher end of the scale, you will need to provide evidence of the seriousness of your injury. Secondly, while understanding the damages and compensation formula will give you a general idea of the amount you may receive, no insurer fully discloses their particular formula. To make sure you get the highest amount possible, it’s a smart idea to hire a personal injury attorney.

CONSULT AN ATTORNEY

To make sure that you get the compensation you need during your personal injury claim, you should trust your case to the legal professionals at the Dunnion Law Firm.

At Dunnion Law we understand how to deal with insurance companies so that you get your deserved compensation.