There is not a single factor that affects a personal injury settlement as much as the type and extent of injuries that have been sustained in the accident. The amount of money spent to have your injuries assessed and treated is referred to as ‘medical special damages’ and is a key indicator in the overall personal injury damages formula that insurance adjusters use during settlement negotiations. This article will present the types and extent of your injuries used to determine the value of a personal injury case.

An attorney stated that, “the hard part of figuring out compensation for someone that has been injured in an accident is trying to put a dollar value on pain and suffering. However, injuries due to pain and suffering make up play an important role in the damages formula and, as a result, the more painful an injury is, the higher the multiplying number that is used in the formula”. The attorney further stated that insurance companies begin looking at pain and suffering by connecting types of injuries with the levels of pain.

Experts point out that “the attempt made at connecting an individual’s injuries with his or her level of pain is not very scientific”. For example, a sprained ankle can sometimes be more painful than a cracked ankle bone. However, insurance adjusters use the type of injury as a starting point when deciding what numbers to use in the damages formula. It must be noted that if your injury can be classified in the most serious injury categories, this generally works to your advantage as far as the amount of settlement to expect. However, if your injury is classified as less serious, then you must find other ways to show that your injury did indeed cause significant pain and suffering.

Categorizing Injuries

The accident insurance adjusting business divides injuries into two main categories, these are:

Soft tissue injuries
Hard injuries

Soft tissue injuries can be identified by evidence of discomfort described by a patient. Soft tissue injuries include sprained or strained back, neck, ankle or knee. Therefore, soft tissue injuries involve only muscle and soft connective tissues. In accordance with insurance companies, such injuries are regarded to be less serious and are usually assigned a low damages formula multiplier. Insurers reason that ‘soft tissue injuries are usually not permanent or dangerous, despite how much pain they may cause to the injured person’. Further, insurance companies are aware that if the claim were to go to court, it would be difficult for an injured person to prove what the soft tissue injuries were.

Hard injuries are considered to be more serious and are awarded higher damages, as a higher damages formula multiplier is used. Therefore, if an injured person can point to anything in his or her medical records that has been observed by a doctor, an x-ray, a test, or the description of an injury other than a strain or sprain, the value of the injured person’s damages will go up. One attorney stated that, “any injury requiring any physical repair or intrusive examination by a doctor, such as stitching a wound, setting a bone or arthroscopic examination of the joint, would significantly increase the value of the patient’s case, regardless of all other considerations.” Some examples of hard injuries include broken bones, head injuries, cartilage and ligament separation, dislocation and tears, wounds, etc. 

For legal advice and representation seek out an accident attorney in Wasilla.