If you were riding your motorcycle when you were hit by a car, you might now be left with expensive medical bills and serious injuries. If you had to miss work, if you needed your bike repaired, and if you had to go to the hospital, then you have expenses and damages that can be compensated. Working with an injury lawyer is important in getting justice for what happened to you.
Our lawyers can take your case to court and file insurance claims on your behalf to get the compensation you deserve. Never trust insurance companies to have your best interests in mind – or even to accurately value how much your case is worth – and never accept a settlement before reviewing your case with a lawyer.
Call our motorcycle accident attorneys at Howe Law today at (844) 876-4357 for a free review of your case.
How Much is My Motorcycle Accident Worth in Lawrenceville, GA?
Putting a value on your damages will be one of the most contentious parts of your motorcycle injury case. It might seem obvious to you that your injuries are serious and that you deserve a big payout, but proving that value in court or proving it to the insurance company is a different story.
The Insurance Company’s Calculations
Our motorcycle accident lawyers recommend never trusting the insurance company’s valuation of your case. In Georgia, we use the at-fault driver’s insurance to pay for damages in an auto accident. This means that in an insurance claim, it is up to the insurance company for the driver who hit you to determine how much they are willing to pay. These companies are interested parties, and they will often look out for their bottom line and profits rather than what the victim truly needs.
Insurance companies might reject claims entirely, but it is often easier for them to issue a low-dollar settlement. These settlements are sometimes called “nuisance settlements” in that they are worth just enough to get the victim to agree to the settlement and avoid the so-called “nuisance” of having to defend against the claim. This kind of valuation often accuses the claim of being frivolous and is often completely out of sync with the facts and should not be trusted. Your case is likely worth far more than the insurance company says it is worth.
Our Calculations
Our attorneys will take into account the full picture of what happened to you when calculating damages. The goal of damages is to put the victim back in the same position they were in before the crash, which means reimbursing them for any and all expenses that they faced because of the crash. This includes medical bills, lost earnings, motorcycle repair or replacement costs, replacement household service costs, childcare costs, medical transportation costs, and any other expenses that would not have occurred without the crash. You can also get financial compensation for the things that cannot be undone, such as the injuries and the mental suffering you faced from the accident.
We can calculate the actual value of many of these damages by simply totaling up the values on the bills and receipts you have. Some values, like vehicle repair costs, are determined through appraisals, which we can help coordinate. Sometimes the values of these “economic damages” get a bit complex when looking at things like medical bills and questioning whether you claim the initial bill’s value, the bill after discounts from your health insurance, or your bill after your health insurance’s coverage has been applied. Calculations involving projected future lost wages can also be quite complicated.
Putting a value on your pain and suffering is also complex. There are often shorthand formulas that lawyers and insurance companies use by assigning a per-day value to your suffering or multiplying your economic damages by a multiplier chosen based on how severe your injuries are.
Our lawyers have experience evaluating the cost of damages in injury cases and can put that experience to work in your case. You should always have us calculate damages and review any settlement offers before signing them and accepting payments, as that usually shuts down your ability to go to court and claim additional compensation.
Punitive Damages
Some cases involve serious mistakes and recklessness on the part of the at-fault driver. Especially if you were hit by a commercial driver when riding your motorcycle, there might be corporations involved. Punitive damages can be ordered to punish drivers and the companies they work for, with the goal of deterring future similar crashes.
Punitive damages are not based on how much you faced in expenses or physical harm but instead on how bad the defendant’s actions were and how much money needs to be paid to negatively affect the defendant. As such, cases involving punitive damages might be worth quite a bit more. These damages are not very common, but you should always consider asking your lawyer about whether they might be available in your case.
Proving Fault in a Motorcycle Accident in Lawrenceville, GA
In order to get damages paid, whether through an insurance claim or a lawsuit, you need to prove that the other driver was at fault first. Most motorcycle accident cases involve the driver who hit you making some kind of mistake or violating a traffic law. For example, driving drunk, running a red light, speeding, or even changing lanes without a turn signal could be enough to show that they were at fault. As long as that mistake or violation is what actually caused your crash, we can use that as grounds for your motorcycle accident case.
Call Our Lawrenceville, GA Motorcycle Accident and Injury Attorneys Today
Call Howe Law at (844) 876-4357 for a free case assessment with our motorcycle accident attorneys today.
