How Much Should I Accept in a Settlement Agreement?

If you’ve ever known someone who’s been hurt in an accident, you know that settlement amounts can sound exorbitant at first. When an insurance adjuster sends the victim of a car crash a settlement proposal, the victim might think it’s more than enough. Unfortunately, funds can dry up quickly, and unexpected costs can leave victims wishing they had asked for more.

Determining the size of settlement agreement you should accept after an accident depends on medical bills, lost income, personal impact, and future costs. The right settlement is one that covers all these expenses and doesn’t put you at risk of paying out of pocket or dipping into your savings at a later date.

This is why it’s important to work with an experienced Phoenix car accident attorney. Settlements are final. A skilled lawyer will make sure you say ‘yes’ to the right number.

What Settlements Are For

Settlements are financial compensation designated to cover the expenses both past and present tied to an accident. These costs (or losses) include both obvious monetary values, like a hospital bill for surgery, as well as expenses more difficult to quantify.

Settlements should cover: 

• Property damage
• Medical expenses incurred
• Future medical expenses
• Wages lost
• Future wages lost
• Reduced earning capacity
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of enjoyment of life

Part of what makes settlement agreements complicated, and why you want an attorney on your side, is that immediate needs are pressing. If you’ve been in an accident and are up to your neck in medical bills, it can be difficult to turn down a settlement that covers your current costs.

However, you might have injuries that require treatment months after the accident, or you might find that you’re forced to take a demotion at work. These costs can be staggering long term, and you need to be compensated for them.

Key Components of a Car Accident Settlement

Why You Shouldn’t Take the First Offer

Two goals of insurance companies are simple: close claims quickly and for as little as possible. This can lead these companies to offering low settlements fast, sometimes before:

• You’re able to speak to a lawyer
• Your medical treatment is completed
• The long-term impact of your injuries is understood
• You can predict how your time away from work and capacity to continue in your field will be affected
• An expert can attempt to calculate your pain and suffering

When victims accept a settlement early in the process, they can risk paying for future surgery or ongoing therapy out of pocket. They might also realize too late they have to live with chronic pain with no compensation.

Insurance companies try to get you to accept the lowest settlement they can get you to agree to, and this can mean undervaluing your expenses. A way to fight this is knowing how long you have to accept a settlement.

Calculating Settlements

Expert Opinions

Accidents are complicated, which makes the financial consequences of them difficult to untangle. An accident attorney should be able to calculate losses already incurred, then they can turn to experts. For example, medical experts can give insight into the expected costs, both medical and emotional.

Determining Liability

Arizona is a comparative fault state, which means that compensation is relative to responsibility. It’s important that a lawyer calculates your exact level of fault in an accident so that your settlement reflects that. This can also require experts that can analyze weather and road conditions or use evidence from the crash site to recreate the accident and determine which driver did what.

The Best Advice on Saying Yes

A personal injury attorney can help you organize medical documentation, gather important data, communicate with insurance companies on your behalf, work with experts to calculate present and future costs, and ultimately, prepare your case to go to trial if it has to.

All these things are difficult to do on your own. Gage Mathers can help. We know the ins and outs of settlements and know when to fight to get you more.

Don’t worry about doing everything right to make sure your accident doesn’t cost you years from now. Let Gage Mathers step in today to make sure you get everything you need now and in the future!

About the Author

Joseph D'Aguanno

Guided by the belief that being a highly skilled specialist in a narrow field is better than being ordinary in everything, Joseph “JD” D’Aguanno leads Arizona’s best personal injury law firm in Phoenix, AZ. Having extensive cross-training in pre-litigation negotiations and trial lawyer skills, with decades of experience, JD strives to provide clients with the most valuable legal services a personal injury lawyer can provide. Under his direction, Gage Mathers Law Group is an award-winning personal injury law firm providing aggressive representation to victims of a car accident, medical malpractice, dog bite, motorcycle accident, and other injurious events. Gage Mathers is trusted by thousands of lawyers and clients throughout the country because of their reputation for getting clients the maximum compensation they deserve.

Years of experience: Over 24 years
Bar number: 020421
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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