A personal injury can either be a physical disease such as an illness, or a psychological injury like mental problems. This term is used to refer to a wide range of accident types, from someone who has a broken small finger to a person who is suffering from cerebral palsy due to a medical error. When a person suffers from such problems, typically he will need to take a leave from his work for a couple of weeks or even months to recover. However, absences like these are normally unpaid by some private companies so employees tend to return early to their jobs due to the financial constraints. The downside of this scheme is that the injury can only get worsened and the employee may even pay more using his own money for another treatment.

The advantage of making a personal injury claim is that the injured people can take their much needed recovery time while they do not have to worry about their finances. Filing a claim such as this can also help other people to realize the legality of the claim so when same things happened to them they know what to do. It can also teach the organization to follow precautionary warnings to make people safer. For example, overly dark highways can be installed with sufficient light posts so that people travelling on the streets are far from encountering accidents.

Compensation of Insurance Companies in Case of a Claim

The insurance company is deemed responsible to pay or answer for the patient the following:

– Medical care, medicines, and other related fees of the patient
– Income lost by the patient due to the absences he had
– Permanent disability benefits
– Patient’s loss of social, family, and educational experience due to his/her missing days in school, training, or any personal event
– Emotional problems such as embarrassment, strains on personal relationships, depression, anxiety, and stress
– Property damage

Damage Formula Used by Insurance Companies

Determining the monetary worth of an accident injury is the most important process in filing a personal injury claim. It is also considered as the most difficult aspect in determining and settling agreements between the insurance company and the patient. The insurance company uses a damages formula to compute the value they need to pay because it is impossible to weigh the suffering and pain of the person using monetary terms. During the start of the negotiation, an insurance adjuster will combine the total medical expenses caused by the injury. These expenses are termed as the “medical special damages” and will be used as the base figure that the adjuster will use to estimate the anguish and non-monetary losses of the patient. If the injuries are only minor, these special damages will be multiplied by 1.5 or 2. However, if the injuries caused extreme pain and are long-lasting, then the adjuster will multiply the special damages by 5. The multiplier can even reach up to 10 depending on the severity of the case.

After this initial amount has been computed, the adjuster will add the income lost by the patient due to accident. Take note that this formula will not be the one to use in computing the final compensation amount. Instead, it is only the initial formula used to determine the value that will be used during the start of the negotiation.

Author Bio: Personal Injury Lawyer Manchester Personal Injury Lawyer Lancashire

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