What Is the Average Personal Injury Settlement?

To keep your case moving and ensure you file on time, it’s in your best interest to work with an attorney who can keep things efficient.

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The average personal injury settlement is largely unclear, seeing as the type of case and individual factors involved in each case vary greatly. If you have a case, you’ll need to consider your case type, the damages sustained, and the evidence available to help prove those damages when calculating a settlement.

What Is the Average Personal Injury Settlement?

While the average varies across case types, according to Forbes, the median settlement for personal injury cases is $31,000. Meanwhile, a study from Jury Research Verdict specifically found that the average settlement amount for trial cases in Illinois is $26,624.

However, despite these numbers, there isn’t a clear average. Depending on the nature of the case and the damages involved, average personal injury settlement amounts can range anywhere from thousands to millions of dollars.

Knowing more about the types of cases and the kinds of compensation awarded to plaintiffs can give you a better idea of what a case may be worth.

Types of Personal Injury Settlements

There are many types of personal injury cases that could result in up to millions of dollars of compensation. The following are some personal injury examples that could settle during negotiations through insurance claims or become trial cases:

Auto Accidents

One of the most common types of personal injury cases involves car, truck, motorcycle, or other auto accidents. Injuries in accidents can range from minor to fatal, and liability in Illinois could fall on multiple parties. Ultimately, the many factors in these cases can make the settlement amounts vary widely from case to case.

Slip and Fall Accidents

Another type of accident is a slip and fall, which falls under premises liability. These accidents occur when someone slips on a slick, uneven, difficult-to-see, or obstructed surface and falls, resulting in serious injuries. Depending on the circumstances, property owners may be liable for failing to maintain safe areas for individuals.

Medical Malpractice

Healthcare facilities or professionals could be liable for medical malpractice if their negligence results in injuries or illnesses to patients. For instance, a doctor could fail to properly diagnose a condition or prescribe sufficient treatment, or surgical errors could cause life-threatening injuries during or after procedures.

Work-Related Injuries

While many workplace accidents and injuries will end with workers’ compensation claims involving an employer’s insurer, some cases could turn into or involve additional personal injury claims or suits if a negligent party is clearly liable.

Wrongful Death

In the event a victim dies from his or her injuries, loved ones can also file a wrongful death claim or lawsuit against the parties responsible for the person’s death.

How Are Personal Injury Settlements Calculated in Illinois?

Different types of damages can factor into personal injury settlements. The following is a breakdown of the different types of damages and other factors that can impact settlement amounts:

Economic Damages

One of the central types of damages in personal injury cases is economic or monetary. These damages take into account the financial costs related to injuries or other damages.

Examples of these damages include:

• Medical expenses related to treating injuries, from ambulance rides to long-term medical care and medications
• Lost income, which can impact how personal injury settlements are taxed
• Lost earning capacity due to disabilities
• Replacements or repairs to damaged vehicles
• Ramps and other modifications made to facilitate accessibility
• Any other related expenses

The more extensive the injuries, the more recovery and the more costs associated with the case, which will likely increase the overall settlement amount.

Non-Economic Damages

Supplementing economic damages are non-economic damages, which help lawyers calculate how much personal losses cost plaintiffs in these cases.

Many victims of personal injury suffer physical and psychological effects that can last for a lifetime following an accident. While these damages aren’t as straightforward to calculate as economic damages, attorneys and courts can use certain methods to factor these into a settlement amount.

Examples of these damages can include pain and suffering, emotional distress, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of relationships resulting from injuries and trauma.

Punitive Damages

In rare cases, the courts could also award punitive damages with the intention of punishing defendants for egregious behavior. For example, punitive damages could factor into a settlement if a defendant exhibited gross negligence in a car accident, such as driving while drunk and speeding with blatant disregard for other drivers or pedestrians.

Wrongful Death Damages

When an individual dies following an accident, loved ones could seek various wrongful death damages. For example, compensation could cover the costs of holding a funeral and burial, along with other costs leading up to and following the individual’s death.

With the help of a dependable personal injury lawyer, you can effectively identify and calculate each of these damages to reach a total settlement.

How a Personal Injury Attorney Can Help

When attempting to seek compensation for any type of personal injury, it’s important to have an attorney by your side with experience in this particular practice area. A good attorney will work to understand the details of your case and determine the options available to you in a claim or lawsuit.

While you may wonder whether you can settle your own personal injury case, a lack of experience here could be detrimental to you. Personal injury claims and suits are often complex and involve many factors. Balancing these can be difficult, especially when you or your loved one needs to focus on making a medical recovery.

Ways you can benefit from a personal injury attorney’s representation include:

Get Help With Settlement Negotiations

One of the main ways a personal injury attorney can help with a case is by negotiating settlements with insurers. Your attorney should have a good idea of the average personal injury settlement in your specific case type, and accurately calculate the settlement you’re able to recover.

During negotiations with insurers, adjusters may attempt to make an initial offer that’s far below the case’s actual value. If you accept this offer, you may be unable to recover any future compensation, even if your case is worth more.

Attorneys with experience in negotiations will know how adjusters work to minimize or reject claims, continually making counteroffers until they reach a favorable agreement.

Calculating All Damages

There are many damages that can come into play in a personal injury case. These could include a combination of economic, non-economic, punitive, or wrongful death damages, all of which you’ll need to identify and quantify to achieve a full settlement.

Your attorney can review all documentation pertaining to your case and the nature of your injuries to determine all damages and count them toward your settlement.

Collecting Evidence

To succeed with a personal injury case of any kind, you must be able to prove the liable party’s negligence and that this negligence directly contributed to your accident and damages.

In the process, you will need to collect and present sufficient evidence proving these elements and all damages involved.

Types of evidence you’ll need in these cases include:

• Medical records
• Police reports
• Footage of the accident scene and any injuries or property damage
• Receipts for repairs or replacements
• Witness statements
• Expert witness testimony

On your own, it can be difficult to get a hold of and organize all this evidence, but this is where an attorney can help. Your lawyer can get in touch with all necessary parties to gather enough evidence to support your case, organizing it into a compelling argument for use in claims or lawsuits.

Keeping the Claims and Legal Process Smooth

It’s crucial to avoid waiting to file a personal injury claim or suit. The longer you wait, the closer you get to passing the statute of limitations, which limits the amount of time you have to seek compensation.

In Illinois, the statute of limitations for personal injury cases is two years from the time of the injury or discovery of the injury. In other words, you will have two years to begin a case before you are no longer able to seek compensation, with a few exceptions.

You should also keep in mind the payout timelines for personal injury cases, as the longer you wait to file, the longer it will take to recover your settlement.

To keep your case moving and ensure you file on time, it’s in your best interest to work with an attorney who can keep things efficient.

While there might not be a clear average personal injury settlement because of the many factors involved in these cases, you can work with a lawyer to determine your case’s value and work toward recovering total compensation.