You’ve just been to a football game at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium to watch the East Carolina University Pirates win with a last second field-goal. On the way home, you are T-boned by a fan from the opposing team who is unfamiliar with the area and ran a red light. You suffer a fractured elbow and are out of work for three months. How much is your claim worth?
Unfortunately, in North Carolina there is no bright line rule. Many moons ago, there was an old adage/practice that the value of the claim was three times the medical bills. However, in the twenty-plus years that I have been practicing in North Carolina that has not been the case. In fact, there is a North Carolina Pattern Jury Instruction on calculating pain and suffering. It reads:
Damages for personal injury also include fair compensation for the actual past, present and future physical pain and mental suffering experienced by the plaintiff as a proximate result of the negligence of the defendant. There is no fixed formula for placing a value on physical pain and mental suffering. You will determine what is fair compensation by applying logic and common sense to the evidence.
Since there is no fixed formula, it is important to have experienced car accident attorneys to help you evaluate your claim and what it may be worth based on factors such as the nature and severity of the accident, the nature and severity of the injuries, the amount of the medical bills paid or incurred, the length of treatment, the type of treatment, any psychological counseling, any restrictions on your activities of daily living, including work, and any permanent injury or scarring.
If you’ve been seriously injured by the negligence of another in Greenville, North Carolina, contact our experienced car accident attorneys at the Law Offices of Jason E. Taylor, PC in Greenville to see if we can help.
