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Average Settlement Amounts For Truck Accidents

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$4 Million +

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$1.5 Million

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$1 Million

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Truck Accident Settlement Amounts & Examples

Even with an amazing Colorado Springs trucking accident attorney on your side, each claim is unique and the average truck accident settlement amounts may not apply to your situation. Since there are a ton of factors involved, we cannot give you an average settlement amount without knowing the details of your claim, but we can give you some ballpark numbers based on the severity of the accident. For very minor accidents with mostly property damage and only minor injuries, the average settlement amount would be around$20,000 to $30,000.

average truck accident settlement amounts

For medium severity accidents where the injuries sustained took time to heal from and get back to normal, the amount would increase to closer to $100,000. If the accident was very severe, with lifelong injuries that affect your ability to live a normal life, then the settlement amounts can go into the hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

Again, each accident claim has unique parts to it that will drastically affect the value of your claim, so don’t take these numbers as a solid foundation on how much you will get in your claim, just use them as a ballpark compared to how bad your accident was. No matter what though, you will need to speak to a truck accident lawyer to get a better idea of what your claim is actually worth. Things like fault, injuries, monetary costs associated with the accident, as well as other things like pain and suffering or other aspects that affect your well being will all play a major role in how much you will get in compensation. To make sure you have a solid understanding of your claim, make sure to reach out to our truck accident attorneys for a free consultation on your case.

How To Calculate How Much Your Claim Is Worth

Calculating how much your case is worth is not going to be easy if you want to get close to the exact numbers as there will be other parties and information that will affect the actual value, but you can start off by adding up all of the monetary costs associated with your accident. These are things such as damages to your vehicle, medical bills, lost wages due to missed work, lost future income, costs associated with getting your life back to normal, permanent impairment, and more. Since these things have a dollar amount associated with them, they are easy to add up. These costs are known as economic damages.

The second part is calculating your non-economic damages, which is where it gets tricky. Each law firm and insurance company will use a different method to calculate how much your non-economic damages should be worth, based on how much your economic damages added up to. If your injuries were bad, but won’t affect you for the rest of your life, then the amount your get in non-economic damages won’t be a huge amount, but if you did sustain lifelong injuries that will affect how you can live your life compared to before, then you can expect this number to be substantial. Add your economic and non-economic damages together to get a full settlement amount.

Now you also have to look at fault. If you were partially at fault for the accident, then your compensation package will be reduced by the percentage that you were at fault for the accident. If you were deemed 50% or more at fault for the accident, then you won’t be eligible to receive any form of compensation. So if you played a small role in causing the accident and it comes out to be 20% at fault, then reduce the payout amount you calculated by 20% to get a more realistic valuation. These numbers will still be ballpark numbers, but at least you’ll have a little better idea of what to expect as long as you calculated everything correctly.

The Severity Of The Truck Accident Makes A Difference

Truck accidents can get very bad, very fast. The heavy load of the truck can cause major damages and injuries, not to mention the risk of the truck and trailer rolling over and landing on top of another vehicle. These vehicles can’t stop quickly and are all over the roads at all times, so it’s always a risk to be driving near them. When a truck accident causes major injuries and property damages, the compensation packages can grow into the hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions.

When this happens, it is usually because the person that was injured suffered injuries that will affect them for a long time into the future or possibly the rest of their life. Nobody wants to have to deal with that and since the accident wasn’t your fault and you ended up with these injuries anyways, your compensation package will reflect what you had to go through.

Factors That Can Impact Your 18-Wheeler Accident Claim

The main factors that impact your truck accident lawsuit are as follows: proving fault, amount of economic and non-economic damages, severity of injuries, proving that you have a valid claim and evidence. Proving who is at fault for the truck accident is a good place to start when looking into a case because that will determine who is responsible for paying out the settlement to the plaintiff. And if the fault was shared like partial fault from the trucking company or truck driver, then this will have a major effect on the settlement overall. Calculating damages from the accident is the next big thing to look into as this will be your compensation amount if it is proved that the other party was at fault for the accident.

The severity of your injuries also plays into the non-economic damages part of this because major injuries that keep you from living a normal life will be compensated with a greater value than minor injuries that heal up quickly. Proving that you have a valid claim is also very important because without all of the factors being present, then the case cannot move forward. Evidence is also crucial to being able to prove what happened, who’s fault it was and any other details surrounding the incident. All of these factors must be closely examined by your injury lawyer to get a reasonable estimate on what your claim would be potentially worth, so don’t skip over them during your research.

How Soon Should I File A Lawsuit?

Ideally, your case can be resolved short of filing a lawsuit. Many cases settle without ever going to court, but the chances of reaching a fair settlement depend on a variety of factors outside of your control. Will the other side accept liability, or dispute it? A disagreement about whose fault the accident was is the most likely way to wind up in a lawsuit. Another common reason why negotiations break down is disagreement over the necessity of medical care. Oftentimes insurance companies claim that injuries were either pre-existing, or developed due to a plaintiff’s own failure to properly treat them in time. In both cases, the insurance company may refuse to pay a fair value for an accident, even if they have accepted fault. Despite this, most of the time a seasoned attorney can negotiate a satisfactory settlement without ever having to file a lawsuit. If negotiations break down however, a lawsuit is the only way to force an insurance company to pay its fair share.

Waiting to file an injury lawsuit is never a good idea. We always recommend that you start the process of filing your lawsuit as soon as it becomes necessary because the sooner that you get started, the easier it is to gather evidence and get testimony from any witnesses. It also allows your attorneys to start building a case for you right away, so that once you are fully healed from your injuries, you can start moving your claim forward immediately. You also need to take into account that your claim filing does have a deadline. The statute of limitations for trucking accidents gives you a 3 year window from the date of the accident or the date of discovering your injuries to file your claim, but there are a few exceptions that could affect how long you have to file, so always make sure to speak with an attorney quickly to make sure you don’t let your window to file pass you by.

Time It Takes To Resolve a Semi-Truck Accident Claim

Timelines to resolve truck accident claims can vary for quite a few reasons. Sometimes the process can be quick if all of the evidence is there that your attorney needs, but sometimes it is hard to get the information needed in a reasonable amount of time. There also may be multiple rounds of negotiations that need to take place before a fair settlement amount can be agreed upon. In situations where your severe injuries will take a long time to heal, it is best to wait to file your lawsuit until you have reached maximum medical improvement. This allows you to know exactly how much your medical expenses and rehabilitation is going to cost, so you can file your demand letter with the exact numbers necessary. Due to all these factors, you may be looking at anywhere from a month to years to settle the case, depending on your unique situation.

Speak With One Of Our Lawyers

With decades of experience dealing with truck accident claims, you can trust that your case is in good hands when you work with Rector Stuzynski LLC. Our team of exceptional attorneys do everything we can to get our clients the maximum possible compensation so that you can focus on healing and getting back to life as it was before the accident while we handle all of the legal stuff for you. Our staff updates you every step of the way and keeps you in the loop so you always know where your case stands. We have an extensive list of 5 star reviews from our long line of happy clients and we know you will be happy with our services as well, so give us a call for a free case consultation. You can reach us anytime over the phone or stop by our office in Colorado Springs to speak with our attorneys in person.

Areas We Serve

We serve clients injured anywhere throughout the state of Colorado, but we focus on residents of these areas: Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs, Fountain, Briargate, Monument, Black Forest, Pueblo, Canon City, Larkspur, Security-Widefield, Peyton, Castle Rock, Teller County, El Paso County, Elbert County, Park County, Douglas County and beyond.