If you are involved in an accident in Florida, you must show your injury is permanent to receive compensation for pain and suffering. If you break your leg, it is usually easier to prove there is a permanent injury than if you suffered a soft tissue injury. That’s because most juries will believe that fractures are permanent injuries.
Broken bones can be extremely painful and impact your life in many ways. Due to the potential severity of these injuries, contacting Daytona Beach injury lawyers to help with your case is highly recommended. At Zimmet & Zimmet, we have years of experience representing injured clients and helping them get the full amount of compensation they are entitled to. Keep reading to learn more about your claim and what your broken leg injury may be worth.
Determining Your Broken Bone Settlement Amount
When you decide to move forward with a personal injury claim, you can recover different types of damages. The types of damages you can recover are described here.
Financial Harm
The court will provide compensation for financial harm caused by your injury. This includes things like lost wages, medical costs, and property damage. Usually, these damages make up the bulk of a personal injury settlement.
Besides these damages, you may also receive other payments to cover intangible harms. Usually, this covers things like mental anguish or pain and suffering from the injury.
Determining the damages for financial harms is typically simple. For a broken leg, imaging evidence from MRIs and X-rays is needed to determine the severity of the break and the extent of the damage. After the testing is complete, doctors may cast the leg or use immobilizers or a splint.
In other situations, the bones must be reset. Setting bones after a serious injury may require surgery and the use of medical implants like pins, rods, or screws. Regardless of how much these procedures are needed, they still come at a cost. Your personal injury settlement should cover the hospital bills you receive.
If you miss time at work, it’s possible to calculate your total lost wages. Usually, you can go back to work after your break has healed or while it is healing, which is when you can resume earning a paycheck. The time you are out of work for your injury can be compensated through your personal injury settlement.
In some situations (depending on your job), you may have to return to work at a reduced capacity. If your injury prevents you from making as much money as you did before it happened, our legal team will use the services of financial experts to determine your lost earning potential. This can also be included in your claim.
Pain and Suffering
Calculating pain and suffering related to your broken leg is more challenging. There are no costs or prices associated with certain types of injuries. While this is true, the more serious the injury is, the more they are typically worth. Broken bones can range in severity depending on how complex they are. For example, a broken leg that requires surgery is an injury that is worth more than a broken leg that is just put in a cast.
When injuries are more serious, they come with more pain, rehabilitation, and emotional distress.
Punitive Damages
Receiving punitive damages for a broken leg is rare. These are damages that are paid to a victim to punish the at-fault party for especially negligent actions or repetitive behavior.
When to Accept a Settlement for a Broken Leg in Florida
Many cases involving a broken leg will settle outside of court. While settling the case is fine and helps you avoid the cost of going to trial, ensure you receive a fair amount of compensation.
Sometimes it’s hard to determine if a settlement is fair without first speaking to Daytona Beach injury lawyers from Zimmet & Zimmet.
Remember, insurance companies are protecting their bottom line. The best way to do this is by settling with accident victims for as little as possible. If you accept a first or even second settlement offer, there’s a good chance you won’t be receiving a fair amount of compensation for your injury.
Why Work with Our Legal Team After an Accident-Caused Broken Leg?
When you contact our Daytona Beach injury lawyers, you can feel confident that we will investigate your accident and gather evidence to prove that you deserve compensation. Some of the evidence we will use in these cases includes reports from the accident scene, medical records, and personal records showing how the injury has impacted your life.
Once we understand the scope of the injury, we can determine a monetary value based on:
- Medical costs (past, present, and future)
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
We will also factor in the long-term impact of the broken leg. For example, if screws, pins, or other medical equipment are required, you may experience pain for the rest of your life. You can count on our legal team to factor in all these elements to ensure you receive a fair settlement offer.
Call Our Office Today for Help with Your Personal Injury Claim
If you are injured in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence or wrongful act, you have the right to recover compensation. At Zimmet & Zimmet, our Daytona Beach injury lawyers are ready to help you file a lawsuit and receive the compensation you are entitled to.
We offer new client’s a free initial consultation to discuss their claim. During this meeting, we can also develop a strategy to move forward with your personal injury lawsuit. Get in touch today to learn more about our legal services and to ensure your rights are protected.
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