Dealing with a traumatic brain injury or TBI can be confusing, frustrating, and sometimes frightening. You might wonder how you’re going to pay your medical bills, when you’ll be able to return to work, or if your symptoms may become permanent.
At the same time, you could have concerns about what caused your accident or if it might have been prevented. A brain injury lawyer in Salt Lake City can assist you with these and other complex issues that can follow a TBI.
Here are some examples:
- We’ll review the details of your injury and work to determine what happened so you can get the answers you need.
- If we learn that a negligent person or entity caused your injury, we’ll explain your options for recovering compensation.
- If you believe someone else was responsible for your injury but aren’t sure how to prove it, we can assign our investigators to look into the matter. In many cases, we find additional evidence to help prove your case.
- When we have sufficient evidence to show negligence, we’ll help you calculate your damages and then file a lawsuit to recover them.
- Most lawsuits are settled out of court, and we’ll negotiate with the other party or their insurance company to get you the largest settlement possible.
- We are fully prepared to argue your case in court in the unlikely event that the other party simply won’t agree to a fair settlement.
- Have you already received an offer from an insurance company? It may seem like a reasonable offer, but is it? A TBI lawyer can review the offer, compare it to your actual damages, and explain if there are any shortcomings. Should the offer be insufficient, we can negotiate with the insurance carrier for a better deal.
- In situations where, despite exhaustive efforts, we can’t find enough evidence that another party was negligent, we’ll explore other options for covering some or all of your damages. For instance, if you sustained a TBI in a car accident, we may be able to recover compensation from your own car insurance, depending on what type of coverage you have.
- What if you suffer a permanent disability due to your TBI? Many clients tell us that they fear being unable to work or worry about how they will support their family without their income. If this is the unfortunate reality in your case, we will help you apply for disability, Medicaid, and other benefits to assist with your expenses.
- If your TBI happened at work, we can help you navigate the complex Worker’s Compensation system, and if necessary, we’ll support you in appealing a claim denial.
How Much Compensation Do You Get for Traumatic Brain Injury?
This depends on several factors:
What Are Your Actual Damages?
Your attorney will ask you questions to determine your economic and non-economic damages, which may include medical bills (current and future), lost income, lost earning potential, other expenses related to your injury (such as hiring someone to help with tasks you can’t do anymore), permanent disability, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and more.
Many people underestimate their own damages, and the insurance company will do the same, so our goal is to get an accurate picture of your losses and fight for fair compensation.
How Is Fault Likely to be Apportioned?
Utah uses modified comparative fault statutes in personal injury cases. These laws recognize that more than one party can be at fault in an accident or injury, but the party that is more at fault will be found liable.
For this reason, you can recover damages as long as you are less than 50 percent responsible, but whatever percentage of fault you do have is deducted from your final award. In other words, if you are 20 percent at fault, you lose 20 percent of your damages.
You may be thinking that you had no fault at all, and that might be true, but the insurance company could still claim you had some degree of culpability. In fact, this is a widespread problem in personal injury cases because the insurance adjuster has nothing to lose by attempting to blame you.
In some cases, the injured person may believe they were at fault and stop seeking compensation from the insurance carrier. If not, the insurer doesn’t have to prove that the TBI sufferer was totally at fault to reduce their costs – even if they can lay 10 percent of the blame on the victim, they could save a lot of money (since TBI claims are often costly).
Sometimes, the victim or their insurance carrier will agree to a smaller percentage of fault to recover at least most of their damages – even if the injured person wasn’t responsible at all. In these situations, we will investigate the injury, gather as much evidence as possible to support your claim, and explain the strength of your case to the insurance company.
In many cases, the insurance adjuster will back down, and we can agree on a fair settlement. They could refuse and go to court, but the fact is that most insurance adjusters don’t want to go to trial when there is a good chance they will lose.
This is one of the main reasons why we’re usually able to settle cases out of court—others include good preparation and attention to detail in building a solid case.
What Is the Insurance Policy Limit?
Insurance policies all have limits on what they will pay, with minimums set by state law in some cases. In Utah, drivers are required to carry at least $25,000 per person in bodily injury liability coverage and $65,000 in bodily injury liability per accident (although the first $3,000 is paid by the injured party’s Personal Injury Protection or PIP insurance, which is also required).
If you have a serious TBI and need continued care, your current and projected medical costs could easily exceed $25,000. Regardless of your actual damages or how little fault you might have in the accident, the insurance company is not obligated to pay beyond the policy limits.
In these situations, we will consider other options. First, we’ll look at your own car insurance.
If you have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UI), we may be able to recover up to the limit of your own policy. UM/UI is not required in Utah, but it is an invaluable form of protection in situations where you suffer severe injuries due to an uninsured or underinsured driver.
If you don’t have it or can’t remember if you do, we would suggest calling your insurance agent and making sure you’re covered by UM/UI.
When you still have remaining damages, we can also pursue a lawsuit against the other driver. Insurance or not, if they are at fault, they have a responsibility to cover your damages.
Unfortunately, if they don’t have significant assets, it may not be possible to actually collect your damages if you win. We don’t recommend pursuing a claim if you can’t realistically expect to recover compensation because trials can be time-consuming and stressful.
For this reason, we’ll consider the other driver’s financial situation when looking at your options.
In business liability situations such as a slip-and-fall accident or an assault on a business property, the policy limit can vary depending on what the business owner felt they needed. In many cases, they may have six figures or more in liability insurance, making it easier to collect on a judgment if you win your case.
If you tripped and fell on private property, homeowner’s liability insurance may offer six figures of coverage or more for liability. In both cases, we can pursue a claim directly against the owner if your damages outpace the available insurance coverage.
Property owners often have assets we can seize to recover damages after exhausting the insurance coverage.
As you can see, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to how much compensation you can get for a traumatic brain injury. Determining this amount involves complex calculations and knowledge of state laws and the insurance industry.
To find out how much your claim is worth, we recommend speaking with an experienced TBI attorney.
Get Help From a TBI Lawyer in Utah Today
If you or a loved one are struggling with medical bills and other expenses after a TBI, please contact Valley Law Accident and Injury Lawyers for a free consultation. We’ll help you calculate your damages and go over the options for recovering them.
We work on a contingency basis, so there are no upfront costs – if we take your case, you won’t have to pay anything until we win or settle it.
Valley Law was founded by attorney Brigham Richards, who believes that responsibility is the foundation of a successful law practice. Working tirelessly for his clients, he fights to get justice for injured people and their families and has recovered millions of dollars in damages.
He is also fluent in English and Spanish. If you want to work with his expert team of personal injury lawyers, call Valley Law at 801-810-9999.
