Whether you were involved in a car accident, a fall at your local grocery store, or another form of trauma caused by someone else's negligence, there's a good chance you suffered some sort of back injury. Since our back plays an integral role in almost everything we do, suffering a back injury can change your life in many ways. If someone else is to blame for your injuries, consider bringing a personal injury claim to receive the compensation you need to cover your losses.
How Much is the Average Settlement for a Back Injury?
Depending on the severity of your injury and how your life is impacted, the average settlement for a back injury accident ranges from $10,000 to $100,000. Settlements can also be lower or higher than these averages, with some cases being resolved in the millions of dollars. This wide value range results because back trauma is a complex injury with a broad range of severity.
Cases involving back injuries deal with everything from soft tissue injuries to spinal cord damage. As a result, estimating how much the average settlement is for a back injury accident presents many challenges.
To better help you understand what this means for your back injury case, our personal injury lawyers discuss what you should know about back injury accidents, the legal remedies available to you, how much is a back injury worth, and how a skilled back injury attorney can help you fight for the maximum financial recovery.
Common Back Injuries Caused by an Accident
Back injuries occur for many reasons. Following an accident, such as a car wreck or a slip and fall, certain back injuries result more frequently than others.
Take, for example:
- Soft Tissue Injuries: These injuries include sprains, strains, and tears to the tendons, muscles, and ligaments in the back. These injuries can result in significant pain, stiffness, tenderness, and muscle spasms.
- Herniated Disc: A herniated disc, also referred to as a ruptured disc, tends to result when an extreme force causes the discs in the spine to slip out of place, crack, or rupture. Although a herniated disc is usually painless, it can lead to significant pain if it compresses a nerve in the lumbar or cervical spine.
- Fractures: Following an accident, the vertebrae in the spine may fracture. One of the most common spinal fractures that can develop is a compression fracture, which results from significant pressure or stress on the spine that can cause small cracks or fissures in the bone. However, if the fracture is more severe, it may damage the spinal cord and the surrounding nerves and require immediate medical attention.
- Spinal Cord Injuries: During an accident, you can lacerate, bruise, or damage your spinal cord from extreme pressure, leading to permanent nerve damage or paralysis. These injuries often require immediate medical attention.
Although these are some of the more common back injuries resulting from an accident, they are not the only ones. If you’re in an accident and sustained a back injury, even if it is not on the above list, reach out to an experienced back injury attorney as soon as possible. These lawyers can review your case, determine if you have a viable claim, and help you pursue the compensation you need to ensure you get the necessary medical treatment.
Obtaining Compensation Following a Back Injury Accident
If the wrongful actions of another individual injured you, there are two ways to obtain compensation for your injuries and associated losses. You can negotiate an out-of-court settlement or go to trial and receive a verdict awarded by the court. In general, settlements are more common than verdicts, as many parties prefer to settle outside the courtroom instead of dealing with the expensive, lengthy, and risky litigation process.
During the settlement negotiations, attorneys for both sides will attempt to work out a mutually acceptable sum of money. A settlement needs to address the victim’s current expenses and future costs, along with other related losses. If these settlement negotiations work, they usually resolve a case in advance of a scheduled court date. However, if it becomes impossible to reach an agreement, a trial may be necessary to resolve the issue.
Once the injured party accepts a back injury settlement offer, they cannot ask for more money down the road, even if additional expenses arise from the original accident. For this reason, following your back injury accident, consult with an experienced back injury lawyer as soon as possible. A dedicated personal injury lawyer can help you fight for the settlement you need, making sure it covers all your current and future expenses related to the accident. If they cannot reach a fair settlement outcome with the liable party, they should be prepared to take your case to trial to fight for maximum compensation on your behalf.
Specific Factors That Can Affect the Average Back Injury Settlement
No attorney can tell you exactly how much your back injury case is worth, primarily because too many factors can affect your case and the amount of money you can receive. For example, a back injury settlement without surgery expenses will likely be lower than one involving extensive surgeries and complicated medical care.
Some of the factors that might impact your back injury settlement include:
- The severity and the extent of your back injuries
- The types of medical treatments required now and in the future
- The length of these medical treatments
- Whether your back injury resulted in a permanent disability
- Your ability to work following the accident
- If the crash resulted in lost wages
- Your ability to take part in normal daily activities following the accident
- The certainty of the defendant’s liability
- The credibility of the evidence presented
- The need for replacement services following the accident
- The extent of the pain and suffering that resulted from the incident
Even though an attorney cannot tell you exactly how much money to expect following a back injury accident, they can review these factors, prepare a strong case, and help you pursue the maximum financial recovery possible.
Damages You Can Pursue in a Back Injury Accident Claim
If negotiations go south and you cannot reach a settlement agreement following a back injury accident, you may pursue the compensation you need by filing a lawsuit. This compensation breaks down into the following types of damages:
Economic Damages
Legal economic damages refer to the actual and easily quantifiable losses that result from an accident.
They can include:
- Past and current medical bills related to doctor visits, hospital stays, ambulance services, emergency room visits, surgeries, prescription medications, and other medical treatments
- Lost wages and reduced earning capacity
- Personal property damages, including replacement services and repair costs
- At-home nursing care
- Domestic replacement services such as grocery shopping or child care services
- Rehabilitative therapy (occupational and physical therapy)
- Other out-of-pocket expenses
Non-Economic Damages
These damages refer to the subjective losses that result from an accident. However, because these losses are not easy to quantify, they are also more difficult to value and prove.
Some of the more common non-economic damages that tend to arise following a back injury accident include:
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of a limb
- Loss of consortium
- Loss of enjoyment and quality of life
- Scarring
- Disfigurement
- Inconvenience
- Humiliation
- Reputation loss
Punitive Damages
Unlike other damages, which compensate the victim for their losses following an accident, punitive damages punish or penalize the wrongful party for their egregious actions and deter other parties from committing these acts in the future.
However, due to the nature of these damages, they are not awarded in most personal injury cases. Rather, for a victim to obtain punitive damages, their attorney must show through clear and convincing evidence that the defendant’s actions were grossly negligent or the defendant acted purposely and maliciously.
Settling Your Back Injury Claim With the Insurance Company—What to Watch Out For
Depending on the accident that led to your back injury, the insurance company may offer you a quick settlement amount. Although this may sound like great news, it is not always in your best interest to accept this offer.
Insurance companies may offer you money soon after an accident when you are most vulnerable. They hope you will not think twice before accepting their offer and not contact a lawyer to verify whether the amount is acceptable.
This offer may barely cover your current costs, let alone any future expenses that arise from the accident, such as ongoing medical treatments or assistive medical devices. If you accept this settlement amount, you cannot return to the insurance company and ask for more money later.
Before you accept anything from the insurance company following a back injury accident, reach out to an experienced back injury lawyer as soon as you can. These knowledgeable legal professionals can review your settlement offer and determine if it is fair. If it is not, they can further negotiate for a more reasonable amount or file a civil lawsuit on your behalf.
What is the Statute of Limitations for a Back Injury Claim?
The statute of limitations is a regulation that sets the maximum amount of time that a party has to initiate legal proceedings following an alleged offense. The statute of limitations varies depending upon the severity of the offense and the jurisdiction of the case location.
If individuals do not file their lawsuit within this allotted time, they cannot pursue legal action to obtain compensation for their injuries and losses. Depending on the accident circumstances, exceptions may apply to this rule impacting the filing period by either shortening or extending the time to file.
Following a back injury accident, reach out to a knowledgeable back injury attorney as soon as you can. These lawyers can review the facts of your case, determine the maximum amount of time you have to file your claim, and ensure that all of your legal documents are correctly prepared and submitted to the appropriate court on time.
Work With a Skilled Personal Injury Attorney to Fight for the Full Settlement That Your Back Injury is Worth
Following a back injury accident, the last thing you want to worry about is gathering evidence to prepare legal arguments to prove what happened so that you can collect the money you need. Fortunately, with a skilled back injury lawyer fighting on your behalf, you don’t have to take on this legal fight alone.
After retaining a skilled personal injury lawyer, they can:
- Go over your back injury accident with you in detail, figure out if you have a viable case, and help you determine your legal options.
- Answer the questions you have and provide you with the legal support you need during this difficult time.
- Thoroughly investigate the incident and obtain the evidence needed to show fault and damages.
- Make sure to hold everyone responsible for the accident accountable for your injuries and losses.
- Hire experts, such as accident reconstructionists, doctors, and financial specialists, to substantiate your claim.
- Handle all negotiations and discussions with the insurance company and the other side to fight for a fair settlement offer.
- Proceed to trial if the other side is unwilling to negotiate fairly and pursue a successful resolution.
If an accident left you with a significant back injury, do not wait to retain legal help. Instead, reach out to an experienced back injury lawyer today for a free case consultation. Let your lawyer help you fight for your rights and the financial damages and justice you deserve.
