When you suffer a knee injury, it can have wide-ranging effects; daily activities can be difficult, you might miss work, and you might even need surgery. How do you account for all of these damages in a fair settlement?
A “good” settlement for your knee injury should cover all medical care needs. This even includes surgical costs. Then, it should cover any other economic and non-economic consequences, from lost wages to pain and suffering. Our lawyers can help you find a fair value, analyze settlement offers, and negotiate for a better settlement. If we cannot arrive at one, we can take the defendant to court.
For your free case evaluation, call BKS Injury Law’s Warwick, NY personal injury attorneys at (845) 303-2748 today.
What Damages Can You Claim in an Injury Settlement?
A good knee injury settlement will include damages for all of these areas, if they are relevant to your case:
Medical Bills
The cost of all treatment should be covered, including
- Imaging (X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, etc.)
- Surgeries
- Physical therapy and rehabilitation
- Crutches, knee braces, scooters, and wheelchairs
- Pain medication
- And more.
Lost Wages
If your injury keeps you from working, the defendant should pay you back for your lost wages. This can also include payment for partial lost wages if you can work reduced hours/tasks or face an ongoing disability.
Other Economic Damages
There may be other incidental costs associated with your injury, too, such as the need to hire help around the house for basic tasks (cleaning, mowing the lawn, etc.).
Pain and Suffering (Non-Economic Damages)
You may also face other damages that can result in higher compensation, even though they have no economic value:
- Pain
- Emotional distress
- Mental anguish
- Lost ability
- Difficulty performing activities of daily living.
Let a lawyer calculate the value of these non-monetary damages.
Can You Get Surgery Covered?
Yes. Many injuries involve surprisingly complex damages, especially to the knee. If you tore an ACL or meniscus and needed surgery, even for a relatively minor accident, it should be covered under your settlement.
What Kinds of Knee Injuries Lead to Higher Settlements?
These kinds of knee injury cases often raise the settlement value:
Tears (ACL, MCL, Meniscus)
If you tore your ACL, MCL, meniscus, or other tissue in your knee, it may require surgery. This means higher treatment costs, rehabilitation, painkillers, and more time resting (i.e., time away from work).
All of that results in higher damages.
Disabling Injuries
If your injury keeps you from working, temporarily or long into the future, that causes higher damages.
Injuries Affecting Daily Activities
If you have a cast on, it makes it harder to shower and get around. Other knee injuries can also make it harder to dress yourself, tackle household chores, and perform other tasks.
All of that equates to higher non-economic damages.
Injuries Requiring Knee Replacement
Although knee replacements are often reserved for arthritis and long-term injuries, they may be used to treat severe knee injuries, resulting in extensive surgical costs and rehabilitation.
How Do You Know if a Settlement is Good Enough?
Check with a lawyer to see if the settlement offers you received are high enough. Do not trust the insurance company or defendant to be honest with you.
What Can You Do if the Settlement is Too Low?
Don’t Accept it Anyway
A settlement can seem attractive because it puts money in your pocket now when you need it most. But do not just accept the offer anyway if it is too low.
You can only settle once, so make sure you get a high enough offer before saying yes.
Have Your Lawyer Negotiate
Our New York personal injury lawyers can negotiate with the defense to try to bring up settlement values, include additional damages and compensation, and get a fair value paid.
Collect Additional Evidence of Injury and Damages
Often, additional proof is needed to show the defendant or insurance company that your damages are indeed related to this injury. For example, proof of lost pay and the cost of expensive pain medication can prove to them the costs they should pay you.
Go to Trial
If all else fails, we can progress the case toward trial. They may change their mind and offer a fair settlement later, or else we can let the jury award your damages.
What is the Process for Settling an Injury Case?
Most injury cases settle “in court,” meaning that these stages have already taken place:
- File an initial insurance claim, when insurance is available.
- Negotiate with the insurance company.
- File a lawsuit in court when the insurance company refuses to cooperate.
- Progress through discovery (evidence exchange) and other early stages of trial.
- Continue to negotiate along the way until an appropriate settlement is reached.
Out-of-court settlements – i.e., before filing – are rare, but sometimes insurance is willing to pay up, and you can settle quickly.
When Does Insurance Cover Knee Injury Claims?
Insurance is often available to cover injuries that occur…
- In a car accident
- At a business (e.g., a slip and fall in a store)
- At someone’s home or apartment, through renters or homeowners insurance
- At work.
This covers most cases.
Settling a Knee Injury Claim from a Car Accident
In a car accident case, you usually have to go through your own insurance first. If your injuries do not qualify as “serious,” you might not be able to make a claim against the defendant at all.
Broken bones do qualify as “serious,” and many other knee injuries causing lasting damage can satisfy this requirement, too.
Should You Talk to Insurance on Your Own?
No. Always let your lawyers talk to insurance for you.
Why Do Insurance Companies Make Low Initial Offers?
Initial offers might not be based on your actual damages at all. Instead, insurance companies look at what it might cost them to defend the case, then they offer a bit less than that to settle and save themselves money.
Our lawyers can confront them with the harm actually done and the price your claim is truly worth.
What if Your Knee Injury Happened at Work?
Work-related injuries are often covered under Workers’ Compensation, and you cannot sue your employer for injuries. However, we can help you sue outside third parties to recover additional damages that that insurance system does not pay, such as pain and suffering.
Call Our New York Personal Injury Lawyers Today
For your free case evaluation, call Basch, Keegan & Spada’s LaGrange, NY personal injury attorneys at (845) 303-2748.