Average Car Accident Settlement in Louisiana [2024 Updated]

When you are injured in a car accident, knowing how you will cover high medical costs and other significant financial losses can be a significant burden. If the accident was not your fault, you may pursue these financial losses with the insurer of the driver, who was to blame for the crash. Many injured individuals want to know what the average car accident settlement in Louisiana is, but there is, unfortunately, no clear answer for this.

Many things can influence your payout after a crash, including how seriously you were injured, the effect those injuries have on your life, and whether you share partial liability. Understanding these factors and how they affect a settlement can give you a clear picture of what a fair settlement may be for your car accident claim. An experienced attorney can also help you determine the compensation you are owed in your unique circumstances.

What Affects a Car Accident Settlement’s Value?

The primary consideration in a settlement is fair compensation for your specific injuries and related losses. When your injuries are more serious, this can significantly increase the settlement that fairly compensates those losses. Your damages that are taken into consideration include:

• Medical bills. More serious injuries likely have higher medical costs, requiring more surgeries and intensive care, longer recovery periods, medication, and longer physical therapy, among other costs.
• Income. Serious injuries can require weeks or months when you are unable to work or even prevent you from returning to work. The settlement could recover the wages you should have earned while you were not working or during your lifetime.
• Pain and suffering. Pain and suffering damages are more likely to increase when your injuries are more serious, as well as other non-economic damages like disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, and emotional trauma. More serious injuries may impact your life in the long term, and these consequences should be considered in a settlement.

The damages you sustained are not the only influencing factor in a case. Insurance companies generally do not have your interests in mind. They want to negotiate to protect their bottom line. This can make it hard to recover full compensation, even in a good-faith claim. Because of this, and the unique circumstances of your case, other factors that influence your compensation after a car accident include:

• Comparative fault. If you were partially liable for the collision, you are not barred from recovering compensation, but it will limit the amount of compensation you can obtain. As long as you were not entirely liable, you could still recover a portion of your damages. The final settlement will be reduced by the percentage that you are determined to be liable for the accident.
• Insurance policy limits. If the cost of your injuries and other damages exceeds the at-fault driver’s insurance policy coverage, this can limit the full compensation you can recover to these limits. There may be other options for recovering the remaining compensation depending on the circumstances of your accident. These limits can be more restrictive if multiple parties are injured in the accident and file claims with the same party.
• Multiple at-fault parties. If more than one party is to blame for the car crash, then you can recover a portion of your damages from each party’s insurance. This is helpful if your injuries would exceed the policy limits of a single driver’s insurance limits but not multiple.
• Legal representation. You are more likely to recover full compensation with the help of an attorney. An attorney can determine if you have more than one avenue for recovering compensation, negotiate a fair settlement, argue against insurer claims of partial fault, and gather supportive evidence that makes a claim go more smoothly.

FAQs

Q: What Is the Average Car Accident Injury Settlement in Louisiana?

A: Every injury settlement for a car accident in Louisiana is unique, so knowing the average value is not predictable. You could recover up to the total of your economic and non-economic damages, which include surgery bills, prescription and long-term care costs, lost wages and earning capacity, and emotional trauma. Recovering the full value of these losses depends on the circumstances of the accident, such as if you were partially at fault and whether you are working with an attorney.

Q: How Long Does It Take to Settle a Car Accident Claim in Louisiana?

A: There is no set timeline for how long a car accident claim will take in Louisiana. A case with complex factors, limited supporting evidence, and multiple at-fault parties will take longer. A case that is handled through negotiations and where fault is clearly proven may be resolved more quickly. Talking with a car accident attorney can help you get a better estimate of how long your unique case may take, and hiring an attorney can also make the process go more smoothly.

Q: How Is Pain and Suffering Calculated in Louisiana?

A: There are multiple ways that pain and suffering may be calculated in an injury claim in Louisiana. Generally, the value of your noneconomic damages, including pain and suffering, will be dependent on the value of your economic damages. More serious injuries with higher medical costs are more likely to affect your daily life, which in turn increases noneconomic losses. An experienced attorney can review your unique circumstances to determine how to maximize your noneconomic damages fairly.

Q: Why Do I Need an Attorney for a Car Accident Claim?

A: While an attorney is not required for a car accident claim, working with legal representation can help significantly. There are many complex laws and legal requirements that attorneys know how to handle. Attorneys also have experience dealing with insurers and their tactics to limit their own liability. Your attorney also has substantial experience calculating damages and can either negotiate a fair settlement or take the case to trial if necessary.

Contact The Roach Law Firm After a Car Accident

Filing an insurance claim should be done quickly after a car accident, and The Roach Law Firm can handle this for you. We want to help you get the compensation you need to get back to your life. Contact our firm today.