Car accidents can result in all sorts of injuries, such as broken bones, whiplash, traumatic brain injuries, or spinal cord injuries. Some of these injuries take longer to heal than others, but fortunately, accident victims can pursue compensation for them and other losses.
But how much is whiplash worth in a lawsuit? How much you can get for whiplash in a legal case depends on various factors, such as the severity of the injury and how long it takes to heal. The average settlement for a whiplash injury in Arizona is between $2,000 and $25,000. It could be more or less, as whiplash injuries can be mild or severe. Injured victims who experience a whiplash-associated disorder or suffer an aggravated pre-existing injury can recover far more.
If you have sustained a whiplash injury and want to pursue a personal injury claim against the at-fault driver, consult with a personal injury attorney. An experienced personal injury attorney can help you better understand the average whiplash settlement amounts, factors, and how to maximize your claim and seek fair compensation. Contact Wyatt Injury Law offices for a free consultation to learn more. Here is what you should know about whiplash injury settlements and how a car accident attorney can help.
What Is a Whiplash Injury?
A whiplash injury is a soft tissue injury that usually occurs when your neck area’s tendons, muscles, nerves, and disks are subjected to forceful and rapid back-and-forth impacts.
This type of neck injury mimics the cracking of a whip and can come with various symptoms such as:
- Neck pain and stiffness
- Shoulder or lower back pain
- Dizziness
- Pain in your arms or palms
- Arm numbness
- Tiredness, sleeplessness, and irritability
- Head movement limitations
- Trouble swallowing and speaking
- Headache
- Passing out
Symptoms vary from one individual to another. A severe whiplash injury will often come with more symptoms and will affect the victim for a longer time. Such types of soft tissue injuries may require physical therapy. Chronic pain is associated with severe injuries.
Whiplash injuries can also trigger spinal cord issues. A spinal cord injury can occur if the sudden compression in the cervical region affects the spine. This can lead to several other health complications, and you may require extensive medical treatment to recover. According to statistics, more than 30% of car accident victims in the U.S. experience whiplash injuries.
Common Causes of Whiplash Injuries
Most of them occur due to motor vehicle accidents or slip and fall cases. However, when you pursue an auto accident lawsuit, your whiplash injury settlement will also contain your property damage and other losses, potentially raising your compensation amount. The most common types of car accident cases that result in whiplash injury cases are:
Rear End Collisions
Rear-end collisions often result in whiplash injuries as vehicles are struck from behind, forcing the passengers to experience sudden back-and-forth movements. The forceful impact will cause the soft tissues in the neck to stretch and strain, resulting in whiplash. If you have suffered a rear-end collision in Phoenix, AZ, contact a Phoenix car accident lawyer right away to pursue a whiplash injury claim and seek compensation for your other damages as well.
Side-Impact Collisions
A car accident victim can experience whiplash injuries even in side-impact collisions. You can suffer tissue damage even if the sudden neck movements are sideways. The physical pain and associated consequences are similar to common whiplash injuries.
Rollover Accidents
Rollover accidents are very violent and will put a strain on the body, especially the neck and head. You can easily experience a whiplash injury in these types of accidents.
Head-On Collisions
Head-on car accidents can also result in whiplash injuries even if the airbag activates. Even if passengers wear seatbelts appropriately, the sudden impact can result in serious injury regardless.
Low-speed Impacts
Neck injuries are different from other types of injuries since they can occur even at low-speed impacts. A whiplash injury can happen even in minor fender-bender impacts. Whenever the head and neck experience sudden acceleration and deceleration or vice versa, a whiplash injury is likely to occur.
Factors that Determine the Value of a Whiplash Claim
Whiplash settlements are difficult to quantify since each case is unique—various factors will affect the whiplash injury compensation amount. Because of this, determining the average whiplash injury settlement is highly difficult.
An average whiplash settlement could be around $15,000 for mild whiplash injuries. Yet, whiplash injury settlements can easily exceed that amount. The average settlement for whiplash and head injuries can be anywhere from $20,000 to $200,000.
An average whiplash injury settlement that involves back injuries can also reach between $10,000 and $100,000. There is no way to predict an average whiplash injury settlement amount as the average settlement often involves other associated injuries, damages, and losses. Medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, and all related medical costs and applicable laws will dictate the compensation amount.
This is why victims should never accept an early settlement offer from insurance companies. Your recovery time will play a crucial role in the final settlement amount as medical bills pile up or other health conditions related to the accident are discovered. To determine the worth of whiplash in a lawsuit, consult with a whiplash injury lawyer. They can analyze the circumstances of your case and help you estimate the worth of your whiplash injury claim.
Arizona is one out of five states that has no damage cap for personal injury cases. This means that there is no limit on how much you can recover by pursuing a claim.
The most common factors that determine the value of a whiplash injury case include:
The Severity of the Whiplash Injury
Like in most personal injury cases, the severity of the injuries is among the most important aspects that influence the personal injury settlement. Whiplash settlements are generally higher if the injury is severe and results in neck pain or general physical pain for extended periods. Here, whiplash injury victims are compensated for their pain and suffering associated—not just from the injury but also the recovery period.
Medical Expenses and Treatment Costs
Whiplash injuries result in various medical expenses depending on the severity of the injury and associated complications. Medical records will usually highlight if the whiplash injury contributed to other internal injuries, such as:
- Vascular injuries
- Head and brain injuries not related to concussions
These additional injuries or complications will drive up medical expenses, influencing the whiplash claim settlement amount. Sometimes, a whiplash injury might also require mental evaluations if psychological trauma contributes to the development of PTSD, anxiety, depression, and other disorders. Therefore, the whiplash settlement amount will again be different as now non-economic damages are present.
However, if you did not seek immediate medical attention after the accident, you might not recover sufficient compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and other damages. To pursue a fair settlement in your car accident claim, take the proper steps from the beginning and consult a personal injury lawyer.
Lost Wages and Earning Capacity
In many whiplash claims, accident victims are left unable to work. However, lost wages can be recovered in whiplash claims. You can recover past, present, and future lost wages depending on the circumstances of your claim and how the injuries prevented you from working. When a victim’s injuries affect their future earning capacity, settlements tend to be higher.
Pain and Suffering
Chronic pain isn’t the only prerequisite of pursuing non-economic damages in a whiplash personal injury case. The emotional and psychological toll can be compensated in whiplash lawsuits. These types of damages can significantly increase your whiplash settlement.
This is because pain and suffering are calculated through a multiplier method. Insurance companies or the court will assign a multiplier between 1 and 5 depending on the severity of your injury, recovery time, and several other factors. A higher number is associated with more severe injuries and will multiply your damage awards. For example, if your personal injury case is worth $100,000, and you are assigned a multiplier of 3, you can receive $300,000.
A whiplash injury lawyer can guide and help you gather the necessary evidence to seek compensation for pain and suffering.
Impact on Daily Life and Activities
The impact on the victim’s life and daily activities is also considered in a personal injury case. If you can showcase in your personal injury claim how the whiplash injury disrupted your normal routine, hobbies, and quality of life, you can seek a higher settlement amount. You should document these non-economic damages by keeping tabs in a journal. Your own testimony will be considered when seeking these types of damages.
Family and friends can also testify how the traumatic event affected you. You can consider visit a therapist to prioritize your mental health. Their analysis and expertise, along with the receipts and appointments, can act as evidence of how the accident turned your life upside down.
Pre-existing Conditions
When you pursue a whiplash claim after a car accident, your pre-existing conditions will likely influence the settlement amount. If your whiplash injury aggravated your pre-existing neck or spine issues, it should be highlighted in settlement negotiations. Take note that an insurance company will try to mitigate its payout as its primary goal is to make money, not lose it. Yet, if you employ the legal services of a personal injury lawyer, they can help you deal with insurance adjusters.
Insurance Coverage and Limitations
Your whiplash settlement might not always be straightforward when you pursue an insurance claim against a negligent driver in a car accident. What if you are dealing with an uninsured or underinsured driver? What if there is more than one liable party?
Each party and their insurance company will have coverage limits, which can affect potential recovery. However, there is more than one way to pursue a fair whiplash settlement. You can pursue a civil lawsuit. Your personal injury lawyer can help you explore additional ways to recover compensation for your injuries. Speak with a Glendale personal injury lawyer today for a free consultation.
Evidence
Evaluating the payout of a whiplash claim is usually done by insurance adjusters. However, an insurance company might lowball you for your whiplash claim.
To seek a fair settlement, a victim must prove fault by gathering evidence and proving the severity of their injuries to argue for compensation that can cover medical costs or other associated losses and damages.
Because of this, the strength of your evidence and legal representation is another factor that influences the average settlement in whiplash claims. Without adequate legal representation and careful case preparation, a whiplash claim can lose its value.
Strength of Legal Representation
The insurance company and the at-fault party will use their own legal professionals. Therefore, consulting with a dedicated personal injury attorney is crucial in pursuing such claims. Since Arizona follows a pure comparative negligence system, your final whiplash settlement amount will also be affected by your degree of fault.
In Arizona, you can be assigned even 99% fault and still be eligible to pursue compensation. However, the assigned percentage of fault will be deducted from your total damage awards. For example, if you are assigned 20% fault and your whiplash settlement is evaluated at $80,000, you will only receive $64,000.
Having an experienced personal injury lawyer by your side is important to defend against allegations that could influence your percentage of fault. Furthermore, even if your whiplash injury is minor, your lawyer can argue for a better settlement amount by focusing on other aspects of your case, such as the property damage you have suffered.
Aggravating Factors in Whiplash Injuries
In certain instances, whiplash injuries can aggravate or exacerbate pre-existing conditions. While the insurance company may try to use your pre-existing conditions against you, an experienced attorney can fight these arguments.
Age also plays a significant factor in whiplash injuries. Young whiplash victims are generally awarded higher compensation despite suffering less severe injuries than older drivers or passengers. If a victim experienced a whiplash injury in the past, they will more likely experience severe damage when subjected to similar conditions, which will also influence settlement amounts.
Maximizing the Value of a Whiplash Injury Claim
How your injury occurred and the circumstances of your car accident case will play a crucial role in the value of your whiplash claim. In personal injury cases, the value of the evidence decreases over time as witness statements become more unreliable and gathering evidence becomes more difficult.
For example, if a CCTV camera captures your car accident event, the recordings might get erased over time. The sooner you pursue a personal injury claim, the higher the chances you will receive a fair settlement due to the freshness of your evidence and ability to capitalize on it.
Also, if you do not pursue a claim within two years from the accident date, you may lose your right to sue. Arizona has a two-year statute of limitations for car accident claims.
Taking the Right Steps After a Car Accident
Taking the right steps after a car accident can also influence your settlement amount. Here is how and why, and what are the proper steps to take after a car accident:
Seek Medical Attention
In the aftermath of a car accident, victims should always seek immediate medical attention to prioritize their health. Remain calm and request emergency services at the scene. If you cannot contact them, ask someone else to do it. If you suffer from whiplash, one of the primary symptoms is neck stiffness or neck pain. Try to limit your neck movements until properly diagnosed by healthcare providers. Lifting, bending, or carrying out repetitive twisting movements can aggravate the condition.
Even if you don’t feel symptoms, the adrenaline rush might delay them. Contact emergency services regardless of how you feel. Failure to do so can be used as an argument against you. The insurance companies can argue that your injuries were not so serious since you did not accept immediate medical attention.
They may also argue you intentionally aggravated your injuries by not seeking medical attention. This will drastically affect your whiplash settlement amount. It can even result in a case denial. It’s essential to accept medical aid as the records will act as a link between your injuries and the accident.
Your medical records will also be used to highlight how your pre-existing conditions (if present) were aggravated due to the accident. A personal injury lawyer can work alongside third-party experts, such as medical professionals, to give expert witness statements and argue how your accident aggravated your condition.
Gather Evidence
While you are at the accident scene, you can begin gathering evidence to prove fault. Start by taking pictures of your injuries, vehicle damage, and road conditions. Take notes of possible CCTV cameras that might have captured the event.
If other drivers or pedestrians witness the accident, write down their contact information. Their testimony can be valuable when determining fault. Before leaving the accident scene, write down the contact and insurance information of the at-fault driver.
Report the Accident
In Arizona, you are required by law to report the accident to authorities if the event resulted in property damage exceeding $1,000, injury, or death. Failure to do so results in legal repercussions that will negatively impact your claim. Whatever you do during the police investigation, do not admit fault or provide statements that might interfere with your claim later.
The police report can prove useful in your car accident claim. You can use the report to find out if you are dealing with an intoxicated driver, which will make proving liability easier.
Report the accident to your insurance company as well. Don’t accept any offer from the at-fault party’s insurance company until you discover the extent of your injuries and damages and consult a lawyer.
Consult with a Personal Injury Lawyer
Consulting with a personal injury lawyer focusing on car accidents can help you achieve fairer compensation for your injuries and other damages. A lawyer can help you gather evidence, interview witnesses, negotiate with insurance companies, and advocate for your rights throughout the process.
A lawyer can give you a fighting chance at maximizing your whiplash compensation and explore other avenues of available compensation if possible. For example, if the accident involved a truck driver, a lawyer can investigate the collision and determine if the truck company, maintenance or service providers, or truck part manufacturers are also liable for the accident.
Having multiple liable parties in a car accident is also helpful for victims seeking compensation, especially if they have to deal with an uninsured or underinsured driver. Collecting compensation from multiple parties ensures that the victim will receive what they are due. If you have been involved in a car accident, contact a Scottsdale personal injury lawyer and explore your legal options.
How Wyatt Injury Law Can Help Whiplash Injury Victims
Experiencing any kind of whiplash injury can be traumatic, and victims deserve fair treatment and compensation for their physical injuries, medical bills, emotional distress, property damage, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages.
Collaborate with a personal injury attorney to have a higher chance of receiving a satisfying outcome for your whiplash claim. At Wyatt Injury Law, we prioritize car accident victims, and our dedicated attorneys will be by your side throughout the legal proceedings.
No matter what type of car accident you were involved in, our lawyers can help you gather evidence, establish liability, negotiate with insurance firms, and advocate for your rights and best interests. We work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you don’t have to pay anything unless we win your case. Contact our law firm today for a free case evaluation and learn more about your legal options and what your claim might be worth.