Navigating Car Accident Arm Injury Settlements

Car accidents can cause a wide range of injuries that differ in severity, from mild contusions to severe head trauma. The seriousness of the damages that result from vehicle collisions depends on several factors, including the speed of travel and the type of make and model driven by each of the parties involved in a crash. One of the most common types of injuries caused by a car accident affects one or both arms. The severity of arm injuries differs from a slightly bruised forearm to a compound fracture of the radius. Regardless of the severity, experiencing such injuries can have you wondering about car accident arm injury settlements, in the event you are owed compensation.

Victims of auto collisions have three ways to recover financial losses. The most common way to recover the financial losses produced by a car accident involves filing a claim with the appropriate insurance company. If negligence played a role in causing an auto crash, you might have enough persuasive physical and anecdotal evidence to file a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages. As the third way to receive compensation, your car accident lawyer can negotiate a settlement with an insurance company and/or the defendant of a civil lawsuit.

Hiring a car accident lawyer helps you gather the physical evidence required to convince another party to settle an insurance claim and/or a personal injury lawsuit. Your vehicle collision attorney also interviews witnesses and provides advice on how to file the most compelling claim. One of the most important factors concerning the search for the best car accident lawyer is the negotiation skill level of every candidate on your shortlist.

Since 1988, Morgan and Morgan has represented clients that needed to file insurance claims and civil lawsuits in the aftermath of car accidents. We recruit the most skilled negotiators to provide legal support for clients that have either had an insurance claim denied or face another party who refuses to avoid the costly and time-consuming litigation process. When you sit down for a free case evaluation with a car accident lawyer from Morgan and Morgan, you can expect the attorney to describe the process for negotiating a settlement.

What Are the Most Common Types of Arm Injuries Caused by Car Accidents?

During a free case evaluation with a car accident lawyer from Morgan and Morgan, you provide medical records that explain the extent of your injuries. With more than 30 years of experience handling car accident claims for clients, we have compiled a list of the most common types of arm injuries.

• Fractured Bone

The natural reaction right before a car accident is to brace yourself for the ensuing impact. Using one or both arms to absorb the impact of a car accident can produce one or more fractures. A fracture to the distal radius bone, which provides support for the wrist, can require weeks of intensive physical therapy to heal. Compound fractures often take a couple of months to heal fully, if no other parts of the arm incurred any serious damage. An ulna fracture negatively impacts the primary bone that supports the forearm. Breaking the ulna bone can lead to one or more surgeries to prevent the ulna from reforming into a different shape during the healing process. A fracture to the distal humerus bone, which represents the bone running from the shoulder to the elbow, can generate excruciating pain. 

• Dislocated Elbow

When either the ulna or radius bone detaches from the humerus, you have sustained a painful dislocated elbow. The intense pain coincides with the development of a large area of swelling that can last for a few weeks. You lose the ability to bend the impacted elbow, which means the injury might prevent you from working. This is especially true if you work a job that requires a considerable amount of physical exertion.

Most dislocated elbow injuries require wearing a sling or splint until the elbow heals.

• Muscle Strain

A strained muscle in the arm represents a slight to full tear of a muscle. This type of arm injury typically impacts the bicep or elbow. A car accident can force an arm muscle to move out of its normal position, which stretches the muscle enough to produce an injury. Muscle strains take a short time to heal and rarely require more serious medical care. Healthcare providers conduct an assessment of the impacted area of the arm to rule out other, more serious arm injuries.

How Should I Respond to a Car Accident?

How you respond to the aftermath of a vehicle collision plays a huge role in determining the success of negotiations.

• Call 911

Not every car accident requires contacting law enforcement. For example, you do not need to get the police involved for a minor fender bender at the neighborhood grocery store. However, calling 911 is a good idea for a vast majority of auto crashes. Law enforcement ensures the safety of the accident scene, as well as conducts a thorough investigation that leads to the filing of a formal police report. The formal police report presents the evidence gathered, as well as an analysis that determines whether negligence played a role in causing the accident.

The formal police report often is the key piece of information that encourages settling an insurance claim or a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages. 

• Receive Medical Care

By far the highest-valued expense produced by a car accident concerns medical bills. You cannot expect to settle an insurance claim and/or a civil lawsuit unless you submit the copies of medical bills and records such as the results of diagnostic tests. You should seek medical care as soon as possible after a vehicle collision even if your injuries do not appear to be serious. The longer you wait to get medical care after a car accident, the more likely the insurance company processing your claim decides to deny it.

• Collect Evidence

Although a law enforcement agency gathers physical evidence, you should still take photographs of the accident scene for your car accident lawyer to review. Photos of the damage done to your vehicle are a key piece of evidence, as are the tire tracks that both parties produced right before impact. You also should get the contact information of every witness, which you provide for your car accident lawyer during a free case evaluation.

• Contact Morgan and Morgan

Both filing an insurance claim and a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages are time-sensitive matters. The sooner you contact Morgan and Morgan, the sooner your car accident lawyer starts working on your case. Your car accident lawyer wants to interview witnesses as close to the date of the vehicle collision as possible to receive the most accurate accounts of what transpired before, during, and after the accident.

What Is the Settlement Process?

The goal of negotiating a settlement is to avoid creating a conflict over an insurance claim, as well as keep your case outside of the costly and time-consuming litigation process. Your car accident lawyer follows a few steps in an attempt to settle your case.

• Calculate a Fair Claim Value

Negotiations go nowhere unless your car accident lawyer calculates a reasonable value for compensation. In addition to economic damages such as medical expenses, property damage, and lost wages, your attorney also calculates a value for non-economic damages. Getting involved in a car accident can trigger several types of emotional distress issues that negatively impact your career and personal relationships. Your Morgan and Morgan attorney calculates a fair value for non-economic damages by referring to a formula that factors in the value of economic damages.

• Send a Demand Letter

By sending a demand letter to an insurance company or the other party’s legal counsel, your car accident lawyer formally states an intent to negotiate a settlement. The demand letter sent should include a detailed description of the car accident, including what caused the collision and the extent of your injuries. Explaining the statements made by witnesses also should be part of the demand letter sent to an insurance company or the other party’s attorney. The most important element of a demand letter is the section that presents the value requested for compensation, as well as how your car accident lawyer calculated the value of compensation.

• Negotiations

Negotiations start when your attorney submits an offer to the insurance company or the other party’s lawyer. The insurance adjuster or the other party’s attorney reviews the offer and decides whether to accept or reject it. If the other party rejects the initial offer, the negotiations can end or the other party sends a counteroffer. Several rounds of counteroffers might follow until both sides agree to a settlement or decide to move on to the litigation process.

What Should I Look for in a Car Accident Lawyer?

To settle a car accident claim, you need to hire an attorney who knows how to negotiate settlements. In addition to working with a skilled negotiator, you should consider other factors during your search for the best legal representation.

• Experience

Your car accident lawyer must have a proven record of success that goes back several years. An experienced car accident lawyer knows when the time is right to negotiate a settlement and when the time is right to take legal action. At Morgan and Morgan, our more than three decades of litigation experience make our law firm the right choice for legal representation.

• Responsive Communication

The attorney you choose to work with must promptly respond to all forms of communication. If you send a text or email message, you should hear back from your car accident lawyer on the same business day. If you try to communicate with your attorney after business hours, you should hear back from your lawyer first thing the following business day. Dealing with a car accident claim is frustrating enough without having to work with an unresponsive attorney.

• Open to Negotiating a Settlement

You cannot expect to settle a claim if your attorney refuses to negotiate with the other party. Some car accident lawyers either discourage negotiating settlements or outright refuse to participate in negotiations. At Morgan and Morgan, our team of personal injury attorneys encourages negotiating settlements if the legal circumstances warrant negotiations.

Get Started on Your Claim Today

Morgan and Morgan highly recommends that every client read the positive reviews left by our clients on sites such as Yelp and Google. You should gain insight into why we are considered the preeminent personal injury law firm across the United States. Schedule a free case evaluation with a car accident lawyer from Morgan and Morgan to discuss your legal options and to learn more about car accident arm injury settlements.