How much settlement should I ask for if I suffered from a fractured pelvis and loss $48,000?

It depends on the facts of the accident, the treatments you received, disability, amount of time in the hospital and on therapy, etc. Generally, yu can get one or two times the amount of your medical bills, but it depends.

Whatever a jury tells you that it is worth. The value is based on how strong your claim for liability is, together with the provable damages.

Reasonable is subject to interpretation. You may feel it is reasonable to settle for an amount another person would consider unreasonable. Jury verdicts of what is reasonable compensation vary widely and are unpredictable. Some say the pain and suffering compensation should be 2 to 4 times the economic loss. Many times that is reasonable. Sometimes it is not. There are way too many variables to determine a good settlement amount based on the information provided.

You really do not give enough information for me to hazard a guess. However, the first question I would ask is how much insurance the other driver carries, because that may set a ceiling for what you cn recover regardless of how much insurance exists. Below are some general guidelines for evaluating damages: I am often asked by individuals who have been injured in an accident to give an opinion as to what would be a fair settlement in their case. Often, they give me a brief description of their injury, such as, I suffered two broken ribs, or I am now suffering back pain, or I hurt my leg and had to have surgery and give no further details. I cannot possibly give an opinion as to the value of their case without more information. I find myself repeating over and over some of the information set out below. The information below is an attempt to shed some light on what an accident injury victim should consider in determining a fair settlement. However, presenting damages to an insurance adjuster, and ultimately to a jury, is an advanced and complicated task. It not adequate to simply say I'm hurt, describe your injury, and then hold out your hand and ask for money. I have practiced law since 1985, and still attend seminars and read books on the subject of presenting personal injury damage claims to juries. The information below will not be enough to make you a personal injury attorney, but hopefully will enlighten you regarding some factors that should be considered on evaluating your claim. Maximum Medical Improvement First, one needs to understand the concept of Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI). MMI is the point at which the condition of an injured person is stabilized. No further recovery or improvement is expected even with additional medical intervention. Basically, a condition is at maximum medical improvement if it is not believed that the condition will change or progress. In laymen's terms, this is often referred to a being released by the doctor. This term is most often used in the context of a worker's compensation claim. An inquired employee usually receives temporary benefits until reaching maximum medical improvement. However, it also has significance in general personal injury cases. Insurers for at fault drivers, manufacturers of unsafe products, owners and operators of unsafe premises, and doctors guilty of malpractice do not normally make incremental payments as medical bills and lost wages are incurred. Rather, these insurers normally settle claims with one payments, which represents the final settlement. For this reason, the accident victim must have evidence of all past and future damages to present to the adjuster. This means it is premature to begin evaluating your claim before you reach MMI because you do not yet know how much your medical bills will be, nor do you know how severe the injury will ultimately be - which is the main factor in damages for pain and suffering until after you have reached MMI. After you have reached MMI, four basic factors that should be considered in evaluating your case are 1) special damages, also known as tangible damages, 2) severity of the injury, 3) duration of the injury, and 4) insurance coverage.

This is a much more complicated question then you realize. Are there liability issues? Is there lost wages on top of hospital bills? How do you present in for trial purposes? Were there other injuries as well as your fx pelvis? What is the at fault driver's policy limit? What is your policy limit? Was there other factors like cell phones or alcohol involved in the crash? Please try and find an attorney you can trust and retain them. Do not try and do this on your own as an insurance company has little motivation to be fair except when they know the person is represented and might sue them.

What is "reasonable" under the circumstances depends on a lot of facts which are not disclosed here. A professional opinion (by a lawyer) of what your case is worth cannot be had without examination of ALL the facts and circumstances, including the relative liability for the accident among all the parties, the exact nature and extent of the injuries, the amount of the medical bills for the treatment you received (and whether the charges for such treatment were reasonable or not), the likelihood of future medical treatment and the expected costs for such treatment, etc. You cannot expect an attorney to examine all these facts and then render you a professional opinion for free, so hire an attorney and pay him for his time. Without doing so, the chances that the other insurance company will take advantage of you and try to settle for far less than your case is really worth are very high.

We would be happy to provide you with a free consultation if you call my office at either of the numbers listed below. If my office accepts your case, there is no fee charged unless we are able to obtain a settlement for you.

It is hard to say, as the pain and suffering part of your claim is based on numerous factors. You should consult an attorney.

Well, is it clear liability? Con tested liability? Your opinion versus the opinion of someone else? What do the doctors say? What about future medicals, if any? What is the insurance coverage? What are the assets of the bad guy? It aint easy to evaluate a case. You need a lot of information I don't have. If you have plenty of coverage and clear liability, ask for 300000 or 400000. All they can say is no and they will

A fractured pelvis is a very serious injury even if it appears to have healed. The value of a personal injury claim for settlement purposes is dependent on many factors. You have not given enough information to be able determine the value of your claim. It is apparent that the claim is serious however. Contact an attorney immediately. Do not try to settle the claim yourself.

That depends on many factors you did not list in your query.

Unfortunately there is no formula to apply in cases like this. There are many variables including how much insurance coverage is out there, whether there were any complications related to the surgeries, how much of your "quality of life" you lost while you were/are recovering, is there any potential for long-term medical treatment, etc. etc. If you have an attorney, you should definitely be having these conversations with him/her. If you don't have an attorney, you should hire one yesterday. There is a reason we exist - we earn our fees by getting you much more than you can get yourself. These insurance companies have 100s of hours of training and tricks to settling car wreck cases, and they are not looking out for you - they are looking out for your bottom line. You wouldn't google how to repair your fractured pelvis, watch a youtube video, then try and fix it yourself would you? Just by asking the question about "reasonable pain and suffering" you are already way behind the 8- ball. Look around LawQA and see how many people signed settlements without attorneys, now they are on this site asking what they can do to get out of it. Don't be one of those people.

There may be insurance policy limits concerns and potential "underinsured motorist" coverage. In addition, if the at fault driver has $50,000 or less policy limits, and you may want to make a "UIM" claim, you would need the consent of the UIM carrier to settle for the at fault driver's policy limits. There are many other concerns and because of this, I strongly urge you to speak with an attorney.

There is no set formula for pain and suffering. It varies based on the facts of each individual case. Years ago the formula was 3 times the medical damages, but that has since been thrown out the window. You will be hard pressed to get any pain and suffering that equals that amount. An attorney would be able to weigh all of the facts of your case to give you a valuation.

Each case is different, and without more facts, it is impossible to state what amount should be demanded. HOwever, with the basic information you provided, I would start at $500,000 demand. NOTE: Most likely you will be limited to the amount of insurance that the other driver has plus any underinsured motorist insurance coverage that you purchased.