I’M going to talk about how much whiplash is worth in a personal injury case Watch the entire video. So you can see all the factors that affect the value of a whiplash case And to see actual settlements. Jz helps a Florida injury law firm. I’M attorney Justin Ziegler, Really quickly. Whiplash occurs when you’re in a car accident, for example, And your neck goes forward and then back Whiplash can occur in many other types of accidents. I’M gon na primarily focus on car accidents. However, It can also occur in a slip and fall and many other types of accidents. The first thing to note for a personal injury case involving whiplash is the other driver or a driver needs to be negligent or careless for you to have a personal injury case By personal injury case I mean one where you may be able to recover money for Pain and suffering

Your out-of-pocket medical bills that aren’t paid by your own insurance, such as health, insurance or PIP and lost wages. Examples of negligence are if a driver was speeding, failed to yield the right of way and made a left hand turn in front of you improper backing up. If the other driver or a driver was not careless, you get zero for pain and suffering, and the other damages that I discuss that your own insurance does not pay for. If you’re looking for a settlement in a whiplash accident case, you should know that car insurance companies plays a tremendous amount of weight on the amount of damage to the vehicle.

For example, if you look at this car right here, you can see there’s zero damage to the back of it. If you claim that your light has been totally turned upside down and that you have whiplash neck pain from an accident, you’re gon na have a very tough time getting the insurance company to pay you a good deal of money. For your case. The car insurance companies, gon na, say “. We believe that a jury is likely going to find your whiplash was not caused by the accident. On the other hand, if you have a tremendous amount of property damage and the car looks like essentially like it’s been flattened, you’re ability to prove that your whiplash was caused by the accident is generally gon na be easier. The sooner that you complain about whiplash. After a car accident, all things equal, the easier it’s gon na be that will link the whiplash to the accident and prove your case.

Someone who takes an ambulance to the hospital is, generally speaking, gon na have an easier time proving that the whiplash was caused by the accident as oppose to someone who waits four months and their first complaint of whiplash or neck pain is to a doctor. Now the law that greatly favors the defendant driver and the insurance company is in Florida in most, but not all car accident cases. A doctor is going to need to say that your whiplash is permanent. In order for you to even get one penny for past or future pain and suffering, It’s a very tough standards. What happens is when the jury goes to decide your case. They are asked the question that says: “ Did the claimant suffer a permanent injury as a result of the accident ?” If the jury checks? No, even if they wan na award you money for pain and suffering legally they’re not allowed to do it Now. Insurance adjusters know that this question is asked so often times in a whiplash case will send you a letter saying “. We believe you have a soft tissue injury.

We believe your injury doesn’t meet the tort threshold in order to get money for pain and suffering. We believe that your injuries not permanent And thus we’re not offering you anything for payment suffering or very little .” In car accident cases, the insurance company, the other sites insurance company, is allowed to hire a doctor to examine you Now. This normally occurs after a lawsuit. Has been filed That doctor 99 % of the time if you have whiplash, if that’s what your claim is going to say, “ Whiplash normally resolves four to six weeks after an accident, It should have already been resolved. Your injury is not permanent. Your injury is not related to the accident .”. Certain insurance companies, for example in Florida, are known for offering very little amount of money in whiplash claims.

They have a reputation for doing this and we routinely see this low offers and then it’s up to that client, whether they wan na fine lawsuit or try to negotiate and get a better offer. As with any personal injury case, including one with whiplash, the more medical treatment that you get within reason increases the full value of the case, and it does this because it increases your out-of-pocket medical bills. The doctors are making notes of your paying And, after all, personal injury cases founded in your pain and suffering, can also increase your lost wages. If the doctor says that you’re unable to work, If you get less medical treatment, for example, you don’t go to the doctor or you go to the hospital one time and that’s it.

Or just a few doctor visits, Don’t expect to get a whole lot of money for your case Now, several things can increase the full value of a whiplash claim. One of them is if a car rolls over if the car that you’re in rolls over Those cases by the juries are considered more exciting and interesting, and the jury has an easier time. All things equal. Accepting the fact that whiplash or neck pain can be caused by a rollover, as opposed to a minor impact.

This is the actual truck that my client was driving in a case that settled for $ 20,000. His primary complaint was whiplash, yet some other soft tissue problems And Progressive happened to be the auto insure. Both the at fall parties, auto insure, who made a left in front of him and hit him And my client’s, uninsured motorist insure. My client had uninsured motorist insurance. The other driver only had up to $ 10,000, so we then made a claim against Progressive’s, uninsured motorist insurance, And the total settlement was for $ 20,000. One of the reasons why Progressive paid that $ 20,000 is because it was a roll over crash. Another fact that can significantly increase the value of a whiplash claim is, if the other driver caused the accident was arrested for drunk driving. If he’s convicted, it’s even better

The reason being is, you can then make a claim for punitive damages, and those damages are designed to punish the other driver They’re, in addition to your out-to-pocket medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering, And because the other driver’s insurance company has a duty to act In good faith and protect their own insured, they’re more likely to offer extra money if their insured was drunk. If that happens, you’re gon na wan na request a whole DUI file from the court house and a lot of other documents.

I mentioned in most Florida car accident cases that, if your only claim is for whiplash, the doctor has to say that your whiplash is permanent in an order to get money for pain and suffering. One of the exceptions to this is, if you’re on a motorcycle. Another exception is, if you’re from another state – and you don’t have access to personal injury protection insurance In either of those two scenarios. Your whiplash does not need to be permanent in order to be entitled to recover money for pain, suffering and mental anguish, and other damages like that.

Although there’s no guarantee large trucking insurance companies are known for paying higher settlements for whiplash claims. That’S because trucking insurance adjusters are used to dealing with larger amounts of money. Juries have a biased against eighteen wheelers, And also the impact from this accidents can be very devastating. I’D love to hear your comments on this video. Do you agree with the comments that I’ve made about whiplash cases? Do you disagree? I’M attorney Justin Ziegler. Please subscribe to our channel. Please, like the video. Please again give me your comments. Our officers in Miami have a wonderful day: ( techno, music, )