The day after the accident – what to expect

As someone who has personally been involved in a car accident (more than once!) I can say that at the time of the accident, it is easy to feel the adrenaline flow and often times you can get swept up in the action of the moment.  When the next day comes and you have had a chance to relax, it is common for you to start to feel soreness, tightness or general pain as a result of a motor vehicle collision.  This isn’t because you “weren’t hurt” at the time of the accident – it is because the stress and anxiety of the accident forced you to react to that first.  I know for me, when I was rear ended by another vehicle, my first instinct was to take a mental inventory of the most serious potential injuries (broken bones etc.) and once I knew that those things were ok – I said “well I guess I am ok.”  However, the next day – it was clear that I wasn’t ok – my standard of ok had simply changed – from being happy to be alive to now feeling dramatically different.  That is fine – and you can still pursue a claim for your injuries, even if you declined an ambulance at the scene.  

The key to remember here is it is perfectly normal to feel worse the day after the accident than the day of the accident.  It is simply your body telling you that it has endured a great deal of stress and your muscles need time to heal.  

Why did I get more for my settlement then my friend – even though are cases are similar?

The key word here is similar.  No two cases are the same.  Not only from the injury standpoint, as far as the severity of the injury, amount of treatment and body parts included, but also the age, work status and lifestyle of the injured party.  In addition to these factors, the coverage available to a client is also important.  Here is an example.  

Person 1:

• Clear liability car accident
• 50K in medical bills
• 30 year old accountant – missed time from work
• At fault driver had a 20/40 policy
• Underinsured motorist policy limits are 100K (no stacking)

Person 2:

• Clear liability
• 25k in medical bills
• 60 year old – unemployed
• At fault driver had a 150K policy
• Undersinsured motorist coverage 20/40 – meaning no coverage

For Person 1 – they can recover $20,000.00 from the at fault driver as their maximum recovery under an insurance policy.  Setting aside pursuing a personal judgment against the driver, Person 1 can now attempt to collect from his own policy.  There will be a set off applied for the 20K he already received, meaning that he can only collect 80K of the 100k on his underinsured motorist policy.  Essentially, his maximum recoverable amount is 100k, from insurance sources.  

For Person 1 – his injuries and potential damages may be far in excess of that 100k.  If the other driver had a bigger policy, or if he himself had a larger policy – its likely he would have been able to collect more.  After his medical bills are paid, his legal fee is paid, he may not feel like he ended up with much in his pocket, especially when he talks to his friend who maybe received more.  The key thing here though is that he was capped in what he could recover by the insurance coverage available.  

Now let’s contrast Person 2.  Person 2 has less medical bills, but a bigger policy available under the other driver’s insurance.  Person 2 can receive up to 150K (if his injuries warrant this) and because his medical bills are lower, he will likely net more in his pocket even if he were only to receive 100k.  His settlement will certainly look better if he is able to get the full 150K – but consider this.  If Person 2 was injured as a result of the negligence of a person with a 20/40 policy, with no additional coverage, Person 2 would have made little to no recovery other than his medical bills.  

As you can see – there are a ton of factors that dictate what your recovery actually ends up being.  It is rarely “apples to apples” when it comes to evaluating a personal injury case.  That is why you need to work with an attorney who understands how cases are valued – so that you can receive the best possible settlement for your injuries.