?If you have been involved in a motorcycle accident due to someone negligence, the first question to click in your mind will be how much you will recover as damages. Being aware of how much to receive is a tremendous step to getting the best compensation for your motorcycle accident caused by negligence.
Unfortunately, trying to get such information without legal advice could be tiresome. Remember you have your injuries that need time to heal and still, issues to do with the repair or having your motorcycle totaled. Thus, you may need to have some legal advice to know the reasonable amount you can recover and the best way to recover.
Determining How Much Is Your Claim Worth
Dealing with an insurance company is overwhelming. It becomes challenging when a motorcyclist has been involved in an accident since they are always believed to be in wrong. Another issue is that a motorcyclist doesn?t have any shield of protection, so they are likely to be more injured in case of an accident. Keeping such in mind, then you can ask yourself the below to determine how much your motorcycle accident claim may be worth:
- Who was liable? For you to be compensated, you will have to determine who was liable for your accident.?The law of negligence?has to apply. As such, if the other party acted carelessly to cause you an accident, you will recover. Fortunately, in most motorcycle accidents, the motorist is mostly to blame. For a successful claim, you can prove that:
- The defendant had a duty of care and that the law required them to act reasonably careful.
- The defendant breached the standard of care and caused the motorcycle?accident.
- You suffered injuries, and such led to measurable or immeasurable losses.
- How much damaged did you incur? This includes the injuries or property damage you will have incurred due to the accident.??It would help if you got a quality repair estimate for the property damages, this would help to dictate the money to be paid for the repair. Also, you seek information on how much to receive if the motorcycle is to be totaled. The injuries may include lost income, mental anguish and, in some cases, punitive damages where you can prove that the defendant acted in malice. Such damages are to punish the defendant and make sure they don?t engage in the same egregious conduct again.
If you were involved in an accident and cannot prove liability, injuries or any damage suffered, then you cannot demand payment from the defendant. With the above, it becomes easy to come up with the amount of damages to be paid.
Every driver on the road has to be vigilant to protect his/her safety and that of others. When such doesn?t happen, and they cause an accident, it becomes easy to place liability.
The Value From Settlement Or Trial
?After knowing your motorcycle worth, you need to know whether to settle or go to trial to obtain your compensation.When trying to come up with a dollar amount of your motorcycle accident, there are factors to consider.??A?motorcycle accident in Bakersfield?can tell you that you obtain two different values for your claim, either by settlement or through trial. A higher payment will depend on the type of valuation as follows:
- Insurance settlement value:?The majority of motorcycle accidents settle before they move on to trial. If you negotiate for a settlement, you will save time and money. However, the amount to receive as compensation will be less compared to the trial value. If you don?t want to risk going to trial, you might want to settle for an amount less than what you could have received at trial.
- Trial value: If you cannot agree on the settlement value, then you can risk going to trial. However, the risk may be worth where you are sure of the liability. Going to trial makes it possible for your lawyer to fight for higher compensation. Again, you might get the defendant to accept liability, and this would mean maximum compensation.
?Typically, when you are partly to blame, you may not get maximum compensation.?Shared fault and pure comparative negligence?will apply.?Even if you were also negligent in causing your accident, you would be allowed to recover a certain percentage of compensation. Fortunately, you can even recover when your degree of fault is higher than that of the defendant.
If you have a motorcycle accident case, you can have a free consultation with an experienced motorcycle lawyer. But, such a lawyer will not give you the exact amount of compensation to receive during consultation. He/she will only have an estimate which may be slightly lower or higher that your actual compensation after settlement or trial depending on the technicality of your case.
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