What a broken bone injury claim is worth after a car accident depends on the fracture’s medical costs, its effect on your earnings, and the pain and limitations it causes. There is no fixed payment for a broken arm, leg, or other bone. Responsibility for the crash and available insurance also affect what you may recover.
When an accident like this happens, insurers rush to minimize your payout and shift responsibility for the crash onto you. In North Carolina, this can have major consequences for your claim. Under the state’s contributory negligence rule, you can be barred from recovering any compensation if you are found to be even 1% at fault for the crash.
A Charlotte car accident lawyer from Auger & Auger Accident & Injury Lawyers can step in to help combat these insurer tactics, gather evidence to show fault, and evaluate all of your expenses and other losses to explain whether an insurance offer accounts for them.
What Determines the Value of a Broken Bone Injury Claim After a Car Accident?
We evaluate the consequences of your fracture rather than assigning a price to the diagnosis. A claim involving an uncomplicated recovery will present different evidence from one involving repeated procedures or permanent restrictions.
At Auger & Auger, our assessment includes:
- Treatment expenses: Emergency care, imaging, surgery, follow-up appointments, and rehabilitation attributable to the crash.
- Lost earnings: Income you could not earn while recovering or receiving treatment.
- Future limitations: Supported restrictions that may affect your employment or create additional care expenses.
- Personal impact: Pain, disrupted sleep, reduced independence, and difficulty participating in your usual activities.
- Legal and insurance issues: Disputed responsibility and the sources available to pay a settlement or judgment.
These factors must be considered together. High medical expenses do not resolve a liability dispute, and clear liability does not establish the extent of your losses.
Can an Average Fracture Settlement Tell You What to Expect?
An average cannot reliably answer how much your broken bone injury claim is worth after a car accident. Published results may omit the injured person’s prognosis, employment history, insurance coverage, or evidence supporting fault.
Consider two people with similar ankle fractures. One returns to a seated job with little lost income. The other cannot perform a job requiring climbing and carrying materials. Their diagnoses may resemble each other, but their financial losses can differ substantially.
A settlement calculator also cannot assess the credibility of evidence or determine which future expenses are medically supported. At Auger & Auger, we explain the basis for an evaluation so you can understand how it relates to your circumstances.
What Losses Can Your Broken Bone Injury Claim Include?
Compensation may address both financial losses and the personal effects of the injury. Each category requires evidence connecting the loss to the collision.
Medical Expenses and Future Treatment
Your claim may include reasonable crash-related expenses for ambulance transportation, emergency treatment, orthopedic care, prescriptions, and rehabilitation. Recommended future treatment should be supported by an assessment of what you are likely to require and its cost.
We review billing and payment records as well as treatment notes. Recoverable medical expenses depend on the applicable state law, so the original total billed is not always the figure used to evaluate a claim.
Missed Income and Reduced Earning Ability
Lost income concerns earnings you missed because of the injury. Reduced earning capacity addresses a longer-term loss of your ability to earn. A permanent restriction preventing you from resuming your occupation may require a different analysis from several weeks of unpaid leave.
Pain and Changes to Everyday Life
The claim can also account for physical pain and supported losses involving daily activities, independence, and enjoyment of life. These losses do not come with receipts, but they still require explanation and evidence. There is no universal pain-and-suffering multiplier that establishes what an insurer must pay.
How Can Fault Affect What Your Broken Bone Car Accident Claim is Worth?
Evidence of a fracture proves an injury, but you must also establish another party’s legal responsibility. The rules governing your own conduct differ between the Carolinas.
North Carolina
North Carolina’s contributory negligence law can bar recovery if you are even 1% at fault and your negligence contributed to your injuries.
Exceptions may apply, including last clear chance or injury caused by another party’s gross negligence or willful and wanton conduct. Drunk driving may support an exception, but does not automatically establish one. We investigate allegations of fault because they can threaten the entire recovery.
South Carolina
South Carolina allows recovery when your share of fault is no more than 50%, with compensation reduced by that share. More than 50% bars recovery under this rule. At Auger & Auger, we assess whether the evidence supports the insurer’s proposed allocation before using it to evaluate an offer.
What Happens When Your Losses Exceed the Insurance Coverage?
The value of a broken bone injury claim after a car accident and the amount available under one insurance policy can differ. A policy limit restricts that policy’s payment, even if your proven losses are higher.
We investigate whether additional sources exist. Another driver may share responsibility, or an employer may be liable for an employee’s negligent driving while performing work duties. Applicable uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may also provide benefits, subject to legal and policy requirements.
Before accepting a policy-limit offer, the team at Auger & Auger reviews whether settling could affect other claims or coverage. An offer described as the insurer’s maximum does not establish that every potential source has been examined.
How Should You Evaluate an Offer While Still Recovering?
Ask what the offer includes and what remains unknown. Assessing what your broken bone car accident claim is worth becomes more reliable when your provider can explain your expected recovery and likely future needs.
Before recommending a settlement, we consider:
- Whether your physician expects additional treatment or lasting restrictions.
- Whether the offer accounts for documented income loss and reduced earning ability.
- Whether disputes about fault or treatment remain unresolved.
- Which claims the proposed release would end.
- What you would receive after fees, expenses, and valid repayment obligations.
You do not always have to complete every appointment before settling. However, a release generally ends the claims it covers, so you may be unable to request additional money if treatment later costs more than anticipated.
Get an Evaluation Based on Your Recovery and Losses
At Auger & Auger, we can help you understand the reasoning behind a settlement evaluation. Our attorneys examine your treatment, employment losses, collision evidence, and available coverage so you can make an informed decision about an offer.
Our family-owned firm has served the Carolinas since 1995. We offer personalized representation and accessible lawyers who can answer questions as your treatment progresses. Our contingency arrangement, including how attorney fees and case expenses are handled, is explained before representation begins.
Contact Auger & Auger for a free consultation about your fracture claim.
