If you are a bicycle rider involved in a motor vehicle collision, you may face uncertainties and questions about how much money you can recover for your injuries and additional damages. Knowing the value of a bicycle accident case helps before you negotiate with an insurance company or party at fault.
While calculating damages might seem straightforward by adding up your losses and expenses, it can be a much more intricate process. It is not uncommon for bicycle accident victims to overlook losses they may not realize they are eligible for or fail to consider their injuries’ future impacts on their lives.
Calculating Compensation in a Bicycle Accident Case
Damage calculations in bicycle accidents are often an area where there can be disputes between a victim and the insurance company. Insurers will look over damages you claim scrupulously and strike down anything they deem, in their opinion, unnecessary, excessive, or not related to your bicycle collision. Insurance companies and their representatives do this to lower the amount of money available to you and protect their bottom line. However, an insurer’s determination of damages and subsequent settlement offers are not your only option for recovery.
A bicycle accident attorney representing you in a case can help you estimate your losses as accurately as possible and communicate with the insurance company through negotiations to increase the settlement offered to you. Hiring a bicycle accident lawyer can be invaluable to seeking fair and reasonable compensation for your losses from the insurance company rather than facing a claim denial or being pressured to take a low settlement offer that does not meet your needs.
As part of a bicycle accident insurance claim or lawsuit, you will categorize your damages with the help of your lawyer to understand the extent of your losses. For example, when an insurer makes a payment for losses as part of an insurance claim, they will typically separate the losses into two main categories, economic and non-economic losses.
A court will examine damages through these categories in a lawsuit if the case goes to trial. As you work through your damages with your attorney, they will likely go through each of your damages and subcategories to reach the maximum compensation you may be eligible for in your bicycle accident case.
Economic Damages
An economic loss is measured in terms of money and has an objective monetary value. Economic losses directly impact your financial life, whether through expenses you must pay directly or money you will miss out on because of the accident and your injuries.
Bicycle accident injuries, if severe, can have far-reaching effects on your life and livelihood, amounting to significant economic damages. The seriousness of your injuries, the amount of time you are out of work, and the lasting impact of the injuries on your health will influence the economic damages in your case.
Examples of common economic damages sustained by bicycle accident victims include:
Medical expenses
This category of losses can be quite high when a victim has severe injuries. Medical expenses include the costs for emergency medical care, transport by ambulance or helicopter, surgery, rehabilitation, hospitalization, and other services as necessary. In addition, the medical costs for your bicycle accident injuries can change over time.
For example, if you develop complications or appear to have permanent lifelong damage due to the accident, you may require continuous medical care. As part of an insurance claim or lawsuit, you may consider and claim your current medical-related losses and likely future medical expenses.
Loss of income
Many bicycle accident victims who suffer significant injuries cannot just go back to work or go on with their life as before the crash. Injuries take their toll on your body and can take time to recover and heal. In some cases, it is possible that specific injuries will never heal fully, and you will face impairment and permanent loss of function.
As part of an insurance claim or lawsuit, you may include lost wages and the impact of your injuries on your future productivity and earnings. Your injuries will severely impact your income if you cannot work or face restrictions. When calculating your damages following a bicycle collision, you will include loss of income and future losses because of your injuries.
Property damage
The property damages in a bicycle accident are recoverable as part of your claim or lawsuit. The costs to repair or replace your bicycle can vary greatly. Specialty bicycles can often cost thousands of dollars, which may become a point of contention with an insurance company that may not be willing to accept the value of your damaged property. A bicycle accident attorney can help you fight for the damages you are eligible for under the law, including high property damages.
Non-Monetary Damages
Unlike economic damages, which have more objective value, non-monetary damages are subjective for each victim. A non-monetary or non-economic loss is one you will feel the impact of, but the effects are not financial. Although a non-economic loss is not monetary, the court allows you to seek monetary compensation when you are a victim of negligence in a bicycle accident. The law’s viewpoint that a defendant should compensate you to make you whole drives the recovery of non-monetary damages in a claim or lawsuit.
Non-monetary damage is any loss you sustain that is not a financial cost or expense. Not everyone’s experience is the same following a bicycle accident. These non-economic losses are mostly personal losses you experience, whether physically, psychologically, or emotionally.
Due to the subjective nature of these losses, getting an insurer to agree to the value of each non-monetary damage presents enormous challenges. While there is no standard formula for calculating non-monetary losses, your attorney will weigh factors to determine how much you are eligible to claim.
Pain and suffering are common examples of non-monetary damage in a bicycle accident case. A victim’s pain and suffering from a bicycle accident can affect many aspects of life and their future.
What Qualifies as Pain and Suffering?
Pain most often encompasses the discomfort you feel when bicycle injuries occur and during recovery. It is not uncommon for victims to undergo different stages of pain, particularly when they must undergo invasive procedures and intense rehabilitation. Some victims may develop chronic pain they must manage for the remainder of their lives.
Suffering after a bicycle collision can take many forms. Whether physical, emotional, or psychological, any suffering you endure from your injuries and the accident is worth claiming. The hardest part in recovering damages for pain and suffering is how to prove them. Your attorney can help you build your case and gather the evidence necessary to claim these damages from the insurance company or as part of your lawsuit.
What Factors Can Greatly Influence the Amount of Compensation You Can Recover?
The compensation you may receive for your bicycle accident case will depend on various factors. No two bicycle accident cases are the same, and the outcome can differ depending on how the accident occurs and the impact on you.
Liability
Establishing fault in a bicycle accident will determine who is ultimately responsible for your losses and what insurance company is liable if any. Insurers will investigate the bike accident and determine whether or not they are obligated to accept liability; if they deny a claim and do not accept liability, you as the victim can potentially dispute their findings and file a lawsuit in court against them.
Available Coverage
If the insurance company accepts liability for a bicycle accident, you will move to the next step in the process to seek compensation for your losses. However, there are limitations to the coverage available through the insurance policy. If your damages exceed the insurance coverage, you may have to pursue other legal options to seek the remainder of your damages, such as a lawsuit directly against the negligent party and the cause of your injuries.
Seriousness of Impacts
The factor that will influence the amount of compensation the most is the level of severity of the bicycle accident, the injuries you sustain, and the impact those injuries have on your life. The more serious and debilitating the injuries, the higher the potential compensation.
What Is the Best Approach to Seeking Compensation for Bicycle Accident Damages?
Getting the compensation you deserve as a bicycle accident victim can feel overwhelming. Fighting the insurance companies combined with the uncertainty of the outcome and the financial pressures is not something you should face alone. Instead, take the following steps to protect your rights and peace of mind following a bicycle accident.
Hire a Bicycle Accident Lawyer
The most important thing you can do as a bicycle accident victim is to contact a bicycle accident attorney. There is too much on the line for you to go it alone or attempt to resolve without the legal experience and background necessary to succeed.
Andrew G. Finkelstein, Bicycle Accident Attorney
Schedule a free consultation with a bicycle accident lawyer near you to discuss the legal options available to fight for the compensation you deserve in your case. A lawyer will review your case, determine if it’s viable, and advise on what steps you can take to get the process started.
Take Positive Steps Towards Your Recovery
Stay dedicated to your recovery after your bicycle accident. Healing from bicycle accident injuries is anything but easy. You might face setbacks and challenges that make you doubt your recovery and treatment plan but stay the course for your health and the benefit of your case.
Continue to visit your doctor, keep up with therapy appointments, and do what you can to improve your physical, mental, and emotional recovery. If you do and document everything you need to heal and recover, it is difficult for the insurer or liable party to downplay your injuries.
If you are a victim of a bicycle accident you believe is the fault of another person, contact a bicycle accident lawyer today for a free case evaluation. Let an accomplished legal team fight for the compensation you deserve and hold the responsible party liable for your losses.