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ToggleWhether you’re a resident or a visitor, the last thing you expect is to be involved in an accident. Some accidents are embarrassing mishaps, but not all. So, if your accident is the result of someone’s negligence, you’re probably wondering about the value of a Las Vegas personal injury claim.
Determining the value of a personal injury claim is a little more complex than adding up bills, both paid and unpaid. Your damages can extend to your emotional well-being and there’s no easy way to place a price on this.
Instead of rolling the dice and hoping for a pair of winning numbers, you can take steps to help ensure you receive compensation for your Las Vegas accident.
Steps to Take After a Las Vegas Accident
After being involved in an accident, it’s normal to feel a little confused and overwhelmed, and this applies to a car accident or a slip-and-fall on a casino floor.
One type of accident may be more embarrassing than the other, but this doesn’t mean it devalues your potential injury claim. If you’re injured in an accident in Sin City, taking a few steps can help ensure you’re not reducing the value of your claim.
Medical Attention is Necessary
Pretty much no one likes visiting a healthcare provider. The experience is rated only slightly worse than making a dental appointment. However, even if you dread going to the doctor, it’s necessary after an accident. You may not have visible injuries, but you may have internal damage.
Your health is something you never want to bet on, even in Vegas. Some internal injuries can take days or weeks to start showing symptoms. You can protect your health and the value of your claim by visiting a healthcare provider immediately after an accident. Don’t forget to save all medical records. These will be necessary to support your injury claim.
Report the Accident
Like most states, Nevada doesn’t require you to report all accidents. However, if you don’t report an accident involving injuries, fatalities, or significant property damage, you may end up facing charges. This is something you don’t want to gamble on, especially if you’re planning on filing an insurance claim.
Failing to report an accident can leave you facing hit-and-run charges if it’s a vehicle collision. For other types of accidents involving injuries, failing to report the incident can make it all but impossible to file a claim for damages.
Your accident report serves as proof the incident occurred and most insurance companies won’t move forward without the documentation. Most accident reports are ready in about seven to ten business days. You can get a copy of the report for a small fee, usually around $10.
If your accident doesn’t meet the criteria for filing an immediate report, you still have ten days to contact the authorities. However, waiting to report an accident can jeopardize the overall value of your claim. Vital evidence supporting your version of events can be easily lost and this can make it more difficult to prove your claim.
Contact the Insurance Provider
Since Nevada is an at-fault state, you need to contact the individual or entity’s insurance provider to file a claim. However, this doesn’t mean listing all of your damages or explaining the events leading up to the accident. Instead, you’re only altering the insurance company of your intentions to file a claim.
This can help get the ball rolling on the claim process. As for why you don’t want to go into details about the accident, the answer is fairly simple. You’re still trying to determine your damages and you don’t want to get locked into a specific amount. Remember, anything you say can be used by the insurance company to try and devalue your personal injury claim.
Determining the Value of Your Las Vegas Accident Claim
Trying to determine the value of your Las Vegas accident claim can seem a lot like rolling the dice. Instead of gambling on receiving the compensation amount you deserve, you can estimate the value of your claim.
Granted, this isn’t exactly easy especially when you start factoring in your non-economic damages. Yes, your accident claim will probably include different types of damages and some are easier to calculate than others.
Economic Damages
Your economic damages typically include things like medical expenses, property damage costs, and lost income. These damages are usually easy to calculate since you have medical records, bills, receipts, and estimates. You simply add up the total and this represents your economic damages.
Non-Economic Damages
Something that’s not always discussed is your non-economic damages. These are things like the pain and suffering you feel since the accident.
Mental anguish and loss of life enjoyment are other common non-economic damages. So, how do you put a price on your pain and suffering? The law gives you two methods to help calculate the value of your non-economic damages.
You and/or your attorney can use the per diem method, which takes the total of your economic damages and multiples it by the number of days you feel pain. So, if your injuries stemming from the accident leave you in pain for seven days and your economic damages total $7, 000, your formula will be, 7 x $7,000 = $49,000.
The other option is using the multiplier method, which requires you to assign your level of pain a number usually ranging from 1.5 to 5. The greater your pain the higher the number. You take the number assigned to your pain and multiply it by your economic losses.
So, if your economic damage is $7,000 and your pain is rated at 5, the total of your non-economic damages is $35,000.
Don’t Gamble on Your Personal Injury Claim
Some things in your life are well worth taking a gamble on, like the final score of a football game. But when it comes to recovering compensation in a personal injury claim, it’s better to play it safe. That’s why working with a personal injury attorney is the smart choice to make sure that you receive fair compensation for your Las Vegas accident.
An experienced attorney can guide you through the legal process, helping you avoid risks and secure the best possible outcome.