If you've been injured because of someone else’s carelessness or wrongdoing, you might be thinking about filing a personal injury (PI) claim. Maybe you were involved in a car accident, or perhaps you slipped and fell on a wet floor at a big box retailer.
Before you pursue a claim, you’ll need to think carefully about how much your personal injury claim might be worth. We surveyed our readers about their experiences and studied data from thousands of federal court cases for information about personal injury settlements and awards. We’ll share with you what we learned about:
- typical settlements or awards in personal injury claims
- factors that affect payout amounts, and
- how legal representation tends to increase compensation.
What Are “Damages?”
In personal injury cases, damages are money paid to injured parties (plaintiffs) by the parties who caused them harm (defendants).
Defendants must typically pay plaintiffs for their:
- medical bills
- missed work time
- other lost income and opportunity, and
- physical and mental pain and suffering.
Most Personal Injury Claims Settle
Most PI claims end in out-of-court settlements between the parties and their insurance companies. When settlement talks fail, a personal injury claim is either dropped or goes to trial.
About 70% of the readers we surveyed settled their cases. Only 4% of our readers took their cases to trial, which is consistent with industry estimates. The remaining readers’ claims were probably dropped or dismissed for various reasons.
When a plaintiff wins at trial, the judge or jury awards damages. Plaintiffs who lose at trial get no compensation.
How Much Is a Typical Personal Injury Case Worth?
Before we get further into the stats, we have to note that no two personal injury cases are the same. One PI case might have to do with a small injury resulting from a store’s simple negligence, while another might involve catastrophic brain injury due to a manufacturer’s reckless indifference. The bottom line: You can take only so much away from the statistical information because your situation is unique.
With that in mind, here’s what our survey conducted in 2016 revealed about settlements. Of our readers who received a settlement or award, 58% got between $3,000 and $25,000. Around 16% received less than $3,000, but another 26% received over $25,000, making the overall average payout $52,900. (Remember: These percentages and the average don’t include those who received nothing.)
Personal injury plaintiffs fared better in data from federal court dockets analyzed by Westlaw Edge’s Litigation Analytics (a property of Thomson Reuters). Of 2,834 personal injury cases with damages awards and settlements from 2003 to 2022, about 24% of plaintiffs received compensation ranging from $3,000 to $25,000. Around 6% received less than $3,000. Nearly 70% received $25,000 or more.
Personal injury plaintiffs who went to trial in federal court were rewarded. In those cases, the median compensatory damages award was $78,032, while the average settlement amount was $45,000. (Median is the midpoint between the full range of awards, which more accurately represents the typical award than the average.)
In part, these federal figures show higher compensation because the settlements that are included were only after the plaintiffs filed lawsuits in court, and these plaintiffs mostly likely had lawyers. As we saw in our survey, compensation is typically higher when injured people have attorneys and file or threaten lawsuits. Also, PI cases that end up in federal court typically involve higher damages. (More below on these factors.)
What Factors Affect the Value of a Personal Injury Claim?
The value of your PI claim is based on multiple factors, including the kinds of injuries you suffered, the cost of your medical treatment, and whether you were partly to blame for your injuries.
Let’s take a closer look at a few of the most important factors that insurance adjusters and personal injury lawyers tend to focus on.
Your injuries. The nature and severity of your injuries, including the medical treatment you receive and your recovery, have the biggest impact on the value of your case. Serious injuries, unsurprisingly, lead to higher payouts.
Insurance policy limits. Insurance companies are only on the hook up to insurance policy limits and have no obligation to pay an injured person more, even if the injured person's claim is worth more.
Type of claim. Compensation in personal injury cases is based on the facts of each case, but the federal court data we reviewed reveal that median awards and settlements vary quite a bit based on the type of claim filed. The following data on compensatory damage awards after trial and settlements was pulled from federal court records from 2002 to 2022:
- Motor vehicle accident cases (1,698 total): median award was $71,765; median settlement was $40,000.
- Medical malpractice cases (661 total): median award was $500,000; median settlement was $250,000.
- Product liability cases (1,240 total): median award was $205,629; median settlement was $50,000.
- Defamation cases (465 total): median award was $125,000; median settlement was $25,000.
Learn more about how lawyers and insurance companies value personal injury claims.
Do I Need a Lawyer for My Personal Injury Claim?
Our survey revealed that hiring a PI lawyer increases your chances of getting compensation for your injuries and other losses. More than nine out of ten readers with attorneys (91%) got a payout, compared to 51% of those who represented themselves.
Hiring a lawyer also tends to increase the amount of compensation you receive. The average payout for readers with lawyers was $77,600, compared to an average of $17,600 for those who handled their own claims.
Even after deducting the average contingency fees our readers reported paying their attorneys (32%), our readers with legal representation still ended up with net payouts that were nearly three times higher, on average, than what unrepresented readers received.
We should note that people might have a harder time finding legal representation if they have tricky or “low value” cases (meaning that they don’t involve much in the way of damages). For instance, if the plaintiff’s injuries aren’t severe or fault is questionable, attorneys might not want to take the case because it wouldn’t be worth their time. So some unrepresented plaintiffs might simply have cases that are worth less to start with. In the big picture, though, the data seems to support the conventional wisdom that you usually want a lawyer on your side.
Learn more about how hiring a personal injury lawyer can help you save time and win more money
Negotiating Personal Injury Settlements
It may seem obvious that you’ll typically end up with a higher settlement when you negotiate rather than simply accept the first offer from the other side. Negotiating doesn’t guarantee a higher payout, but it’s still an effective strategy for getting more money.
Most of our readers (70%) negotiated a settlement. Readers who held out for a better deal received settlements that were $30,700 higher, on average, than those who accepted the insurance company’s first offer.
Filing or Threatening a Personal Injury Lawsuit
Just over half of our readers settled or otherwise resolved their personal injury claims without filing a lawsuit or even putting the other side on notice that they were ready to sue. But readers who did take one of those steps were more likely to receive payouts, and their payouts were almost twice as high as those who didn’t file or threaten lawsuits ($45,500 compared to $23,000).
Even though personal injury trials are rare, insurance companies appear to be more likely to make a reasonable settlement offer when you show them that you’re serious about taking your claim all the way to court.
Protect Your Rights
When it comes to getting the most out of your personal injury claim, our survey results show that there’s no substitute for standing up for your rights and fighting for the best result.
If your injuries have been significant, consider talking to a lawyer. A lawyer can explain your legal options and help you figure out how much your claim might be worth. Most personal injury lawyers offer free consultations and represent clients under a contingency fee agreement. You’ll only owe the lawyer a fee if you win a settlement or court judgment.
If you can’t find a lawyer to take your case, you can research how to handle your own personal injury case and get the best results possible.
