The average car accident settlement in Arizona is difficult to determine, but settlements can range from a few thousand dollars to seven figures for the most severe cases.
In this article, we’ll explain what goes into an Arizona auto accident settlement, including the injuries you may need to recover compensation for, applicable Arizona laws, settlement negotiation strategies, and provide some figures.
At Stone Rose Law, our experienced car accident attorneys have years of experience successfully representing people like you in motor vehicle accident settlements with at-fault drivers, their insurance companies, and third parties.
To learn more about how we can assist you after a car or truck accident, call us at (480) 498-8998 to speak with one of our car accident specialists about your case.
Just like defining an “average” car accident, specifying a typical car accident settlement is difficult. Car accidents can be minor, with so little damage to your car and no injuries that you may not even need to file an insurance claim. Or, they can be so serious that you could lose a loved one in a fatal car crash.
In between these two extremes, you can suffer a wide range of possible injuries and an equally wide range of property loss and damage. With this in mind, let’s consider some broad average figures you might see from an auto accident settlement.
Settlements that involve only property damage are the ones with the lowest values. They can average around $10,000 to $15,000, depending on the amount of damage to your vehicle and any other property.
If you or a passenger in your vehicle are hurt in a car accident, then the potential value of a negotiated settlement increases depending on how serious the injuries are and whether extensive medical treatment is needed.
Injuries you sustain in a car crash can be serious and have long-lasting consequences. Some of the injuries our personal injury attorneys often see when representing our clients include:
In the worst case situations, injuries to a loved one from a car accident can result in the death of that person. Fatal injuries raise distinct considerations in car accident settlements, which we cover separately below.
Not all the harm you can suffer from a car accident leaves a physical mark or results in physical pain. The effects of the accident on your peace of mind and your mental health are real and compensable. These include recurring nightmares, anxiety and depression, loss of consortium, and post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
Accidents that involve only mild injuries average in the mid-five-figure range for settlement value. When serious injuries happen, or you suffer from chronic pain or other long-term physical injuries, your car accident injury settlement amount can go into hundreds of thousands of dollars or even a million dollars or more.
Many factors influence your success in settlement negotiations and the value of your settlement, including legal and factual considerations. Ultimately, negotiation leverage after a car accident rests on the possibility that you could successfully sue the at-fault driver. Therefore, the stronger your case would be if you took it to court as a personal injury lawsuit, the stronger your negotiation position will be.
Arizona has a two-year statute of limitations, which requires you to file a personal injury lawsuit after a motor vehicle accident. If you wait past this period to seek settlement, then you will likely have little success because the other driver’s insurance company will know that you have no credible possibility of suing its insured customer.
The other driver in an auto accident may not be the only person potentially liable to you for your injuries or property damage. Sometimes, parties involved can contribute to causing the crash or to causing your injuries, and you can have a legal cause of action against them.
For example, if the other driver is employed as a commercial driver or was otherwise acting as an employee of someone else when the accident happened, then that person’s employer could be liable to you and should be included in settlement negotiations.
Similarly, if the other driver had maintenance performed on that person’s car, like brake repairs, and the business that performed those repairs did a defective job that led to the other driver’s brakes failing before the accident, then that repair business might also be a liable party.
A personal injury lawyer can analyze the facts of the accident to see if you have possible claims against third parties and include them in your settlement claims.
Arizona personal injury law is also based on the legal theory of comparative negligence. This means that even if you were to sue the other driver and successfully establish that the accident was mostly that person’s fault, the at-fault driver could show that you were also partly to blame for the accident or your injuries. In a personal injury lawsuit, your money damages award could be reduced by your percentage of fault.
For example, if the court’s judgment finds the other driver to be 70% at fault and you were 30% at fault, and your damages award is $100,000, then comparative negligence would reduce your recovery to $70,000.
Arizona law requires drivers to insure their vehicles to at least minimum levels of liability insurance.
These minimums for auto insurance policies include:
Arizona law also allows uninsured motorist coverage on your car insurance policy. Because insurance often pays a significant part of settlement amounts, understanding what policy coverage exists and its limits is a key consideration that your attorney can help you with.
Arizona’s Unfair Claims Settlement Practices law also requires an insurance company to make a prompt, fair, and equitable settlement after liability has become reasonably clear.
Under Arizona law, accidents that meet a minimum dollar value threshold in injuries or property damage require the police to prepare a report. These reports can be useful in establishing the facts of the accident and determining who the at-fault driver may be. Your personal injury attorney will know whether the accident requires a police report and how to obtain a copy.
Personal injury lawsuits depend on your ability to establish liability and the extent of your harm. Accordingly, establishing those facts during settlement negotiations is important in strengthening your position and maximizing your settlement value potential.
Some of the facts that your lawyer will help you to identify and quantify include:
A personal injury lawsuit judgment award would give you monetary compensation in the form of damages. A settlement amount would also be based on the same concept of how much you can prove the harm done to you is worth in dollars.
Therefore, it can be helpful to understand what kinds of damages you can seek in a lawsuit or in a settlement.
Economic damages are also known as direct damages. This form of damages compensates you for the harm done to you that is direct and easily measurable or convertible into a dollar amount.
Examples of economic damages you could seek in the settlement of a car accident case include medical bills, property replacement or repair costs, and lost wages.
Non-economic damages are also known as indirect damages. Compared to economic damages, non-economic damages are more subjective and do not lend themselves as readily to calculation into dollars. Still, they can nonetheless be assigned a dollar value, sometimes with the help of expert witness testimony.
Examples of non-economic damages include pain and suffering compensation, mental anguish, loss of consortium, and reduced quality of life.
One way that insurance adjusters calculate a settlement amount is to use the “multiple method.” This totals your economic damages, then adds on one to three times that amount to account for your pain and suffering damages.
If the other driver’s behavior that caused or contributed to the car accident was intentional, or that person was engaged in wanton and willful misconduct at the time of the accident, then punitive damages (also known as exemplary damages) may be appropriate to seek in settlement if you would be pursuing them in a personal injury lawsuit.
Examples of a punitive damages basis would be if the other driver was at fault for causing the accident through “road rage” behavior, drag racing on a public street, or driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs.
If a car accident results in the death of an immediate family member, this can raise issues that go beyond a regular personal injury claim lawsuit. A wrongful death claim is possible in this situation and can add to the settlement amount you may recover.
A wrongful death claim is subject to a modification of the ordinary two-year statute of limitations. You can bring a wrongful death case to court within two years from the date of death instead of two years from the date of the car accident.
In addition to recovering any economic, non-economic, or punitive damages that the decedent would have been entitled to, a wrongful death claim settlement can also seek recovery for funeral expenses and amounts to compensate for the loss of the deceased person’s economic support, including future economic support offset by how much of it would have been personally consumed by the deceased.
A personal injury attorney can calculate damages for economic support.
In some situations, another cause of action may be available to the deceased person’s estate. This is known as an Arizona survival action under ARS 14-3110. Key differences between a wrongful death action and a survival action are that the personal representative of the estate is the plaintiff in a survival action, and in a survival action no damages for pain and suffering can be claimed.
Our Phoenix car accident attorneys will ensure you receive the compensation you deserve in a fair settlement or a car accident lawsuit.
If you have become one of the thousands of Arizona drivers involved in an auto accident that has caused you personal injury or property damage and want to be sure you receive the best possible legal representation from an experienced Arizona personal injury law firm, don’t wait to reach out.
Contact us online or call (480) 498-8998 to schedule your free consultation.
