Louisiana Car Accident Settlements: Compensation for New Orleans Car Accidents

When a car accident occurs, victims are often left with mountains of medical bills and long-term suffering. For accidents caused by someone else’s actions or negligence, the at-fault person may be liable for providing compensation.

If you were involved in a car accident in New Orleans, you need to know about the compensation you may be owed for your losses. The issue is complicated, but we’ve provided essential information on estimating Louisiana car accident settlements in the guide below. 

Key Takeaways

• Car accident compensation in Louisiana lawsuits often includes economic and non-economic damages, with rare cases including additional punitive damages.
• Non-economic compensation may be calculated based on your economic losses or determined based on prior cases similar to yours.
• With average settlement amounts ranging from hundreds to millions of dollars, it’s more useful to get specific insights from a car accident lawyer rather than getting false impressions from these widely varying figures. 
• Factors impacting settlements include the severity of your injury, the strength of your evidence, your attorney’s skills, and your timeliness in taking legal action.

What Compensation Is Available for Louisiana Car Accidents?

Under Louisiana car accident laws, compensation for car accident injury lawsuits is typically split into three categories: economic, non-economic, and punitive damages. Economic and non-economic damages are both compensatory damages and are meant to compensate for injury victims’ losses. Punitive damages, on the other hand, are extremely rare in Louisiana and are used to punish defendants for very specific instances of extreme wrongdoing.

Car Accident Economic Damages

Economic damages are intended to make up for the financial losses caused by car accidents. These damages are usually calculated using documentation such as medical records, repair receipts, income and wage statements, and more. Common examples of economic compensation include:

• Lost wages due to missed work
• Lost income due to reduced earning capacity
• Medical expenses, such as emergency medical care, medications, and surgery
• Future medical costs, such as physical therapy and rehabilitation
• Property damage and repair costs
• Transportation expenses
• Funeral costs and burial expenses in cases of wrongful death

Non-Economic Damages for Car Crashes

Non-economic damages are provided to car accident victims in recognition of the non-financial suffering caused by the crash. This can include the following types of losses:

• Emotional distress and mental trauma
• Physical pain and suffering
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and other conditions
• Reduced quality of life
• Chronic pain
• Scarring and disfigurement

Non-economic compensation can be more complicated than economic damages, with three potential methods for determining non-economic damages in Louisiana. Depending on the specifics of your case, your pain and suffering damages may be calculated using one of these methods below:

• Multiplier Method – The multiplier method is based on your economic compensation. To calculate your non-economic damages, your total economic losses are multiplied by a figure between one and five, depending on the severity of your case.
• Per Diem Method – For this compensation method, a specific dollar amount is provided for each day that the accident victim is expected to suffer from their injury. The daily rate is sometimes based on the victim’s daily earnings. The per diem approach is also known as the daily rate method.
• Jurisprudential Method – Legal officials can also determine non-economic compensation based on past judgments. When the jurisprudential method is used, your compensation is based on the amounts awarded to victims in similar cases in the past.

Average Settlements for Car Accidents in Louisiana

Car accident settlements in Louisiana can vary widely. For cases with only property damage, the financial outcome will likely be very different from cases involving catastrophic injuries. In other words, there is no single average for payouts from car accident lawsuits. There are also limited statistics easily available on this topic, and the statistics that are available may be misleading.

Sources providing information on expected car accident settlements typically cite the economic cost of car accidents for reference on settlement amounts. Unfortunately, these figures may lead you to expect a higher settlement that you will likely be able to receive. While some statistics estimate the cost of Louisiana car accidents at a minimum average of $18,000, and others estimate the costs of minor injuries at nearly $100,000, these figures far exceed most ranges for lawsuit outcomes. 

In truth, for non-injury crashes, your settlement may range from just hundreds to thousands of dollars, while some minor injury crashes may result in settlements worth less than $10,000. For severe injuries, you may be able to access a payout of well over a million dollars.

Rather than looking for averages that may give you false impressions, it’s in your best interest to get more information from a New Orleans car accident lawyer. 

How Much Is My New Orleans Car Accident Claim Worth?

Keeping in mind that the best way to determine the value of your car accident injury claim is to talk to an experienced lawyer, there are still some factors that you can consider that could impact your settlement. Your New Orleans car accident compensation will heavily depend on the following:

• Your Injury Severity – If you checked out the section above, you already know that the presence of injuries and the severity of those injuries can significantly impact payouts. Injury severity is one of the biggest factors in calculating settlements.
• Evidence for Your Claim – Even if you feel you are owed a high-dollar amount for your injury, you may not be able to access that compensation if there isn’t enough proof to support your claim. Things like missing or inaccurate crash reports and medical records can significantly weaken your lawsuit.
• Your Speed in Taking Action – Immediately after a car accident occurs, evidence begins to degrade. The longer you wait to get legal assistance, the greater the risk that evidence may be lost or destroyed. You may also miss important deadlines on your claim or legal action.
• Partial Fault – Louisiana follows a comparative fault system under which victims can make claims as long as they were less than 51% at fault for their accident. However, compensation is reduced proportionally to your percentage of fault. If you were 10% at fault, you may only be entitled to up to 90% of a full settlement.
• Punitive Damages – While punitive damages are available in most states for injury cases involving extreme wrongdoing, Louisiana is particularly strict in applying these damages. You will usually only be able to recover punitive damages if a specific statute applies to your case, with the most commonly cited being the statute against intoxicated driving.
• Policy Limits – While we might hope that our car accident compensation will be based purely on the facts of the case, that isn’t always true. The insurance policy of the at-fault party can impact your claim value. If you think that the insurance settlement you are offered is too low, you need to get help from a lawyer as soon as possible.

Get Full Compensation With Help From a New Orleans Car Accident Lawyer

As you can see, determining fair compensation for car accident cases is incredibly complicated, and that’s before you consider how the legal process can impact payouts. If you’ve been injured in a New Orleans auto accident, getting help from a capable car accident lawyer can have a significant impact on the outcome of your case.

Here at Cardone Law Firm, our team is not only highly experienced in car accident cases but also deeply committed to helping injury victims seek justice for crashes. We will fight tirelessly to get you a fair settlement, gathering evidence, building a strong case, and negotiating with insurance providers or in a court of law, if needed.

If you’re injured in a New Orleans car crash, our experienced personal injury lawyer can help you get a fair settlement. Reach out for assistance.