If you have been in involved in an accident that was not your fault and are suffering from a head injury as a result, you are likely considering filing a personal injury suit. You are entitled to compensation, whether your head injury was minor or more severe, but the amount of compensation can vary greatly depending upon several of the below factors. To find out more about how head injury damages are computed, read on.

Head Injury Damages Are Tricky to Predict

Anything from a mild concussion to major brain damage is possible with head injuries, and many times the full impact of damage to your brain cannot be seen until months after the accident. Memory and cognitive issues, as well as emotional problems, can arise from head injuries that seem at first to be relatively minor.

Careful documentation of your head injury experience is important, with special emphasis given on how the head injury has affected your day-to-day life. It's important to note that the effect of your head injury on your family is also pertinent. You are entitled to be compensated for their loss of consortium, or loss of companionship.

Personal Injury Damage Calculators

The at-fault driver's insurance company will likely arrive at a settlement offer by calculating your damages using a mathematical calculation. Your pain and suffering damages for a head injury are calculated by multiplying your medical expenses by the level of severity of your injury. The severity of your injury can be determined, for settlement offer purposes, by taking into account your medical diagnosis as well as how the injury has affected your life and your ability to earn a living.

Additionally, the settlement offer may be influenced by:

1. Fault: The cause of the accident, sometimes referred to as liability, can play a part in the settlement offer if one party is only partially at fault. For example, you were speeding through the intersection when you were hit by a red light runner.
2. Characteristics of the plaintiff: Everything from your age, education level and job to prior medical problems could play a part in the settlement offer.
3. Insurance adjusters and attorneys for the other side will often base their damage amounts on recent local award amounts, so the area of the country and even the region of your state could influence your settlement offers.

These predictors of settlement offers are only meant as a guideline, and you should keep in mind that the insurance company's offer to settle is only the beginning of the settlement negotiation process. Put your case in the hands of an experienced personal injury attorney and get the compensation that you deserve for your head injury.

Contact a law firm like Kiernan Personal Injury Attorneys PA to learn more.