If you suffered a broken wrist from a car accident caused by the negligence of another, you may wonder, How much will I get for a broken wrist settlement?
The answer depends on multiple factors. Various circumstances impact the average settlement for a broken wrist sustained in a car accident in California.
After seeking medical attention following a car accident, the most important thing is to contact a personal injury attorney.
They will carefully review the facts and circumstances surrounding your car accident and work to protect your interests by helping you obtain the compensation you deserve.
What Are Common Wrist Injuries in a Car Accident?
A person’s wrist comprises multiple bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Due to the complex collection of bones and joints, wrist injuries may disrupt your ability to carry on with everyday tasks until the wound heals completely.
A broken wrist may have multiple symptoms, including:
- Severe pain,
- Swelling,
- Tenderness,
- Bruising, and
- Deformity.
Another detriment to a broken wrist is that it may cause lengthy—or even permanent—damage. A broken wrist injury all too often results in long-term pain that may never completely go away.
What Is the Average Settlement for a Broken Wrist?
The average settlement for a broken wrist in a car accident in California depends on multiple factors. Your attorney considers all these factors in determining your broken wrist settlement value. Here are the main factors that figure in the equation.
Severity of Injury
Several types of injuries fall under the category of a broken wrist. The severity of an injury affects wrist injury settlement amounts in California.
Certain breaks may be harder to treat and manage, impacting your broken wrist settlement value.
- Hairline or simple fracture: These superficial injuries generally result in a low broken wrist settlement value.
- Ulnar styloid fracture: Treatment for an ulnar styloid fracture usually involves an above-elbow cast worn for six weeks. These injuries generally do not require special care and do not garner large settlement values.
- Extra-articular fracture: An extra-articular fracture does not extend into the joint. Treatments for this type of break are generally non-invasive.
- Comminuted fracture: These fractures occur when the bones break into three or more pieces. The severity of a comminuted fracture significantly impacts wrist injury settlement amounts in California.
- Intra-articular fracture: These may represent a complex injury that increases your broken wrist settlement value. An intra-articular fracture includes a break that goes into the wrist joint.
- Displaced fracture: A displaced fracture often requires extensive medical attention to locate and reposition bone fragments. These breaks require surgery and may take months—or longer—to fully heal.
- Open fracture: An open fracture occurs when a broken bone punctures the skin and is externally exposed. These require immediate medical care and often exemplify the intensity of the accident that caused the injury.
Although all these wrist fractures require medical attention, the severity of the injury is the key factor that affects wrist injury settlement amounts in California.
Impact on Earnings
Lost income from your injury significantly increases an average settlement for a broken wrist in a car accident in California.
Your settlement value increases significantly if the severity of your injury renders you permanently unable to work. Your attorney may calculate your lost income based on your wage history and the period your injury prevents you from working.
Liability
A precise determination of fault also impacts wrist injury settlement amounts in California.
If you contributed to your broken wrist injury, this might affect your settlement value. California operates as a comparative negligence state.
Although you may have contributed to your injuries somehow, this does not bar your claim. For example, if you were deemed 30% negligent for your wrist injuries, you can still recover 70% of the compensation you have coming to you.
Insurance Policy
You may choose to file a claim against the driver that caused the car accident.
However, your claim may be subject to a policy limit for the maximum amount of compensation available under the at-fault driver’s policy limits. Low policy limits may detrimentally affect your broken wrist settlement and lead you to explore other options for more compensation.
How Much Will I Get for a Broken Wrist Settlement?
As you work through the details of your car accident, you may ask your attorney what damages you may recover. California splits compensatory damages into two categories—economic damages and non-economic damages.
Economic Damages
Economic damages comprise calculable and tangible monetary losses. These damages may be calculated easily through supporting evidence. Economic damages include the following:
- Medical expenses—These include the costs related to the initial hospitalization following your car accident and medical treatment needed to resolve your wrist injury.
- Lost wages—These costs include past and future lost wages if your injury prevents you from working the job you had before your car accident. Pay stubs and tax returns may support proof of lost wages and future earnings.
Therefore, to prove your economic damage award, save all receipts, invoices, statements, and other information. Upon reviewing this evidence, your personal injury attorney may provide you with a better picture of your case’s value.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages represent subjective losses related to your wrist injury. Non-economic damages significantly impact wrist injury settlement amounts in California, but they are more difficult to substantiate. Non-economic damages include the following:
- Pain and suffering—The pain and suffering caused by your injuries generally do not manifest in a physical way but relate to the pain, discomfort, anguish, and inconvenience accompanied by your injury.
- Emotional distress—A car accident represents a traumatic event for most, and many people suffer emotional trauma resulting from an accident.
Non-economic damages may be larger than economic damage awards in some cases.
For this reason, one should never overlook the importance of this portion of compensatory damages. The complexity of proving non-economic damages usually requires the assistance of a qualified personal injury attorney.
Contact Us If You’ve Suffered a Wrist Injury in an Accident
The Wakeford Law Firm team consists of experienced trial lawyers focused on delivering high-quality results for their clients.
We focus our practice on helping people suffering from injuries resulting from someone else’s negligence. We fully understand the physical, emotional, and financial stresses our clients face when dealing with an injury.
For nearly twenty years, we have acted as problem-solvers for our clients, helping them to achieve the results they need to move forward in their life. Contact our office today for a free consultation.
