A typical settlement amount for a concussion caused by a car accident is around $20,000. This amount seems low because most concussions are relatively minor, only requiring a few weeks for a full recovery. If you have ongoing symptoms or post-concussion syndrome, your recovery can be multiple times higher than this amount.
Factors in a concussion settlement amount
The personal injury lawyers at our law firm have found that the three main factors that will dictate a concussion settlement amount are:
- how severe your head injuries are,
- whether there is adequate insurance coverage, and
- whether you were partially to blame for the car accident.
Each of these factors can fluctuate widely. This is why there is so much of a range in the average settlement value for car accident cases that involve concussions.
Severity of the injuries
The main factor in a concussion settlement amount is the severity of your injury. The settlement amount aims to make you whole from your losses. If your injuries were severe and you lost a lot, then the settlement will likely be higher. If it was a mild concussion, it would be lower.
The severity of a concussion is notoriously difficult to gauge. Some concussions seem severe, but the symptoms clear up quickly and thoroughly. Other concussions seem minor, only for new and crippling symptoms to appear weeks later.
Some common symptoms from a concussion are:
- headaches,
- fatigue,
- insomnia,
- dizziness,
- sensitivity to light or sound,
- vision issues,
- nausea,
- amnesia,
- mental fogginess,
- sluggish thinking,
- memory loss,
- problems concentrating,
- mood swings,
- depression, and
- anxiety.
Most of the time, these symptoms clear up within a couple of weeks of the incident. According to Corewell Health, a hospital chain in Michigan:
“Approximately 80 percent of concussions resolve over seven to 14 days, with an average of 10 days.”[1]
Sometimes, though, the symptoms can persist for far longer. If the symptoms are debilitating, this can drastically affect your quality of life. In concussion cases with long-term effects, a fair settlement amount for a severe concussion can rise dramatically. You may be entitled to well over $100,000 for your impairment, emotional distress, and lost earning capacity.
Insurance coverage
The amount of insurance coverage that is available can also significantly alter the settlement amount. If an uninsured driver caused the car crash that led to your concussion, then you will have to turn to a different type of insurance policy than their liability coverage. This can leave you under-compensated for just your medical expenses.
Shared fault rules
If you were partially to blame for the crash that caused your concussion, the settlement amount will likely be lower.
Each state has its own shared fault rules for these incidents. Most states use comparative liability rules. In these states, the jury in the personal injury trial would assign each accident victim a percentage of fault for the auto accident in the verdict. Your percentage of fault would then reduce your compensation. In some states, if this percentage is over 50 percent, you would recover nothing because you were the at-fault driver.
Even though this happens at trial in the personal injury case, it will still affect your settlement offer. If it is clear that you were at least somewhat to blame for the crash, the insurance company will use that to justify a lower offer.
Types of concussion injuries
Concussions are a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI). They happen when your head:
- violently jolts, and/or
- suffers a direct, forceful impact.
Either of these conditions can cause the inside of your skull to slam into, or concuss, your brain tissue. The more traumatic this is, the more you are likely to suffer from the symptoms of a concussion or TBI. The more you suffer, the higher your settlement amount should be.
Traumatic brain injuries
The trauma on your brain from this concussion can cause brain damage.
The contact with the inside of your skull can damage or even kill thousands of neurons in your brain. These often do not repair themselves. Instead, the brain just figures out a different way to communicate with other neurons. This can take time.
The trauma can also impair areas of your brain that are necessary for:
- the autonomic nervous system,
- bodily functions, and
- cognitive ability.
Depending on what areas of your brain were affected by the concussion, the symptoms that you experience can vary widely. Sometimes, they can be devastating. This can lead to a higher settlement amount. On the other hand, the affected areas of the brain can lead to just a mild traumatic brain injury. These relatively minor types of injuries would reduce the average settlement amount that you could expect to receive.
Coup-contrecoup injury
A coup-contrecoup injury can be a particularly severe type of concussion. These are incidents where a sudden force makes your head snap one way, concussing one side of your brain, and then snap back the other way, concussing the other side of your brain.
Because more of your brain tissue hits the bony inside of your skull, more neurons can be damaged or killed. These are serious brain injuries that can produce higher settlement amounts.
Post-concussion syndrome
If the symptoms of your concussion or TBI persist for months or even years, you may have post-concussion syndrome (PCS). Depending on the symptoms, this can be extremely debilitating. It can require extensive medical treatment to make a full recovery. Our car accident attorneys have seen clients that have never recovered completely from PCS.
Because of this, our car accident lawyers have found that post-concussion syndrome settlements tend to be significantly higher than those for concussions that had a recovery period of only a few weeks or months.
How head injuries happen in a car accident
In a car accident, concussions typically happen when you are suddenly and very forcefully jolted. While there may not be any contact to your head on the outside, the sudden force can make your skull move more quickly than the brain. This makes the inside of the skull slam into the brain tissue.
This is particularly common in:
- rear-end accidents,
- t-bone crashes, and
- head-on collisions.
The sudden force can also cause other injuries, in addition to a concussion, like:
- neck injuries,
- back injuries, and
- whiplash.
The severity of these additional injuries can also increase the settlement amount that you deserve.
The next steps after a concussion
If you are in a car accident and suffer a concussion, the first thing to do is get the medical attention that you need. By getting the proper medical care, and quickly, you can increase the odds that you make a full recovery.
The next step is to file your injury claim with the at-fault party’s insurer. The best way to ensure you get the maximum compensation amount that you are entitled to receive is to get a case evaluation and establish an attorney-client relationship with a personal injury attorney and get their legal advice about how to proceed.
The insurance company will likely make an initial car accident settlement offer. This offer is designed to seem enticing, while offering a payout that is well beneath what you stand to receive if you pursue a personal injury claim.
You and your attorney will negotiate this settlement offer with the insurance company. Keep all of your medical bills and records throughout this process.
If no fair settlement offer is made, your concussion symptoms have gone away or reached maximum medical improvement, and the statute of limitations is approaching, the next step is to file a personal injury lawsuit.
Legal Citations:
[1] Corewell Health, “What to Expect After a Concussion.”
