Is There an Average Personal Injury Settlement in Phoenix?
If you have searched for the average personal injury settlement in Phoenix, you have probably found a lot of confident numbers and very little honesty. Here is the straight answer: there is no reliable average, and any page that hands you a single figure is either guessing or trying to anchor a number in your head before you understand your own case.
Settlements are built from the specific facts of each claim: the injuries, the medical costs, the lost income, the insurance available, and who was at fault. Two people in nearly identical crashes can walk away with very different amounts. A minor soft-tissue strain and a permanent spinal injury are both car accident settlements, but averaging them together describes neither one. What matters is not what some unrelated case settled for. It is what your Phoenix injury claim is actually worth, and the rest of this page breaks down the pieces that decide that.
Damages You Can Recover in a Settlement
Every personal injury settlement is built from the losses you suffered because of the accident. Those losses fall into two broad categories, economic and non-economic, and together they form the foundation of what your claim is worth.
Economic losses are the measurable financial costs of your injuries, and they often include:
- Past and future medical bills
- Lost income
- Diminished earning capacity
- Out-of-pocket expenses
Non-economic damages cover the ways your injuries reduce your quality of life, such as:
- Physical pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Emotional distress
- Disability
- Inconvenience
- Loss of consortium
You cannot put a simple price tag on non-economic losses. Their value comes from the totality of the circumstances, which is also the part of a claim insurers fight hardest to minimize.
Factors That Influence a Settlement
No honest lawyer will promise you a number before they understand your case. Still, a handful of factors consistently shape what a Phoenix settlement is worth. These are the ones that move the value up or down the most:
The Severity and Duration of Your Injuries
How bad your injuries are will tend to predict your future medical bills, and it will also predict the disabilities you will suffer.
More profound disabilities will have a greater effect on your ability to work and care for yourself, and injuries that last a long time or cause permanent disabilities will typically require more treatment and therapy than temporary injuries, thus impacting your ability to work.
The Impact on Your Quality of Life
Severe and permanent injuries will undoubtedly greatly impact your quality of life, but even some “minor” injuries can severely affect your quality of life. A cut to the face from glass sent flying in a car accident might tear off a piece of your ear, leaving you disfigured for the rest of your life.
The At-Fault Party’s Insurance Coverage
Most injury cases involve an insurance claim, and the at-fault party’s policy limits will determine the limit of their insurer’s financial exposure. If your losses exceed those limits, the at-fault party must make up the difference.
Arizona requires car owners to carry bodily injury liability (BIL) coverage of at least $25,000 per person, up to $50,000 per accident. If you have $40,000 in damages, the insurer can only kick in $25,000, and the at-fault party must pay the additional $15,000. But if they lack the resources to cover these losses, you may need to settle for less.
Evidence of Comparative Fault
Arizona uses a pure comparative fault law. This means if you bear some responsibility for your injuries, your losses will be reduced by your share of the fault. Thus, if you were found 25% at fault for your injuries, you can only receive 75% of your damages.
Mistakes That Can Lower Your Phoenix Settlement
In my years on the insurance side, I watched valid claims lose value not because of the facts, but because of avoidable mistakes by the injured person. A few of the most common:
- Giving a recorded statement too early. Adjusters ask for these while you are still rattled and before you know the extent of your injuries. Your words get used later to argue your injuries are minor or that you share the blame.
- Accepting the first offer. The opening number is almost always low, and it is designed to close your claim before your full medical picture is clear.
- Gaps in medical treatment. When you skip appointments or wait to get care, insurers argue your injuries were not serious or were caused by something else.
- Posting on social media. A single photo of you smiling at an event can be twisted into evidence that you are not really hurt.
- Waiting too long to act. Arizona generally gives you two years under the statute of limitations, but evidence fades and memories blur long before that deadline.
Each of these is something a good lawyer helps you avoid from day one.
Settling Your Personal Injury Case
One last factor that can affect the average personal injury settlement you receive is whether you hire an injury lawyer. An attorney has the knowledge and experience to assess the value of your case and fight for a fair settlement based on your circumstances, pushing back when an insurance adjuster tries to undervalue your claim.
Contact the Arizona Personal Injury Lawyers at Runion Personal Injury Lawyers Today
If you were injured in an accident in Phoenix, AZ, and need legal help, contact our Phoenix personal injury attorneys at Runion Personal Injury Lawyers, founded by Derick Runion, to schedule a free case review today.
Runion Personal Injury Lawyers
3200 N Central Ave Suite 1100, Phoenix, AZ 85012
(602) 825-3502
