If you want to know the actual cost of your motorcycle accident, whether you are a passenger or a rider, you must consider the liability and the damages.
It Is Important To Prove Who Is Liable
Liability means you must determine who was at fault in the motorcycle accident.
If you can’t point out who is liable, since the person driving the bike was not negligent, or you can’t prove that the one who hit you is liable, then your potential claim won’t be that big.
One of the biggest challenges of a plaintiff is proving the defendant was at fault or negligent.
If you can’t prove that the driver who hit you is negligent or liable, then they don’t owe you any value.
If you want to make sure that the defendant is proven negligent and get your claim, it would be best to consult or hire an efficient lawyer.
How Damages Factor In
Damages are the injuries and losses you have suffered in the motorcycle accident.
The more significant the damage, the higher the potential compensation you may get.
Generally speaking, liability and damages play together to determine the value of the motorcycle accident case a person or persons are in.
An example where the court rules accounting for damages:
If you were rear-ended but didn’t incur any injury or your motorcycle wasn’t damaged in any way whatsoever, you will not have a case.
The person who hit you may be negligent because the court will look at the accident as non-compensable damage.
You may award a small amount of compensation for all the trouble you’ve been through, but you will not get that significant amount of money you think the accident was worth.
An example where the court rules accounting for liability:
If you were in a terrible accident where you got physically hurt and your motorcycle, your property, got severely damaged. Still, you can’t prove if the other party was negligent; the other party’s insurance company is not obligated to pay you anything.
That’s because the insurance company would likely think the accident could have been your fault.
Unless you can give clear evidence that it’s the other party’s negligence, then by then expect minimal to zero compensation.
Settlement Value and Trial Value
The settlement value is what you hope you’ll get for settling the case. But, again, this will be a relatively smaller amount because you settle for this case to avoid losing a trial.
On the other hand, the trial value is the amount you could get if you win at a trial.
Some damages can be accurately calculated, like the loss of earning, and some can’t be derived correctly, like pain and suffering.
If you want to make sure you get the right amount from a motorcycle accident, it is best to consult or hire a lawyer.
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