Car accidents can result in some pretty big expenses, from medical injuries that require a lot of treatment to car repairs, and other costs.
If you’ve been the victim of a car accident, you may be wondering how much settlement money you should expect. Car accidents can result in some pretty big expenses, from injuries that require a lot of treatment to car repairs, and other costs you may not be able to put a fixed price on, such as pain and suffering.
I would describe this lawyer as highly educated, sharp, and top of his game. Explains the car accident process and treatment options well. The lawyer said if they don’t pay you, we will have the jury take it from the insurance company. Great lawyer. Dynamic person.
Interviewed all the TV car accident lawyers and decided to call this law firm that had great reviews. So happy I did. What a difference!
Response from the owner: TV car accident lawyers are just mass production. This is not a good fit for litigated cases. Paralegals instead of lawyers. Monthly quotas for settlements. Car accident victims end up in a cattle call with the lawyers on TV.
Love my car accident lawyer. This law firm is a step above.
Response from the owner: Our lawyers train and track the best approaches on cases. Whether litigation in cases or the practicalities of certain treatment, the growth of our lawyers over time is paramount. Always staying ahead of and setting practice trends. Thank you.
Serious family member have a car accident injury? Look no further. This litigator is for real. Always two steps ahead of the other lawyer.
Response from the owner: This is a sad reality for car accident lawyers. The #1 passenger in an auto accident is a relative. Helping a family make it through this and putting the family back together is one of the most rewarding things I do as an automobile accident attorney.
This lawyer handles really big accident cases in St Louis. He is a lawyer, accountant and has his masters in tax so he gets the injury cases for individuals that can never go back to work or individuals own a business and cannot run it due to injury. He specializes in valuations of massive loss. Thank goodness a firm like this exists.
Response from the owner: Thank you. When accident are severe and you lose the ability to work or to continue a business, having an accounting and tax background is key. Valuing large losses are second nature for us.
Asked a trauma surgeon who operates on car accident victims who are the best injury lawyers that have taken his deposition. He said “by far” it was Mr Hoffmann. Interviewed several attorneys and this was a correct assessment. In a league of his own!
Response from the owner: Our attorney have deposed nearly all the trauma surgeons at every Level 1 Trauma Center in Saint Louis. These doctors save lives after a car accident. Whether controlling bleeding or reestablishing blood flow or bone structures, they are life savers.
My aunt was in a major automobile accident. Our family interviewed several lawyers. This one stood out about them all. It was a great choice!
Response from the owner: Clients who call consistently say that no other lawyers explained the process like we do. Educated clients do not make mistakes regarding their claim and more importantly their treatment options after a car accident. Thanks. This takes effort and we do this whether we take the case or not. Victims deserve a helping hand.
Few lawyers in St. Louis can handle the biggest injury cases! This is one of them!
Response from the owner: Our law firm has made great efforts in terms of training to handle life changing injury cases. Whether in depth knowledge of the medical, loss of income and earning capacity, or lifetime medical care plans, our clients feel confident and know their case is in good hands. Thank you for the compliment.
Cannot say enough about this lawyer. Call if in an accident. This attorney handles the biggest car accidents in St Louis.
Response from the owner: Thanks Ash! Our biggest source of cases is our clients. Our second biggest referral source is defense lawyers telling their relatives to call us. Few lawyers can handle the largest cases. Our law firm welcomes and has trained for this. We don’t do mass production settlement like the lawyers on TV. Our clients can never go back to work. Their cases need massive focus and effort and often long fought litigation.
So glad I called attorney Hoffmann. This time I got it right! So glad I hired the Hoffmann Law Firm - professional, reliable and available.
Response from the owner: Thanks Taylor. Our lawyers answer the phone day, night, weekends and even during lunch. Being professional means training to beat the best defense lawyers. Client rely on us to get results and we do.
Great lawyer. Cares about his clients, knows his stuff and goes the extra mile. I recommend this lawyer for car wreck injury claim. Every other lawyer on TV would not even help with my property claim. This attorney did.
Response from the owner: Thank you for the kind words. Every case starts with a great client. You are correct the car accident lawyers on TV are mass production settlement mills. When injury clients fire them, we get their files and the cases are not worked up at all. Appreciate your confidence in us!
Major car accident injury in St Louis area for a family member. Four different lawyers we know said the same thing - call Chris Hoffmann. On another level.
Response from the owner: This is such a great compliment. Most of our cases come from prior client or lawyers that also do car accidents cases but the particular case is too large or too difficult. Being a lawyer and an accountant, we specialize in cases with total lost of income, earning capacity and/or often the inability to continue a family business. Evaluations such as these are second nature for our lawyers. Thanks.
Best in St Louis for auto accident cases. Nobody else is even close.
Response from the owner: So kind of you to leave this review. Whether our lawyers are going after big insurance or their lawyers, skill and experience are essential and win the day for our auto accident clients. Thanks!
This attorney is very smart, very experienced, returns phone calls and knows the answers when asked. One call and I knew this was a great law firm for auto accidents.
Response from the owner: Our law firm appreciates this. This is a comment we get from so many people who call…”none of the lawyers we called told me all the things that you did.” Whether we take a car accident case or not, helping people is a good thing.
5 Star Lawyer for sure! Best you will find in Saint Louis.
Response from the owner: Thanks for the 5 Star Rating. Reviews like this are great. Injury victims quickly figure out the TV advertisers are not good. We work hard at being the best we can be and it reflects in our representation of car accident victims.
Watch this lawyer in action. Was way better than all the others. Get this lawyer for an automobile accident for sure.
Response from the owner: Thanks for the recommendation. Besides doing cases, our attorneys train for this. Hard work, case knowledge and technique is key to success in car accident litigation.
Very pleased with The Hoffmann Law Firm. Lawyers are attentive, friendly and go the distance to force the settlement you want. The TV lawyers recommend low offers. This law firm gets the maximum.
Response from the owner: We get calls from car accident victims that had to fire the TV lawyers that they hired. They give the same two reasons: 1) they never spoke to a lawyer at the Big TV law firms, only a paralegal, and 2) the paralegal recommended they accept a low offer. At our law firm, you only talk to the lawyer and if an offer is low we tell you to sue. Thanks!
Several lawyers said to call this lawyer because he is the best. You will appreciate this law firm. Helped with the injury and property claims. Attentive and knowledgeable. Great reputation in St Louis.
Response from the owner: Thanks Lexi. Our #1 source of cases is other lawyers referring us cases that are too big for them to handle.
Would use this accident law firm. Best in Saint Louis. Highly rated and it shows. After one phone call, you just know this attorney is better. 5 Stars!!
Response from the owner: Thanks for recommending our lawyers in St Louis. There is a major difference in lawyers as you well know.
Car accident lawyers on tv are not good . Get this attorney ! He is a pro !!
Response from the owner: Thanks Nathan. TV lawyers market for car accidents, use paralegals instead of lawyers and give their employees settlement quotas hence forcing cheap settlements. At our law firm, you get a lawyer who keeps pushing forward for more.
Quality lawyer. Best law firm for a car accident. Advice was way better than other lawyers I called in St. Louis. Helped with property and injury.
Response from the owner: Thanks. The TV lawyer advertisers are just car accident settlement mills. As soon as people call a real attorney, they always tell us how much better and more helpful we were. Appreciate this.
This lawyer is big time. Smooth. The other lawyers on the other side were not nearly as good as this attorney. I recommend friends in St Louis to him for accident injuries and they all say the same thing…”that lawyer is great.”
Response from the owner: Very nice of you to say. Our lawyers work hard on auto accident cases.
Family used this car accident attorney after a crash. Located in St Louis. This lawyer answers the phone and will walk you through the process. Knows his stuff!
Response from the owner: Taking calls, going over the car accident injury and property process is important. Clients that call always say we are the only lawyers that explained everything. Much appreciated.
Tried the lawyers on TV. They were not good. Hired this car accident lawyer instead because he had great reviews. The reviews are correct. This attorney is as good as they get. He does big injury cases that need to be litigated.
Response from the owner: Car accident lawyers on TV do not litigate cases. It is mass production. They have quotas. Local attorneys are best on auto accidents.
Used this attorney for an auto accident. Highly recommend this lawyer in St. Louis. Communicates well.
Response from the owner: Communicating with clients is essential. Taking the client though the car accident claims process is important otherwise major mistakes can occur. It is an effort that we make. Thanks!
Fantastic law firm, I would recommend! Received free consultation related to an auto accident when my parked car was damaged by a baseball. Very supportive advice, these guys are good!
I was in a car accident in St.Louis and hired Chris as my lawyer. He was amazing!!! He helped me every step of the way and was able to get me a great settlement!!!Highly, highly, highly recommend him!
Response from the owner: Each step is important in a car accident. Thanks for recommending us for car accidents injury claims.
One option a lot of people opt for in these cases is an online settlement calculator. Some of these are free tools you can use to estimate your settlement, while others cost. However, you may be wondering how accurate are these tools?
How These Calculators Work
Not all online settlement calculators are created equal. Some offer more functionalities than others, allowing you to select specific criteria based on your situation in hopes of getting a more accurate settlement estimation.
Online calculators generally use information from your car crash and your financial history to calculate your settlement worth. These calculators typically use an algorithm that combines a few figures and other factors to estimate your settlement worth. To get an estimate of your settlement worth, the calculator might ask for:
The calculator will run this information through its algorithm to help you understand what settlement amount you’ll get. Settlement calculators differ, and the settlement amount they show varies depending on the calculator in question.
The golden rule here, no matter how smart or advanced the calculator is, is that it can only provide an estimate. The number you get from this calculator has no real authority in the real world, meaning you can’t take the number to the at-fault insurance company and expect they will pay that exact amount.
Their price estimation greatly depends on the information the calculator allows you to provide, meaning that it’s completely possible to get different estimations from different services.
For instance, let’s say you want to compare Calculator A and Calculator B.
Calculator A asks about the following information:
You put that information, and the calculator estimates your settlement is around $1000.
Calculator B, on the other hand, asks this:
Medical expenses
Car information and repairs
Pain and suffering, where it will apply a multiplier based on the severity of your injury.
This calculator estimates your settlement should be around $2000. However, neither of these calculators account for everything. One disregards lost wages, while the other does not take into account pain and suffering.
Even if they do, the calculator works on an algorithm that will apply a certain multiplier automatically. That multiplier will not be used in the insurance settlement negotiation process as is, and pain and suffering will likely be influenced by how well you argue that the car accident caused more harm than what’s on paper.
Are These Online Settlement Calculators Reliable?
On the surface, online settlement calculators seem to have everything down pat but are they reliable? Well, quite frankly, they’re generally not, and here’s why.
The Pain and Suffering Multiplier
Most settlement calculators ask you to rate your pain from 1 to 10. The calculator will use your rating as a multiplier, multiplying it with other values to calculate economic damages. This makes sense; however, your pain rating is subjective and will play an almost insignificant role in determining your settlement amount.
They’re Incomprehensive
Online settlement calculators don’t involve all the factors influencing a settlement amount. For example, unlike online calculators, insurance adjusters also consider your type of coverage, liability, and many other factors that affect your settlement amount.
Lack of Agreed Upon Standards
There are often no formal agreed-upon standards for how these online calculators work. We also don’t have an oversight body that oversees and regulates how these calculators work. This means the accuracy and legitimacy of the information depend on the site owner. Some sites will even give arbitrary figures because the owners only care about attracting site visits.
You Generally Shouldn’t Put Your Trust in Online Car Crash Settlement Calculators
Settlement calculators can give you a very rough estimation of how much your claim is worth, but if you want to get a more accurate estimation you should speak with an experienced St. Louis car accident attorney. Their estimations will be much more close to the final settlement thanks to their experience – meaning they can use other similar cases and average out your settlement. Additionally, a lawyer can help you negotiate with the insurance company to get you the full amount of compensation you are entitled to.
“My Car Accident Insurance Settlement Is Too Low. Do I Have To Accept It?”
About 95% to 96% of personal injury cases are settled before trial. If you’ve recently been in a serious car accident and the responsible party’s insurance company is offering you a settlement, you may be wondering if you have to accept it.
Do you have to accept the money that the insurer is offering, even if you don’t think the deal is fair?
You Are Under No Obligation To Accept an Unfair Settlement
If you do not think your car accident insurance settlement is fair, you don’t have to accept it. Period. The mistake many people make when dealing with an insurance company is assuming that the insurer has their best interests in mind – and is offering them everything they’re entitled to.
That’s not the case. Insurance companies do not exist to serve you but instead to make a profit. They routinely offer less-than-fair settlements to people who accept them, despite this not being in their best interest. Their intention is generally to limit their liability, boost their bottom line, and make more money.
So if you think that a settlement is unfair, don’t accept it. In fact, we recommend discussing your claim with an experienced attorney as soon as possible. Car accident lawyers have lots of experience dealing with insurance companies and can help determine what your case is truly worth.
If your car accident lawyer determines a settlement is unsatisfactory, they can also help you negotiate a better settlement and fight for the compensation you deserve.
If You Accept an Unfair Settlement, There’s Generally No Way To Get More Compensation Later
It’s important to realize that a settlement is, by law, irreversible. Once you have accepted a settlement, the case is “settled.” This generally means it can never be brought to court again, regardless of the situation. That’s the whole point of settling a case.
The only exceptions are for settlements that are fraudulent or are affected by misrepresentation. But even then, it can be challenging to get the court to reverse the settlement.
A settlement is generally final. You can’t accept a settlement and then go back for more compensation in the future. This makes it all the more important to discuss your case with an experienced attorney who can ensure you are getting what you are fully entitled to for your current and future expenses resulting from the accident.
Speak With an Experienced Attorney ASAP
Negotiating a settlement after a St. Louis car accident usually isn’t easy, especially if you have experienced serious injuries, are paying expensive medical bills, and have lost out on wages and other benefits due to your accident.
The Hoffmann Law Firm is here to help. Contact us today for a FREE case review.
Free Consultation with a St. Louis Car Accident Lawyer
Don’t talk to an insurance claims adjuster before speaking with The Hoffmann Law Firm, L.L.C. We can help you avoid making statements that may affect the outcome of your case. The consultation is free; you don’t pay unless we get you money!
