Experiencing a broken ankle due to someone’s negligence can be pretty traumatic.
It can lay you up and keep you off your feet for weeks, especially if your broken ankle requires surgery to repair.
Having a broken ankle is a common injury for people who have slip and fall accidents.
These are the types of cases where a store worker didn’t clean up a spill on a grocery store aisle.
Another example is when a business doesn’t properly clean off their sidewalk or walkways for the customers.
Or maybe they have uneven sidewalks, and someone trips or falls, breaking their ankle.
Determining how much compensation you should get for a broken ankle can be pretty complicated. A lot of factors go into the calculation.
This piece discusses the different factors that determine an average settlement for a broken ankle.
If you have suffered a serious injury like a broken ankle in a slip and fall incident, the best way to get the most compensation for your suffering is to hire a knowledgeable and skilled California slip and fall lawyer who focuses their practice on helping people win full and fair compensation for their injuries.
Chuck Geerhart is an attorney with over 30 years of experience helping folks like you get the compensation you deserve after an ankle injury.
To learn how Chuck Geerhart can help you, contact us today.
How to Determine Broken Ankle Settlement Amount?
An experienced California personal injury attorney has to consider many things to determine a fair settlement amount for a broken ankle.
Unfortunately, there is no set formula that you can use to plug in the numbers and have it spit out a final amount.
It takes advanced knowledge of how much these types of cases usually settle for in the San Francisco area. Not every lawyer is able to do this correctly.
The first consideration is how good of a case it is. If the at-fault defendant was clearly negligent in maintaining their property, this makes the case easier.
In some slip and fall cases, there is always a chance that the injured party is going to be at least partially blamed for the fall and injury.
Here are some other factors to calculate a fair settlement amount:
- Medical bills—Are there any unpaid medical bills? Will there be a need for future treatment, and what is the estimated cost of the future treatment?
- Lost wages—Has the injury caused you to be out of work, and how much are the lost wages? Is the disability permanent, and will it prevent you from working to your full capacity in the future? If so, what is the estimated value of that lost working capacity?
- Pain and suffering—This is the most challenging category to determine and the category that affects the average settlement amount for a broken ankle. This category considers the actual pain and suffering you went through. Obviously, the worse the injury, the more the pain and suffering. Was there surgery? Is there a permanent disability? How many months of painful physical therapy were there?
All of these things have to be considered when calculating what the average settlement for a broken ankle is.
What Is the Average Settlement for a Broken Ankle?
California law permits injured parties to recover compensatory damages from the party responsible for their injuries.
The law splits compensatory damages into two categories: economic damages and non-economic damages.
Economic damages refer to specific and calculable losses directly related to your injury.
These include the following:
- Current and future medical expenses,
- Property damage,
- Lost wages, and
- Loss of future earnings.
It’s easy to see that those with more complex injuries typically have higher medical expenses and may be out of work for a more extended period.
Non-economic damages include intangible and subjective losses due to your broken ankle. These damages include the following:
- Pain and suffering,
- Emotional distress,
- Loss of enjoyment of life,
- Permanent disability,
- Disfigurement, and
- Loss of consortium.
Recovering non-economic damages requires the assistance of a qualified personal injury attorney.
Although harder to prove, non-economic damages may potentially help an injured party more in their recovery, as they compensate for losses that may not be immediately apparent.
During this process, you will undoubtedly wonder, “How much should I settle for a broken ankle injury?”
While we can’t give you a specific number right now, we are happy to assess your case. After our assessment, we will let you know an estimate of what your case may be worth.
When you come to your initial consultation, be sure to tell us about your economic and non-economic damages, as this aids in negotiating a favorable settlement for your claim.
Contact Us
For over 30 years, Chuck Geerhart has served injured victims throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Chuck approaches every case with compassion and a steadfast desire to do the best he can.
Chuck works tirelessly to obtain a settlement or trial judgment reflecting the total value of your case.
We understand how difficult it is to move forward after suffering a serious injury due to the negligence of another. Let us get to work for you.
Contact us today to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with Chuck Geerhart.