Part of our weekly series of case studies of recent car accident settlements. These case studies should help you determine the market value of your personal injury insurance claim. The finer details have been kept out to protect the identity of the individual, but the overall details are accurate and true.

Case Study

Gender: Female

Age: 70’s

Type of accident: She was rearended when the car behind her failed to stop.

At-fault insurance company: State Farm

Type of medical care: She first treated with her family doctor who referred her to physical therapy for her neck and back pains.

Length of treatment: 4 months total. 3 months of physical therapy and a follow up visit to her family doctor one month later.

Settlement amount: Her total money offer (medical bills and pain and suffering) was 2.85 times the total medical bills.

Example: $3,000 in medical bills times 2.85 equals a $8,550 total money settlement from State Farm.

Things to note: Females and elderly people generally get larger awards from insurance companies than younger people or males. Part of the reason is it usually takes elderly people longer to heal and therefore they tend to have larger medical bills. Females get larger awards in general because juries and judges tend to be more sympathetic towards females over males.