Everyone wants to know the 'average' personal injury settlement amount. I understand why — you've been hurt, you're missing work, and you need to know if pursuing a case is even worth your time. But here's the honest truth: averages are almost meaningless in personal injury law because every case is so different. What I can do is explain the specific factors that drive settlement amounts up or down in Illinois.
The biggest factor is the severity and permanence of your injuries. A soft tissue injury like whiplash that resolves with a few weeks of physical therapy might settle for $10,000 to $25,000. A herniated disc that requires epidural injections could be worth $75,000 to $200,000. A herniated disc that requires surgery? Now you're looking at $200,000 to $500,000 or more. Spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and amputations are in the millions. The more serious and permanent the injury, the higher the settlement.
The second factor is your medical bills. In Illinois, your medical bills serve as a rough anchor point for settlement negotiations. If you have $15,000 in medical bills, the insurance company expects the total settlement to be some multiple of that number. If you have $150,000 in medical bills, the settlement math changes dramatically. This is why it's so important to get all the treatment you need — not just because it helps you heal, but because it documents the full extent of your injuries.
Lost wages matter too. If you missed three months of work earning $5,000 a month, that's $15,000 in lost wages that gets added to your claim. If your injury permanently affects your ability to do your job, we can hire a vocational expert to calculate your future lost earning capacity, which can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to your case value.
Then there's the liability picture. If the other side is clearly 100 percent at fault — say, they ran a red light and T-boned you — the insurance company knows they'll lose at trial and is more likely to offer a fair settlement. But if there's a question about shared fault, Illinois's modified comparative negligence law (735 ILCS 5/2-1116) comes into play. You can still recover as long as you're less than 50 percent at fault, but your settlement is reduced by your percentage of fault.
Finally, which insurance company you're dealing with matters more than most people think. Some carriers are known for paying fair settlements. Others — and I won't name names here, but you can probably guess — are known for fighting every case tooth and nail. An experienced lawyer knows which companies to push hard on and which will settle reasonably. Call us at 312-500-4500 for a free case evaluation.
In this article, we’ll break down the average personal injury settlement amounts and what you expect from your case.
Bear in mind that personal injury sums are calculated by a variety of factors. Therefore, just because someone else won $1 million in a settlement that seems similar to yours, it doesn’t mean you’ll be banking that amount.
So let's talk about the average personal injury settlement and also how personal injury sums are calculated and what you can expect when bringing your case forward.
If you decide to bring your case forward, you’ll get a crash course on personal injury law as you do. You’ll learn some of the ins and outs of the system in a baptism by fire. Having a lawyer in this process is a real good idea.
One thing many people wonder is whether their case will result in a settlement or go to a trial. After all, you often hear about personal injury settlements and not two sides duking it out in a courtroom.
Most personal injury cases result in a settlement. Only around 5% of them see the courtroom.
The only time your case will go to court is if you and the opposing party cannot agree on the proper amount to compensate you. However, as you can see via statistics, most parties do come to an agreement before you enter the court.
Many people have the misconception that a settlement is quicker than going to trial. They may also believe that you can settle out of court in a matter of days or weeks.
Television often portrays settlements as quick events. One person states their amount, the other party talks them down and then they reach an agreement in just a few moments.
In real life, settlement proceedings can take several months to a few years. This is due to the fact that both parties must participate in “discovery,” where they investigate the claims of the event that occurred. Both parties also often hire an investigator to help them calculate the amount owed.
We’ll talk about some of that later on in the article.
Generally, however, don’t expect your settlement to mean you’ll be getting money deposited into your bank account immediately.
This is difficult to say, partially because many personal injury cases are kept confidential. Once a settlement has been reached, it’s not necessarily on the books.
But, according to some revenue reporting, the average amount for a personal settlement in 2013 was around $24,000. Most of the claims involved automobile accidents.
However, you can’t automatically assume you’ll get $24,000. Instead, the process is a lot more complex than that. You could wind up getting a lot more, or a lot less depending on the circumstances of your personal injury.
Let’s take a look.
There are two major factors at play when calculating personal injury settlements. One is how much the insurance company is willing to payout, and the other is the extent of your injuries.
If your injuries were not very extensive, you likely won’t receive much money from the payout. Additionally, if the insurance the company took out isn’t extensive, you won’t receive much money from that either.
In some cases, you can also claim for psychological stress associated with the accident. However, the payout will depend on a variety of factors, including the company’s insurance policy.
As stated previously, it can take several months to arrive at a settlement agreement. But settlement agreements don’t typically start until you’ve completed treatment for your injury or psychological illness that resulted from the accident.
This is so that you can only claim back things that are measurable. After your illness, you will likely have medical bills. Therefore, the courts and lawyers, as well as the insurance company, can see this.
If the treatment for your injury will be ongoing for the rest of your life, that may play into the amount you’ll receive. However, the settlement will most commonly cover the treatment that is already completed.
Another way settlements are calculated includes the wages you’ve lost at work from being unable to work. (Make sure you have a note from a doctor.)
For example, if you work at a position where you receive $3,000 a month and can prove this from previous pay stubs, you’ll receive $3,000 if you had to miss one month of work.
This doesn’t guarantee you’ll receive $3,000 for the month you’ve lost, but it is a starting point for negotiations. It is likely your lawyer will demand that you receive that amount for your time lost.
As stated above, medical bills that have already been rendered are included in your settlement. You may be able to accrue the medical bills and pay them later through the settlement money. Or, depending on where you were treated, you may have to pay out of pocket and then reimburse yourself through the settlement payout.
Often, if you receive surgery or have to receive onsite care, you will receive a much higher payout.
Factored into your medical bills will be how long you stayed in the hospital, the type of care you received, and how you had to be transported. If you had to be transported via ambulance or received onsite care, you may well receive more money than the average settlement.
You may have heard of people receiving a payout for pain and suffering. You may have even rolled your eyes at the term.
However, pain and suffering is a legal definition that accounts for anxiety, pain and other things the individual has endured as a result of this accident.
It is difficult to calculate pain and suffering since it isn’t measurable like other types of claims. There is no bill you can submit to show how much you paid for pain and suffering.
Instead, a lawyer will often try and calculate the amount of money you should receive per day for your suffering, and multiply that for how long it will take you to recover.
For example, if your doctors estimate it will take you six months to fully recover, your lawyer can request $200 per day. If the six months was 184 days altogether, this means you can request $38,600 for your pain and suffering.
This sum is likely negotiable with the insurance company and other party’s lawyers.
You traditionally prove pain and suffering through a variety of means. This can be through photographs of your daily life after the injury, videos or witness statements. Doctors can also testify to the amount of pain a person would be in your situation to help prove the case.
Loss of enjoyment of life can be even vaguer than pain and suffering. But it is one way that your personal injury settlement gets calculated.
Loss of enjoyment can include a variety of things, including being unable to participate in activities you used to participate in, being unable to bond with your family or being unable to celebrate special holidays.
This type of claim is often handled differently from state to state. So if you think you have a claim for it, you’ll need to speak to your lawyer about how to go about it. In some states, it is included in the overall personal injury fee. In others, you’ll have to go through a separate venue to collect the claim.
Often, a loss of enjoyment claim is for an injury that has debilitated you for the rest of your life and caused serious issues within.
For example, if you broke your ankle, your personal injury claim may include the days you spent off of work and your medical bill. But, because it healed in six weeks or so, you’re unlikely to claim a loss of enjoyment. While it did affect your life, it is doubtful it did so in a permanent way.
However, if you were in a car accident and suffered severe brain damage that has altered your life completely, this would likely qualify.
There is no meaningful average because personal injury settlements vary enormously based on injury severity, case type, liability clarity, and available insurance. Soft tissue car accident cases may settle for tens of thousands. Cases involving surgery, permanent disability, or catastrophic injury can be worth hundreds of thousands or more. Medical malpractice and wrongful death cases can be in the millions. Giving you an average is misleading — what matters is what YOUR specific case is worth based on YOUR specific facts. Call me for a free honest evaluation: 312-500-4500.
Injury severity and permanence matter most — a broken bone that heals fully is worth less than a spinal injury with permanent limitations. Medical bills and future medical costs are a key economic component. Lost wages and future earning capacity matter significantly for working-age plaintiffs. Liability clarity — how clearly the defendant was at fault — affects settlement because it affects trial risk. Available insurance coverage sets a practical ceiling in many cases. And the skill of your attorney affects all of these through better documentation, stronger negotiation, and trial readiness.
Almost never. First offers are almost always low — they're designed to close the claim before you understand its full value, often before you've finished medical treatment. Accepting the first offer typically means giving up rights to future medical care and permanent disability compensation you don't yet know you'll need. I review every offer and tell you honestly whether it's fair. If it's not, I negotiate harder or file suit. The first offer is the starting point, not the finish line.
Studies consistently show that represented plaintiffs recover significantly more than unrepresented ones, even after deducting attorney fees. The reasons: attorneys know case values, build evidence files properly, don't get lowballed on future damages, and create credible trial pressure that produces better offers. My fee is contingency — I only get paid if you win, and I get paid more if you win more, so our interests are completely aligned. Call 312-500-4500 for a free case evaluation.
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If you or a loved one is dealing with a situation like this, give us a call any time, day or night. We are here to help. 312-500-4500
Scott DeSalvo founded DeSalvo Law to help injured people throughout Chicago and surrounding suburbs. Licensed to practice law in Illinois since 1998, IARDC #6244452, Scott has represented over 3,000 clients in personal injury, workers compensation, and accident cases.
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