My younger brother is being offered a higher amount of compensation for tripping on uneven ground in a grocery store entrance from their insurance company than me, even though we sustained the same injury. Why is this?
There could be a number of reasons why your younger brother is being offered a higher amount of claim for tripping on uneven ground in a grocery store entrance. Despite the fact that you suffered the same tripping injury from uneven ground, no two personal injury claims are ever the same. A number of factors will have been taken into account when your grocery store entrance injury compensation claims were being calculated. These can include your age, gender, state of health prior to the accident, costs incurred as a result of the accident and the impact it was made on your quality of life subsequently. Age is a factor because of the fact that some who is older who has sustained, for instance, a permanent disfigurement is going to have to live with it for less time than a younger person with the same injury. Perhaps your brother has suffered more psychological trauma or he has more to lose out on financially if the injury has made him unable to work. Without knowing the particular circumstances of your injuries and their impact, I cannot tell you why there is a difference between the claims you have been offered. The only one who can provide you with this answer is your lawyer.
However if it is the case that you have simply been offered compensation in your claim for tripping on uneven ground in a grocery store entrance, and you have not yet visited a personal injury claims lawyer with experience in claims for a grocery store entrance injury compensation, you should contact one at the first possible moment. If this is indeed the case, this is called an unsolicited offer of claim. These are often offered to the injured party not long after an accident occurs. This means that it is unlikely that the insurance company will have had the time to assess both you and your brother’s tripping injury from uneven ground sufficiently, so the compensation that both of you have been offered is likely to be inadequate. It is in the insurance company’s best interest to save money on legal fees and the amount of compensation they offer, which is what happens when an accident victim accepts one of these instant settlements. If you or your brother inadvertently accepts compensation that is insufficient neither of you will be able to return to the insurance company and ask for more. This is why it is recommended that you should always present such offers to a lawyer who will be able to tell you whether or not your claim is worth more.
This is all merely a general overview of why your compensation may seem insufficient. It is not a substitute for the specific advice and information a personal injury claims lawyer with knowledge of your situation will be able to provide you with. Therefore it is in your best interest to raise your concerns about your claim for tripping on uneven ground in a grocery store entrance as soon as possible.