United Services Automobile Association (USAA) provides insurance products exclusively to military members, veterans and the families of military members and veterans. They have over 37,000 employees and serve over 13 million members.
If you are a member of USAA, you may be wondering what the average USAA insurance settlement payouts are.
USAA has higher customer satisfaction ratings than the average insurance claim. However, this insurance company is still likely to low ball your personal injury claim if you aren’t represented by an experienced injury law firm like Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers.
Does USAA Pay Claims Well?
You may be wondering if USAA auto accident claims are paid out fairly. In general, no, they are not.
USAA is actually pretty reasonable regarding early discussions about settlements regarding car accident claims when compared to competitors such as State Farm, Allstate or GEICO. The company will also commonly request informal conferences regarding settlements early on in lawsuits to attempt to resolve USAA claims prior to trial.
However, when we handle cases involving USAA, the initial offer from the USAA claims adjuster is always less than the full value of our client’s case. The offers are sometimes significantly less than what our clients deserve.
This should not be surprising. USAA is a company which aims to make money. They are able to keep more money by paying out less money in USAA car accident claims.
USAA also knows that a lot of big personal injury firms don’t make a full effort to recover fair compensation in the average USAA car accident claim. So, they know that by offering smaller offers during the beginning of the claims process, they can generate more profit.
Our experienced accident lawyers will make settlement offers for you on your behalf. We know your case’s true value, so we will demand that USAA pay you what you’re entitled to. We will continue to make demands until the USAA claims process ends in you getting paid fairly.
USAA Settlement Calculator
The amount of money you may be able to recover from insurance, such as USAA, your own uninsured motorist coverage, etc., will depend upon many factors. One factor is the policy limits of the policy that the at-fault driver has.
The size of settlements like USAA whiplash settlements depends on the damages suffered. Damages which we can help you recover financial compensation for include:
Medical Costs
You are probably already facing medical bills that you’re hoping to recover compensation for from USAA. You might also, in the future, need more treatment for your injuries which will cause your bills to grow. A personal injury lawyer at our firm can help you recover compensation for all past and future medical expenses related to your accident from USAA.
Lost Wages
No matter if you missed out on wages being injured too badly to work or having to attend medical appointments, we can help you recover financial compensation from USAA for any wages you weren’t able to earn.
Loss of Earning Capacity
If your injury left you disabled, we can help you recover financial compensation from USAA for any loss or reduction of your earning capacity that resulted from your injury.
Pain and Suffering
Our law firm has over three decades of experience in calculating the true value of accident victims’ pain and suffering. We can make sure that USAA pays you a fair amount of compensation for your pain and suffering.
Etc.
There are additional damages we can help you recover compensation for. For example, if your accident left you unable to fully enjoy the benefits of your marriage, we can help you recover compensation from USAA for loss of consortium. If you lost a loved one in an auto accident, we can file a wrongful death claim on your behalf with USAA, seeking compensation that will help make sure your family doesn’t need to go through financial hardship due to the death of your loved one.
How Much Does USAA Pay for Pain and Suffering?
There is no hard and fast rule regarding how much USAA pays for pain and suffering. The amount they will pay for pain and suffering will depend on the individual circumstances of your case, and, more importantly, the skill and experience of your lawyers.
Examples of Pain and Suffering
Examples of pain and suffering which financial compensation can be recovered for include:
- Mood swings
- Emotional distress
- Trouble sleeping
- Anxiety disorder
- Depression
- Pain
- Inability to perform routine errands or work
- Disfigurement/scarring
- Loss of consortium
How Pain and Suffering Damages Are Quantified
It can be difficult to quantify pain and suffering damages. If your car gets totaled in an accident, it’s fairly easy to determine the value of your car. However, say you lose a limb during that accident. It is not easy to determine that limb’s value. This situation is where you need a lawyer with courtroom experience like the lawyers at our firm.
An attorney will start by recommending that you start documenting your experiences as quickly as you can. Your case can be significantly weakened by you postponing documenting your pain, suffering and emotional distress. This can reduce the compensation you’re eventually awarded.
Evidence is created by documentation. Strong cases are created via evidence. Only a strong case will recover the most compensation possible. We encourage our clients to keep journals of their pain and suffering.
Imagine you’re in an accident and suffered a broken rib. Once you seek medical attention and contact your insurance, the next thing to do is to write down the experiences you have every day with pain, suffering and emotional distress. Write down even mundane experiences.
If you can’t sleep, document it. If you can’t focus at work, document it. If you have difficulty driving to the store, document it. If you can’t do laundry without pain, document it.
These details might seem insignificant on their own. However, they have a significant effect on your case when considered cumulatively.
To quantify your pain and suffering damages, an attorney will talk to you, listen, then ask you questions about your pain and suffering. Then, your lawyer will collect evidence like:
- Medical records and bills
- Pictures of scars or injuries
- Receipts for medications or devices like neck braces, crutches, etc.
Our job is to calculate the most compensation possible that we think you deserve, then work to convince the insurance company or a jury to award you that sum.
Compensation for pain and suffering is usually calculated by one of two methods:
- The per diem method
- The multiplier method
The per diem method involves placing a dollar amount upon each day you experience your injury due to your accident. This method then multiplies the daily amount by how many days you went through pain and suffering, or probably will.
So, let’s say the daily dollar amount you’re assigned is $100 and you experienced pain and suffering for 100 days. Under the per diem method, your pain and suffering would be calculated as being worth $10,000.
The multiplier method, however, adds up all of your costs incurred such as lost wages, medical bills, etc. alongside future costs which are inevitable. It then multiplies that total by 1.5 times to five times depending upon how severe your emotional distress, pain and suffering is.
So, let’s say your income loss and medical bills are estimated to cost you $40,000. If your whole life has been upended by your accident, you might be assigned a multiplier of four. In this case, you would receive $160,000 in total compensation.
Your multiplier might be lower if, say, you injured a few fingers, which impeded the ability you have to work without preventing you from working entirely. However, let’s say you’re a professional musician who plays with your fingers. Then the multiplier might be higher since you can’t work without using your fingers. Now let’s say you lost your fingers. The multiplier would then be even higher since the injury ruined your entire career, upending your life.
To summarize, the amount of financial compensation you’ll be eligible for regarding pain and suffering will depend on the individual circumstances of your case.
Examples of Recent USAA Car Accident Settlements
$500,000 for a car accident: The plaintiffs were two professional men whose vehicle was struck when a vehicle insured by USAA crossed the median and struck their vehicle on their passenger side. Both of the men required fusion and discectomy. USAA paid its whole $500,000 policy.
$450,000 for a back injury: This case involved a bad driver crashing into the plaintiff’s car, then initially disputing liability. The plaintiff had cameras in his vehicle’s front and rear, and the video clearly demonstrated the plaintiff wasn’t at fault.
The plaintiff demanded policy limits from USAA, who countered with a $5,000 offer. The plaintiff filed a lawsuit, and during that lawsuit, the plaintiff discovered his spine condition was worsened by the accident and that he needed surgery.
USAA did not want to go to trial and ended up settling this case for $450,000.
How to Maximize Your USAA Insurance Claim Payout
Be Wary of Insurance Adjusters
Be extremely wary of insurance adjusters. They are not your friend. Their goal is not to pay you what you deserve for your injuries. Their job is to pay you as little as possible to preserve their employer’s profit margin. They are not going to offer you what you deserve if you don’t have a lawyer because they know you can’t sue them and win over a low ball offer if you don’t have a lawyer. They will try to use delay tactics to get you to give up on your claim. They will pressure you to accept low ball offers, knowing you may be desperate for money after your accident since you’re facing medical bills and can’t work to pay those bills. They will try to trick you into saying certain things to cause the value of your claim to plummet. They will not hesitate to use every dirty trick in the book to reduce their liability for your accident. Do not trust them.
Don’t Agree to The First Offer
The first offer from USAA will always be a low ball offer. Never accept it.
USAA will know you will probably be pretty hard up for money since you might not be able to work due to your injuries, meaning you may not be able to pay the huge medical bills you’re facing due to your accident. They will pressure you, big time, to accept their initial offer, hoping you get desperate and impatient and accept it. Don’t do it.
If you’re unsure of what your case is actually worth, you should contact a personal injury lawyer to find out. Personal injury lawyers like the lawyers at our firm typically offer free consultations where they can let you know the potential value of your case.
Decline Recorded Statements
Insurance companies like USAA train their adjusters to trick claimants into saying things that imply they’re at fault for an accident or imply their injuries aren’t as bad as they claim. It’s very easy to fall for the adjusters’ tricks, and if you accidentally say the wrong thing while being recorded, it can cause you to be paid much less compensation or even no compensation at all. You should let a lawyer handle all conversations with insurance companies like USAA for you so you don’t need to worry about incriminating yourself.
Call a Lawyer
Calling a lawyer is the best thing you can do to make sure you get the most compensation possible from USAA. It has been shown by studies that accident victims who get injured recover way more money when they hire lawyers than when they don’t, even after taking attorney fees into account.
When you hire experienced lawyers with a reputation for success like our lawyers, it shows USAA that they can’t get away with low balling you on settlement offers. It shows them that low ball offers will lead to them being sued and beaten in court. It shows them that their best option, financially, is to pay you what you deserve rather than letting a case go to court, losing, and having to pay expensive legal fees on top of paying you what you deserve.
We can not only handle all conversations with USAA for you so you don’t need to worry about incriminating yourself, but we can handle every step of the legal process for you so all you need to do is focus on your recovery.
How Long Does It Take to Get a Settlement Check From USAA?
Once your case is settled, your USAA settlement check must be issued within 30 days.
As for the average time it will take for the settlement process to start and end from the time of your car accident to the time you receive your check, this will depend upon the individual circumstances of your case. Many cases will require anywhere from two weeks to five months or longer to process.
Injured in an Accident? Call Our Lawyers Today
Call us today for a free consultation, fill out this page’s free case evaluation form or text us from this page if you or a loved one was injured in an accident involving a driver insured by USAA.
We’ll handle your USAA claim on a contingency fee basis, meaning we won’t charge any fee until and unless we recover compensation for you. Our only fee will be a percentage of any settlement or trial award we recover for you.
If you can’t afford to get your accident injuries treated, our experienced attorneys will make sure you get to top-notch doctors who will treat you without charging you until your case is over.
We’ve been representing accident victims against USAA and other insurance companies since 1990 and have recovered over $750,000,000 for our clients.
Call us today for a free case evaluation.
