Car Accident Rotator Cuff Injury Case Value

Rotator Cuff Car Accident Injury

When you consider its range of motion, purpose, and everyday function, the shoulder is an engineering marvel. And it is not until someone suffers a severe shoulder injury that they realize how much we take its capabilities for granted.

Due to its construction, there are a number of injury types that can occur throughout this joint, but one of the more common shoulder injuries is a rotator cuff tear that results from a car accident.

A serious rotator cuff tear can essentially disable the use of a person’s shoulder for a number of everyday tasks. For this reason, it is not an injury that should be taken lightly by the insurance company.

Depending on the factors we outline below, your rotator cuff car accident injury case has the potential to recoup various types of compensation, including medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Indiana personal injury attorney Matt Boulton has settled and won a number of rotator cuff cases on behalf of clients throughout the state. His experience with these cases has proven to be valuable at times when the insurance company devalued a case or tried to deny the rotator cuff claim.

Rotator Cuff Injury Explanation

Your rotator cuff is a total of four muscles and tendons that are attached to the ball and socket of the shoulder joint which then controls the mobility and stability of your shoulder area.

The four rotator cuff muscles include:

• Supraspinatus
• Infraspinatus
• Subscapularis
• Teres Minor

Because our shoulder joint is commonly relied upon to perform a number of repetitive actions, there is the potential for a rotator cuff to sustain natural wear and tear, and this is the position insurance companies may take in an attempt to explain away any shoulder pain you are experiencing after a car accident.

However, it is also known that the shoulder is an area of particular focus during a car accident due to our upper arms being larger than the shoulder socket that connects to the shoulder ball.

For this reason, Matt recommends that you have an experienced Indiana personal injury attorney examine your case to determine whether or not any of the four muscles in your rotator cuff were damaged as a result of the collision and not normal wear and tear.

If Matt believes your rotator cuff injury can be attributed to your car accident, he will next look at the factors that may affect the overall value of your case.

Factors that Affect Rotator Cuff Case Value

Having helped a number of clients with rotator cuff car accident claims, Matt has seen a wide-range in case value, each affected by unique factors, such as:

• The contents of the client’s medical records and diagnostic severity of their rotator cuff injury – Whether it is a rotator cuff tear or any other type of injury, the validity and value of your car accident case will largely depend on your medical records and the official diagnosis therein.

• If the client’s rotator cuff injury required surgery – As you likely know, a shoulder injury that requires surgery may command a higher case value than one that does not.

• The client’s age – Because the shoulder is subject to common wear and tear, it is reasonable to expect that a younger person’s rotator cuff injury can be more easily tied to the car accident vs. a person of advanced age whose shoulder has seen more use. As such, a younger person’s case has the potential to be more valuable.

• Any prior shoulder injuries – If you have previously suffered a shoulder injury due to another activity, e.g., sports, and there is medical documentation of the same, it can be a factor that makes your case more complicated. A prior injury does not mean you automatically are barred from compensation, but it may simply affect the overall value.

• Whether the client sustained a complete or partial rotator cuff tear – Naturally, a complete tear will recover a higher amount of compensation than a minor or partial tear.

• The client followed their doctor’s orders – Clients that adhere to their medical provider’s instructions will increase their chances of receiving higher compensation vs. clients who ignore their doctor’s advice.

In addition to the above factors, it is important to know the value of your rotator cuff case can also be affected by any percentage of fault you had for the accident as well as by the total amount of insurance that is available.

Indiana allows you to seek compensation if you are no more than 50% at fault for the accident. If you share a role in the accident, your total compensation is decreased by the percentage assigned to you.

For example, if you share 20% liability for the accident and your rotator cuff injury is initially valued at $30,000, the settlement would equate to $24,000.

Hire an Experienced Indiana Rotator Cuff Injury Attorney

Attorney Matt Boulton has more than 25 years’ experience helping injured Hoosiers acquire maximum compensation for a variety of car accident injuries, including rotator cuff tears and damage.

If you have sustained a shoulder injury and would like free and friendly legal advice on a potential claim, you may reach out to Matt direct for a free case review.

Boulton Law Group offers injured Hoosiers a Zero Fee Guarantee, meaning there will never be a fee for any work done on your behalf until a recovery is made.

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