United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

My wife was involved in a TBPI vehicle accident almost 2 years ago which resulted in a completely paralyzed arm. We are now in the process of reaching a financial settlement with the other party and I'd be interested in knowing what success others have had. I was especially concerned after reading the post from the woman who's son had been knifed and she was asking for letters to the sentencing judge to explain the realities of BPI pain and the impact of having a paralyzed arm. Help me understand if all judges and juries have this same view of disruption that is caused by a BPI injury.

Thanks.

Tony

Tony, Are you in the States? I would be interested in hearing replies about this , too. Thanks, Rhoda

I too am currently working on settlement with my insurance company. Has anyone receved settlement for a total BPI, and if so what was the amount?
I realize everyone's case is unique,(lost wages etc.) however, there must be a base amount for the total loss of arm/limb? (Dominant arm/limb too!)
Also, is there any information available that I could/should present to my lawyer for settlement purposes?

Hi there, I'm assuming you're in the states and I know they do things differently there when it comes to compensation claims. I got my tbpi and sued for damages in the uk, there is no jury involved. My tbpi is now 23 yrs old so I won't tell you what I got all those years ago, except that it was the then 'going rate' for complete loss of a dominant arm, I was compensated as though my arm had been cut off. I have heard that some people in the uk with total bpi and no problems deciding liability (sadly quite rare, so many tbpi are the victims of 'hit and run' drivers-including me, but the police caught up with the truck driver who totalled me)have got 250,000 pounds or more, some got a lot less. Settlement is adjusted if you manage to carry on working as I did, I would have doubled my settlement if I'd given up my job but it was worth more to be independent at the time. I would assume the fact that you have to pay for surgery, therapy etc in the states would bump up the amount somewhat, but I don't know. Things may be totally different in the USA. This is a lifelong injury, get a lawyer who knows his bpi stuff and has successfully claimed for other tbpi. Good luck :0)

I did get a settlement, but it took almost two years, and I had to threaten to take the insurance company to court. I don't want to say how much, but I can tell you it wasn't enough. The real winners were the attorneys, as mine took 33%, and the insurance co's attorney was getting paid by the hour. I don't begrudge my attorney's fees though. 33% is pretty standard and without him, I would have gotten nothing. Remember, that after you get a settlement, your medical insurance company will want to be reimbursed. In my case that was $80k. Get a good personal injury attorney, and he/she will be able to tell you what they think the injury is worth.

80 thats a rip................Paul

Hiya...don't know if I can really help with this since I am in the U.K. and things are done a bit different here....I had a payout about 5 years ago which took 5 years to be settled...I settled out of court. There is a kind of 'list' that the legal eagles use to calculate the cost of compensating for the loss of a limb, eye etc but the biggest part of my claim (and most other people in the UK and probably the U.S. too) is loss of future earnings.

If at the time of your injury you had a high profile career with extremely good prospects for promotion and regular pay rises, you will almost certainly receive more than say someone on a very low wage without any prospects for promotion etc...which does seem a little unfair sometimes since the problems of living with a BPI are very similar no matter what you did for a living, but thats the general way of calculating the bulk of the compensation figure.

Also, one big difference here is we don't pay out any expenses to our lawyer/solicitors (unless something unforeseen comes up;) these form part of the damages claim and are paid by the defendant. What we get awarded we keep after we pay back any social security payments. (which is a BIG bone of contention here...)

At least, this WAS the case when I was going through my claim; a few years ago, the government here decided to do away with legal aid for personal injury litigation and now we have a rash of 'no win no fee' solicitors which we didn't have before. I hear that these people take at least 40% sometimes up to 75% of all settlements and the poor b*gger who is injured is left with the rest...I personally find this appalling and hope that people here in the U.K. will avoid these LEECHES and only use them as a very last resort...happily, one of the biggest firms of no-win no-fee solicitors/blood suckers here in the U.K. has recently gone into liquidation...hopefully, more of them will follow!!

Lizzy B

Sorry, my post turned into a bit of a rant there!

What I should also point out is most claims against another party for damages caused are settled out of court here (U.K.) as far as I know...they very rarely go before a judge and never (again, as far as I know...someone will correct me if I'm wrong)in front of a jury.

The problems with everyday life, employment, therapy etc after a BPI is pretty much well documented here and there are quite a few expert witnesses who will/would be called on to give a statement in court on the plaintiffs behalf should it come to that. Do you have any people like that in the U.S? if there is anything I can help you with, please don't hesitate to email me liz@tbpi-group.org

Good luck..!

Liz B

We're just before serving papers on the person who caused the accident. It will probably ultimately be settled out of court - but our lawyer said typically the amount awarded for damages was 3 to 4 times the total of medical expenses (hospital, surgery, doctor visits, therapy, etc).

We've also been told that there are guidelines for these things, based on the victim's age, sex, limb affected, earnings potential.

Hope this helps, and good luck!