What is the serious injury threshold in Utah? If car accident injuries exceed Utah’s no-fault threshold because medical expenses exceed $3,000 or injuries cause permanent disability, impairment, bone fractures, disfigurement, dismemberment, or death, you can sue an at-fault party for damages.
Our Utah car accident lawyer can help you determine whether you can seek compensation from an at-fault driver.
How Utah’s No-Fault Rules Can Help You
Utah’s no-fault rule can help people with comparatively minor injuries. The process of recovering damages from an at-fault party can take months or even years. In at-fault states, disputes over liability often cause delays.
It’s much easier to claim from your own Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance, and you should receive compensation for medical costs and lost wages faster. That is what no-fault insurance coverage is for. You do not need to show who caused the accident. You only need evidence that you were injured.
With fewer elements being open to dispute, there’s a stronger chance of recovering an insurance settlement quickly, and drivers who have been injured may also save on legal costs. At the same time, courts are freed from the burden of dealing with comparatively minor claims. No-fault rules may also help reduce insurance premiums.
For a free legal consultation, call (801) 266-0999
How the $3,000 Rule is Applied
The $3,000 rule stated in Utah Code § 31A-22-309 doesn’t only apply to your medical costs so far. If you will need future medical care to address your injuries, you should include those costs in your assessment. Medical experts can estimate the cost of future surgeries, physical therapy, and other interventions you will still need. Medical costs may include:
- Ambulance costs
- Hospital bills
- Doctors’ bills
- Diagnostic tests like X-rays or MRIs
- Rehabilitative therapies like physical therapy or occupational therapy
- Medical and mobility devices you will need
- Prescription medication costs
- Transportation costs
Even if your injuries do not have permanent consequences, these costs can quickly exceed the $3,000 that is one of the serious injury thresholds in Utah. Identifying all your medical costs isn’t always as easy as it seems, but your lawyer, with help from medical experts, may help you assess them in full.
Permanent Disability Allows You to Step Outside the No-Fault Limitation
An injury that causes a permanent disability will likely exceed the $3,000 threshold for medical costs and lost wages. Even if your direct medical costs are under the threshold, you still face a changed life in which your potential to earn a living and live a normal life is curtailed.
A disabling injury has much higher lifetime costs than a minor one. Some of those costs may be financial, while others are deeply personal but represent real damage to your quality of life. If others’ fault for the accident that caused your disability exceeds yours, Utah Code § 78B-5-818 allows you to seek compensation from those who were at fault.
Click to contact our personal injury lawyers today
Impairment Can Have Severe Long-Term Consequences
Impairment may not be disabling, but it will still impact your day-to-day life. For example, a severe whiplash injury may not disable you, but it can lead to impairment as demonstrated in a study of five-year post-whiplash injury outcomes.
Similarly, impaired organ function may not be obvious to outsiders, but can hamper your ability to function normally and lead to medical complications and downtime. Although the costs this implies are not immediately obvious, you have still sustained a loss that you may be compensated for if someone else caused your impairment.
Complete a Free Case Evaluation form now
Disfigurement May Allow You To Pursue a Lawsuit, Even When Initial Medical Costs Are Low
Disfiguring scars are a permanent form of damage. Even when they do not cause nerve damage or limit mobility, they can affect your ability to function in professional and social settings. They can also affect how you feel about yourself, leading to emotional distress and anxiety.
The damage is irreversible, allowing you to step outside the no-fault threshold to claim compensation from anyone who may have caused your disfigurement through their negligent or reckless behavior.
Damages You Can Claim When You Exceed the Serious Injury Threshold in Utah
First, consider what PIP typically covers in Utah. It will help you cover medical expenses, lost wages, essential services, or funeral expenses if you lost a loved one in the accident, all within policy limits. In other words, it only considers financial losses.
When you exceed the parameters defining the serious injury threshold in Utah, you can claim damages that your PIP insurance doesn’t cover. This applies to financial losses as well as personal ones.
Apart from claiming financial losses that exceed threshold values, you can claim non-financial damages such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of companionship, or loss of quality of life.
The Serious Injury Threshold is the Tort Threshold
A tort is a civil wrong that harms another person and may give rise to a claim for damages. It isn’t necessarily a crime. It applies whenever people violate a duty they owe to others. For example, driving a car implies a duty to keep other road users safe. A negligent driver may cause an accident that harms someone else.
In at-fault states, you can seek compensation from an at-fault driver even if you are lightly injured. In no-fault states, you can only sue a negligent party if they caused harm above a certain threshold. The serious injury threshold in Utah is, therefore, also known as the tort threshold.
Non-financial thresholds like disfigurement or permanent injury are sometimes termed verbal thresholds, while the monetary threshold refers to the financial costs you incurred due to an accident.
How to Know Whether You Qualify For Compensation From At-Fault Drivers After a Car Accident in Utah
In Utah, you may qualify for compensation from at-fault drivers if you are less than 50% at fault for your accident. Additionally, you will need to know what the serious injury threshold in Utah is and determine whether your injuries surpass it.
Both of these factors may not be as easy to determine as they may seem. At Siegfried & Jensen, an experienced attorney may advise you on your options based on the facts specific to your case. Contact us for a free case evaluation.
Call or text (801) 266-0999 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form