A fair settlement for TBI is not a number you can look up. It’s an offer that accounts for everything the brain injury has taken and will take: care that may be needed for years, earning ability that may not come back, and changes that fall on the whole family. This page is for people evaluating an offer after a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury, where most of the loss lies in the future. If the injury was a concussion or mild TBI, our guide to mild traumatic brain injury settlements covers how those claims develop.
We don’t publish settlement figures or ranges. Whether an offer is fair depends on this particular person’s records, the fault picture, and the sources of payment available.
Fair Settlement for TBI: Six Questions to Ask of Any Offer
- Does it cover the future, not just the past? Bills to date are the easiest part to add up. They are rarely the largest part of a serious brain injury claim.
- Does it measure lost earning ability, not just missed paychecks? A person who returns to work in a reduced role has a loss that doesn’t show up as time off.
- Does it account for the harm that has no invoice? Physical pain, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life are recognized categories of loss in California.
- Does it reflect what the family has lost? Caregiving, household help, and changes in a marriage can all be part of the picture.
- Has every responsible party and policy been found? One insurer’s offer may not be the only source of recovery.
- Does the way it is paid fit the injured person’s needs? That includes long-term care and any public benefits they rely on.
The sections below take these one at a time.
Future Care: The Largest Unknown in a Fair Settlement for TBI
After a serious brain injury, needs often continue long after the hospital stay. They can include rehabilitation therapies, medication, follow-up with specialists, adaptive equipment, home modifications, transportation, and in some cases attendant or supervised care. An offer that is based only on treatment received so far leaves all of that out.
In larger cases, future needs are often organized into a life care plan. It lists expected care, how often it will be needed, and for how long, based on the treating providers’ recommendations. A plan like this is a projection supported by medical opinion. It isn’t a guess, and it isn’t a wish list. How future medical costs are proven and counted in California is covered in our page on economic and non-economic damages in a brain injury claim.
When considering whether an offer is fair, it helps to ask whether the insurer has seen a projection of future care, and whether its offer answers that projection or simply leaves it out.
Earning Capacity Versus Lost Wages
Lost wages are what someone didn’t earn while recovering. Lost earning capacity is the difference between the working life they were on track for and the one they can realistically have now. After a TBI, the second is often much larger and much harder to see.
- Returning in a reduced role: fewer hours, fewer responsibilities, or a move to simpler work may leave no gap in pay records while the career path has still changed.
- Students and young adults: with no earnings history, the question becomes what education and work path the person was likely to follow.
- Self-employed people: business records, client losses, and the work others now have to do in their place may tell the story better than tax returns.
These losses are usually shown through vocational and economic evidence, together with employer records and the treating providers’ opinions on work restrictions.
The Family’s Side of a Fair Settlement for TBI
A serious brain injury changes a household. A spouse may become a caregiver. Other family members may take over driving, finances, childcare, or household work the injured person used to handle. Some of these losses belong to the injured person’s own claim. Others may belong to family members.
California recognizes a claim, in some circumstances, by a spouse or registered domestic partner for the loss of the injured partner’s companionship, affection, and support, often called loss of consortium. Whether one applies, and how it relates to the injured person’s own claim, is a question for a lawyer. It is still worth asking whether an offer addresses the family at all.
Finding Every Party and Policy Behind a Fair Settlement for TBI
An offer from one insurer reflects only that insurer’s policy. A fair settlement for TBI may depend on whether anyone else shares responsibility. For example:
- a driver and the company the driver was working for at the time
- a property owner and a maintenance contractor
- the maker or seller of a defective helmet, vehicle part, or other product (see defective products)
- a public agency responsible for a dangerous road or facility, which comes with its own claim procedure and a much shorter deadline
- your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage after a crash (see uninsured motorist coverage)
Each additional party may have its own coverage, sometimes including excess or umbrella policies. If the injured person shares some fault, California reduces the recovery by that share instead of barring it. See pure comparative fault.
Court Approval for Minors and People With Disabilities
Some people with a serious TBI can’t fully weigh a settlement on their own. In California, settlements for a minor or a person with a disability generally go through a court approval process. The California Courts’ self-help guide to Form MC-350 describes asking the court to approve the settlement and how the money will be used. That review adds a layer of protection. It also means a fair settlement for TBI in these cases has to be presented in a way a judge can evaluate.
Who has authority to act for an adult who lacks capacity is a separate question. It is covered, along with deadline issues, in our page on whether you can sue for a brain injury.
How the Settlement Is Paid
For someone who will need care for many years, the structure of a settlement can matter almost as much as its size. Options may include a lump sum, periodic payments, or a combination. Each carries different trade-offs for managing long-term costs.
Public benefits need attention as well. For example, the Social Security Administration’s rules on awards and settlements generally count settlement money as income for SSI in the month it’s received and as a resource after that, with some exceptions, including for certain trusts. Anyone who relies on needs-based benefits may want advice on the payment structure before signing.
What is deducted from a settlement before payment, including fees, costs, and repayment claims, is explained in our guide to mild TBI settlements. The same deductions apply here.
Timing an Offer After a Serious TBI
An early offer can arrive before anyone knows what recovery will look like. Once a release is signed, the claim is usually closed. An offer made before future needs can be estimated may not reflect them, and a fair settlement for TBI generally depends on those needs being known. At the same time, the California Courts’ deadline guide gives two years from the injury for most personal injury suits, and claims against a public agency start with a government claim due six months from the injury. When a claim is ready to present, our page on the brain injury demand letter explains what goes into it, and the TBI lawsuit page explains what happens if a lawsuit is filed.
Get a Second Look at a TBI Settlement Offer
If an insurer has made an offer, or you expect one soon, Vaksman Khalfin, PC can review it against the records and explain what it does and doesn’t account for. The first consultation is free. Our fee in brain injury matters is contingent, meaning it is a share of what is recovered. Case expenses are separate and are set out in the written agreement. Call (877) 780-4727, or see our California brain injury practice page.
Reviewed by Alan D. Khalfin, Partner, Vaksman Khalfin, PC (admitted in California). Last reviewed: 09/24/2026
Frequently Asked Questions
A fair settlement for TBI is one that accounts for the injured person's documented care to date and projected future care, lost wages and lost earning capacity, non-economic harm, and losses the family bears, drawing on every responsible party and policy. There is no set figure. It depends on the records, the fault picture, and the coverage available.
Not necessarily. An early offer may be based on incomplete records, before future care or work effects can be estimated. Whether a particular offer is fair can only be judged against the evidence in that claim.
It's a projection of the care a person is expected to need, such as therapies, equipment, medication, home changes, and attendant care, including how often and for how long, based on medical recommendations. It is often used to show future care costs in serious brain injury claims.
It can. Social Security's rules generally count settlement money as SSI income in the month received and as a resource afterward, with some exceptions, including certain trusts. Anyone who relies on needs-based benefits may want advice on how a settlement is structured before signing.
For a minor or a person with a disability, California generally requires court approval of the settlement and of how the money will be used. The California Courts self-help guide to Form MC-350 describes that process.
In some circumstances, California recognizes a separate claim by a spouse or registered domestic partner for loss of companionship and support, often called loss of consortium. A lawyer can explain whether it applies.
Other sources may exist: additional responsible parties, excess or umbrella policies, and your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage after a crash. Identifying them is part of evaluating any offer.
