Connecticut Injury Settlements

This page looks a personal injury statistics and sample settlement amounts and jury payouts in Connecticut to give you some sense of the potential range of settlement compensation for your claim in 2024.

Then, our lawyers explain the Connecticut law that matters to you if you are seeking compensation for your injuries.

Personal Injury Payout Statistics

Let’s start with some statistics on personal injury compensation in Connecticut. Statistics like this are extremely interesting… and extremely misleading as we explain in a moment.

The average personal injury verdict at trial in Connecticut is $2,519,637, according to Jury Verdict Research.

This is great ammo if you are a personal injury lawyer trying to trump up the value of your case or if you are a tort reform advocate trying to show that juries are going wild. But this is unbelievably misleading.

The median personal injury verdict in Connecticut is $22,499, less than 10% of the average. Only 4% of verdicts exceed $1 million and I would love to see how many of these verdicts are actually collected. My guess? Less than half. Someone got a $326 million verdict in this study. I didn’t look up the verdict, but somehow I doubt someone wrote a $326 million check.

One more stat- this is an old one but still instructive- the median compensation in personal injury trials in Connecticut is $17,391, and injury victims obtain a financial recovery in 58% of cases that go to trial. This is less than half the national average.

Average verdict statistics are often worthless, yet people are always throwing average numbers out there. I’m as guilty as anyone. I put up a lot of average verdicts statistics than anyone.  They are of great interest to me, other lawyers,  and potential plaintiffs. But these Connecticut statistics underscore that the information is for entertainment purposes only.

Example Connecticut Settlement Amounts and Jury Payouts

Settlement amounts in Connecticut, as in most jurisdictions, are primarily influenced by the likelihood of success at trial. The stronger the evidence that supports the plaintiff’s claims—whether it’s personal injury, premises liability, or medical malpractice—the higher the settlement payout will be. You have to be able to show defendant’s negligence. If you cannot make a clear showing, you have a real uphill battle.

Another threshold thing you need for a quality settlement availability of insurance coverage from the defendant (or a deep pocket defendant). In many large settlement cases, the defendant’s insurance policy limits will play a major role in determining the ultimate amount the plaintiff can recover. If the defendant has substantial assets or high insurance policy limits, your chances of a good settlement go up. Conversely, lower coverage limits will often cap the amount of compensation.

After that, the severity of the plaintiff’s injuries drives settlement payouts.  You need proof. This includes medical records, expert testimony, and any other documentation that establishes the defendant’s responsibility and the extent of the plaintiff’s losses. It also includes pain and suffering testimony.

• 2024 Connecticut: $30,000,000 Verdict: A woman endured devastating, permanent injuries to her bladder and uterus after her medical team delayed her cesarean section, leaving her unable to have more children. Despite her repeated requests, the hospital and its staff waited hours before performing the procedure, causing extensive damage that required a team of surgeons to repair. The jury rightfully held the hospital accountable, awarding $1.4 million for economic losses and a staggering $29 million for her immense pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. With prejudgment interest, this total could rise to as much as $68 million.
• 2024 Connecticut: $15,700,000 Verdict:  A woman tragically suffered cardiorespiratory collapse and severe brain damage during a routine outpatient gastroenterology procedure. She died a month later.  The family blamed the anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist for failing to properly monitor vital signs and delayed emergency response. Plaintiffs pretty reasonably sought $2 million to resolve the case.  The defendants want to roll the dice and the jury hit them with a $15.7 million verdict.
• 2024 Connecticut: $15,000,000 Verdict.  A man exposed to develop mesothelioma.  A Bridgeport jury awarded his wife $15 million in compensatory damages after just two hours of deliberation.
• 2024 Connecticut: $5.5 Million Verdict. A 69-year-old man presented at a Stamford hospital emergency room with complaints of diarrhea and abdominal cramping, initially diagnosed with traveler’s diarrhea and discharged. His condition worsened despite repeated visits to the hospital. On his final visit, he was diagnosed with severe chronic mesenteric ischemia—a blockage of an artery in his intestines. Scheduled for surgery, he suffered cardiac arrest and died during the procedure. The lawsuit argued the hospital’s failure to properly diagnose and treat his condition early led to his death. The jury awarded $5.5 million to his family, validating the claims of medical negligence and emphasizing the need for accurate diagnosis and timely medical intervention in emergency care settings.
• 2024 Connecticut: $14.4 Million Verdict. A  Plymouth man suffered a catastrophic injury during a nuclear stress test. The imaging table collapsed, causing severe injuries to one spouse including damage to the back, neck, and spine. This incident led to further medical complications including a stroke and brain abscess. The verdict found the radiologic technologist fully liable, while the doctor involved was not held responsible. The award covered economic damages, pain and suffering, and loss of consortium.
• 2024 Connecticut: $34.6 Million Verdict.   A couple sought assistance through therapeutic donor-insemination services, leading to a pregnancy with twins. Unbeknownst to the couple, the sperm donor was infected with cytomegalovirus (CMV), a herpes virus that is generally benign in adults but can cause significant complications for fetuses if contracted during early pregnancy, as noted in court documents. This risk was highlighted by the high court, emphasizing the potential for severe fetal health issues from an early pregnancy infection. During a challenging pregnancy, they were informed at 37 weeks that one of the twins, a girl, had passed away in the womb. An emergency cesarean section was performed to deliver both children. The autopsy revealed the daughter’s cause of death was a severe CMV infection, according to the court’s findings. The son was born with extensive health issues, leaving him unable to perform basic functions independently, communicate, or eat without assistance. He requires nutrition through a gastrostomy tube and suffers from global developmental delay, along with cognitive, auditory, and motor impairments. His diagnoses include epilepsy, autism, and cerebral palsy, conditions that will necessitate lifelong care and support. The Connecticut Supreme Court affirmed the verdict, denying UConn Health’s argument that the claims were barred by sovereign immunity.
• 2024 Connecticut: $10 Million Verdict. A Special Olympics gold medalist residing at Oak Hill, a group home for people with disabilities, was found dead in his room due to alleged negligence in care. The resident, who had multiple chronic conditions from an early age, was supposed to have his BiPAP machine monitored every 30 minutes throughout the night to manage sleep apnea. However, the complaint alleged that from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m., no checks were conducted. Additionally, it was claimed that the BiPAP machine was malfunctioning and needed replacement—a fact purportedly known to both Oak Hill and Lincare Inc., the machine’s provider. While Lincare was found negligent, they were not deemed the proximate cause of death. The jury awarded $10 million in damages, with $6 million designated as punitive and $4 million as non-economic, recognizing severe breaches under the Connecticut Patient Bill of Rights. The defense did not respond to a $3 million settlement offer, leading to a vigorously contested trial.
• 2023, Connecticut: $6,500,000 Verdict. A woman with gestational diabetes was admitted to Yale-New Haven at 37 weeks of pregnancy due to abdominal ascites in her unborn baby. Concurrently, she was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, which led to alterations in the baby’s development, causing an enlarged stomach and broader shoulders. These conditions significantly increased the risks of birth complications, including shoulder dystocia. However, the hospital let her deliver the child vaginally. This was a mistake. This oversight culminated in a tragic birthing incident where the baby became stuck in the birth canal, resulting in suffocation and a fractured neck that resulted in her death. A New Haven Superior Court jury awarded $7.5 million.
• 2022, Connecticut: $1,000,000 Settlement. After being hit by an broken bones in the lower leg, spinal fractures, collapsed lungs, knee injuries, swelling and bruising in the calf, cuts, depression, anxiety, sleep problems, bruises, and headaches. These injuries led to multiple hospital stays and surgeries. The case settled for $1 million.
• 2022, Connecticut: $167,990 Verdict. A 25-year-old woman was struck on the highway. She was thrown 25 feet onto a stone wall. She lost consciousness. The woman died several hours later. Her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit that alleged that the driver’s negligence caused her death. They claimed he failed to watch the road and avoid hitting a pedestrian. The jury awarded $167,990.
• 2021, Connecticut: $280,000 Verdict. A pedestrian was struck, injuring his neck, back, and wrist. The man underwent a surgical repair. He alleged negligence against the at-fault driver, claiming she failed to control her vehicle and maintain an appropriate lookout. He received a $280,000 verdict.
• 2021, Connecticut: $126,516 Bench Verdict. A man slipped and fell on his apartment’s stairs. The man suffered the exacerbation of his pre-existing spinal injuries. He also sustained emotional distress. The man alleged negligence against his apartment’s owners. He filed a negligence lawsuit that claimed they failed to inspect, maintain, and repair the stairs. The man received a $125,516 bench verdict.
• 2021, Connecticut: $45,193 Verdict. A man was bit by a Labrador mix. He suffered facial injuries, including chin lacerations and scars. The man alleged negligence against the dog’s owners. He claimed they failed to restrain it. The man received $45,193.
• 2021, Connecticut: $75,000 Verdict. A police officer was T-boned. She suffered a right wrist injury and lumbar radiculopathy. The woman alleged negligence against the at-fault driver. She claimed she ran a red light and failed to yield the right-of-way. The woman received a $75,000 verdict.
• 2021, Connecticut: $126,224 Verdict. A 69-year-old woman was rear-ended. She suffered a disc herniation, bilateral arm paresthesia, and other spinal injuries. The woman alleged negligence against the at-fault driver. She claimed he tailgated her, excessively sped, and failed to maintain an appropriate lookout.
• 2021, Connecticut: $50,501 Verdict. A tenant slipped and fell over ice in front of the house she rented. She fractured a rib and suffered neck and back injuries. She alleged negligence against the property owners, claiming they failed to remove the ice in front of the property, inspect the premises, and maintain the property. A jury awarded the woman $50,501.
• 2020, Connecticut: $62,465 Verdict. A woman was rear-ended as she attempted a left turn. She suffered soft tissue injuries to her neck, thorax, and back, which caused radiating pain to her arm. The woman also suffered an undisclosed shoulder injury. She sued the other driver, who disputed the injury’s causation and argued that they were not permanent. The jury awarded her $62,465 verdict.
• 2019, Connecticut: $19,750,000 Settlement. A 38-year-old woman tragically died eight days after her car, a 2015 Maserati Ghibli, was struck by a 23,000-pound truck near an Interstate 95 ramp in Greenwich. The incident occurred when the truck driver, who is now facing manslaughter charges and is out on bail, allegedly ran a red light and was speeding. The collision caused fatal injuries to the woman, who was returning from her job at a hair salon, and brain damage to her passenger, who settled separately with the insurance carriers. A $19.75 million settlement was reached in favor of the woman’s estate just as the jury at Stamford Superior Court was deliberating. The settlement, to be supervised by the Probate Court, will benefit the woman’s 4-year-old son when he turns 18. The plaintiff’s attorneys successfully demonstrated the truck driver’s negligence and recklessness using eyewitness accounts and data from the truck’s black box, showing the driver was exceeding the speed limit. The defendants, including the truck driver and his employing companies, initially contested the allegations but eventually agreed to settle.
• 2019, Connecticut: $202,000 Verdict. A man’s vehicle was sideswiped by an uninsured driver who was attempting to pass him. He suffered a spinal disc protrusion. The man also suffered unspecified head, cervical, lumbar, and right arm injuries. He sued his UIM carrier, Liberty Mutual, seeking damages under his UIM policy. Liberty Mutual disputed his claims, arguing that the man had previous job-related injuries and was involved in two prior collisions. The jury awarded the man $202,000.
• 2019, Connecticut: $82,451 Bench Verdict. A woman was rear-ended as she stopped for traffic ahead of her on an interstate highway. She suffered post-traumatic headaches, disc protrusions, and soft-tissue injuries to her neck, back, and thorax. Her disc protrusion resulted in lumbar radiculopathy. She sued the other driver for following her too closely, driving too fast, failing to keep a proper lookout, and failing to apply his brakes. The judge ruled in favor of the woman, awarding her $82,451 in damages.
• 2019, Connecticut: $95,514 Verdict. Two men suffered multiple injuries after their vehicle was rear-ended at an intersection. The driver suffered an L4-S1 disc herniation, knee trauma, and a neck injury that caused radiating pain to his shoulders.  He was rated with 12 percent permanent impairment to his entire body and 16 percent partial impairment to his spine. His passenger suffered carpal tunnel syndrome to his right wrist, joint dysfunction at C4-T4, and joint malpositioning at L2-S1. They alleged that the other driver failed to stop at a red light, failed to maintain a reasonable distance, and failed to take evasive action. The jury awarded the two men a $95,514 verdict.
• 2019, Connecticut: $55,100 Verdict. A man suffered unspecified back and knee injuries after his vehicle was struck by another vehicle attempting to pass him. He sued the other driver for failing to yield right-of-way, driving too fast, and overtaking another vehicle at an unsafe distance. The other driver denied liability and made the same allegations. A jury found the man 15 percent liable and the other driver 85 percent liable. They determined that the damages amounted to $55,100 but were reduced by 15% for comparative negligence to $46,835.
• 2019, Connecticut: $23,050,000 Verdict. A 12-year-old boy was a school bus passenger. The bus driver swerved to avoid a collision with an unidentifiable vehicle but struck a tree instead. Its impact caused the boy to strike his head several times. He sustained multiple skull fractures and brain bleeds. Medical professionals diagnosed him with a traumatic brain injury. He underwent emergency brain surgery. His injuries negatively affected his behavior. He was transferred out of the public school system as a result. In addition to the bus driver and bus company, the family sued the uninsured motorist carrier for the unidentifiable vehicle’s negligence. The Waterbury County jury determined that the car’s driver was 26 percent liable, while the bus driver and bus company were 74 percent liable. They awarded a $23,050,000 verdict.
• 2019, Connecticut: $4,600,000 Settlement. A man suffered a traumatic brain injury and multiple fractures after a pickup truck struck his motorcycle. Specifically, he suffered fractures to his knees, shoulder, ribs, legs, and skull. He underwent brain surgery, in which doctors placed shunts. His brain injury caused him to experience cognitive and neurological deficits. He also underwent open reduction and internal fixation surgery. Before trial, the case settled for $4,600,000.
• 2018, Connecticut: $2,271,486 Verdict. A woman slipped and fell on black ice in a parking garage owned by the town of Greenwich. She suffered a concussion and other head injuries. The woman sued the town for failing to remove ice and snow from the town-owned parking garage. The Fairfield County jury awarded her $2,271,486.
• 2017, Connecticut: $1,000,000 Verdict. A woman suffered unspecified injuries during her acupuncture treatment. She sued her acupuncturist, alleging that he failed to protect her from contacting a heat lamp during the procedure, and left her unattended. The jury awarded her $1,000,000.
• 2016, Connecticut: $1,300,000 Settlement. A couple’s vehicle was rear-ended by another vehicle, owned by a construction company. The husband sustained an arm fracture and a back injury, while the wife suffered a knee ligament tear and an undisclosed injury. They filed suit in New Britain Superior Court against the driver and his employer. The case settled for $1,300,000.

Do these example lawsuits tell you what the average settlement compensation for your case will be? Of course not. They are just one more tool for gaining a better understanding of what your personal injury or wrongful death claim may be worth.

Each personal injury case is unique. That sounds trite, but it is true.  So you cannot use these example Connecticut settlements and verdicts to calculate your expected payout.

The amount awarded or offered in a settlement in a personal injury case will depend on the facts and circumstances of the case, as well as the amount of damages suffered by the plaintiff. Still, seeing settlement and jury payouts gives you a better feel for the potential range of values.

Connecticut Personal Injury Law

Below is a summary outline of Connecticut law on torts, which includes personal injury and medical malpractice cases.

Connecticut Car Accident Law

Connecticut follows a fault-based system for car accidents. This means that the person who is found to be at fault for causing an accident is responsible for the damages. Victims can pursue compensation through the at-fault driver’s insurance, their own insurance, or through personal injury lawsuits.

Minimum Insurance Requirements

Connecticut law requires all drivers to carry minimum amounts of liability insurance. As of my last update, these minimums were $25,000 for bodily injury per person, $50,000 for total bodily injury per accident if multiple people are injured, and $25,000 for property damage. Drivers are also required to have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage

This coverage protects drivers in the event they are involved in an accident with a driver who either lacks insurance or whose insurance is insufficient to cover the damages. This coverage is crucial as it provides financial protection against drivers who are uninsured.

No Stacking

But underinsured motorist coverage in Connecticut is not meant to guarantee full reimbursement for injuries nor to ensure maximum policy payouts. It’s designed to provide the same level of resources to an insured individual as if the at-fault party possessed liability insurance equal to the insured’s underinsured motorist coverage.

Connecticut does not allow “stacking” of uninsured motorist coverage. Stacking is a practice where a person involved in an accident combines the uninsured motorist coverage limits from multiple policies to increase the total available coverage. In Connecticut, you can only claim up to the limit of the coverage on one policy.

Every auto insurance policy issued in Connecticut must include uninsured motorist coverage that matches the policy’s liability limits unless explicitly rejected by the insured, which you do not see very often.

must exceed the total liability limits of the tortfeasor’s vehicle. This law aims to provide the insured who is injured in an accident with the same level of resources they would have had if the tortfeasor had maintained liability insurance equal to the insured’s uninsured motorist coverage. Essentially, an underinsured motor vehicle is defined as one where the applicable liability limits are less than the injured person’s uninsured motorist limits. Consequently, underinsured motorist coverage does not apply if the insured person’s uninsured motorist limits are equal to or less than the tortfeasor’s liability limits.

Applying Conn. Gen. Stat. § 38a-336 involves two steps. Initially, it must be determined if the tortfeasor’s vehicle qualifies as underinsured according to the statute’s definition. If it does qualify, the applicable underinsured motorist coverage becomes effective, and the compensation amount to be awarded to the victim is then calculated by the finder of fact. This step is crucial as it outlines the judicial process required to ascertain and apply the relevant coverage following the established legal precedent.

Broad Coverage

Coverage in Connecticut extends to all “insured” individuals under the policy. This includes the named policyholder, other drivers listed in the policy, and family members residing in the same household, provided they are considered “insured” under the policy.

Connecticut wants injury victims to have coverage.  So, the law and the courts both work to that end.  Connecticut courts have interpreted UM coverage to apply broadly.  Statutory construction and judicial decisions interpreting Connecticut’s statutory scheme favor extending comprehensive coverage under uninsured motorists provisions.

Accordingly, there is often insurance coverage where you would not intuitively expect coverage. It applies to insured individuals regardless of whether they are occupants of a vehicle at the time of the accident, so it can extend to pedestrians, hit-and-run victims, and cyclists. This interpretation aims to ensure that insured parties receive consistent protection under their UM coverage, similar to the protection they would have under liability coverage if the roles were reversed and the insured was the at-fault party.

Connecticut Personal Injury Statute of Limitations

In Connecticut, you have two years from the date of the injury to file a lawsuit in the state’s civil court system (Connecticut General Statutes section 52-584). This means that you must file your lawsuit within two years of the date when the injury occurred to seek compensation for damages.

However, Connecticut also recognizes the discovery rule, which may extend this period. Under the discovery rule, if the injury was not immediately known or could not reasonably have been discovered, the statute of limitations may start from the time the injury was discovered or should have been discovered with reasonable diligence. This rule acknowledges that some injuries, particularly those related to medical malpractice, might not be apparent immediately. Therefore, if an injury is discovered after the initial two-year period, you may still have the opportunity to file a lawsuit, provided it is within three years of the date of the act or omission that caused the injury.

When someone passes away due to another’s negligence, the statute of limitations typically allows for the filing of a wrongful death lawsuit within two years from the date of death, but this period cannot exceed five years from the date the negligent act occurred.

Connecticut Sex Abuse Statute of Limitations