Johnnie Suggs asked 3 months ago
Why You Should Hire an Auto Accident Lawyer
A skilled auto accidents accident lawyer can help you recover compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages, and property damage. Insurance companies are known for making it difficult to determine the severity of injuries and decreasing the amount they offer to victims.
Economic damages are the most common type of compensation for car accident instances. However, non-economic damages can have a hard time being quantified.
Recovering Compensation After a Car Crash
The majority of states operate under a fault-based system. In this case, the person or company accountable for an accident is required to compensate for damages. This is typically done through insurance policies covering the at-fault party’s liability and your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UIM). You may be entitled economic damages such as discomfort and pain emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of your life in addition to medical expenses, lost wages, and property damage. Punitive damages can be granted in rare instances if the behavior of the driver responsible is particularly indecent.
While some car accidents do not require legal counsel but it is recommended to hire a lawyer to take care of your claim. A good attorney can investigate the crash and collect and organize evidence to show liability, and negotiate with insurers on your behalf. This allows you to focus on your physical recovery.
A car accident lawyer with expertise is often needed to secure fair and reasonable settlements. Insurance companies often challenge the validity of a claim for injury by a victim and reduce the severity of their injuries as a way to limit the amount they will pay to compensate victims. Our attorneys are skilled negotiators with years of experience in fighting these kinds of insurance companies in order to get their clients the best compensation possible. Our lawyers have obtained millions of dollars in settlements for their clients.
Proving Negligence
If you’ve been a victim of an accident it is essential to prove negligence to your recovery. A personal injury lawyer can assist in this process. They’ll get the police report and, if necessary return to the scene of the accident and snap photos themselves. They’ll also speak with any witnesses and look over any other evidence of the incident.
To prove negligence, you have to prove that the person responsible for your injury owed a duty to you. This could be due to the use or ownership of an instrument that caused the injury, your relationship to the defendant, or even the law. After you’ve established the existence of a duty it’s important to show that the defendant acted in breach of that duty. This means that they failed to live up to the standard of reasonable behavior for the circumstances they were in and their actions.
You also have to show that their actions caused you injury or damage. This is commonly referred to as causation in law and relates to a concept called proximate cause. This means that the breach caused the damage or injury that you have suffered.
For instance, if the driver crashes their vehicle into yours while you’re stopped at a traffic light, this is clearly a instance of reckless driving. However, some injuries are more complex. In these cases you may have to prove your damages through a concept called indirect causation.
Gathering Evidence
Evidence is essential in a car accident case. The more evidence you have the stronger your case. This includes witness statements, photos of the scene and the damage to both vehicles, as well as police reports.
The best way to gather this information is immediately, as it’s freshest. Nearly everyone has a camera on their smartphone, so it’s easy to snap pictures of the site of the crash and the damaged vehicles. It’s also a good idea to capture weather conditions as they can play a factor in an accident.
It is crucial to seek medical care immediately after a car crash. The injuries are often severe, and it is recommended to seek treatment as soon as you can. It is important for your health but as well to determine the severity of your injuries. This will enable you to receive compensation for the expenses of your medical treatment as well as loss of earnings and other expenses that are a result of your injury.
Keep a log of the expenses you incurred as a result of the accident. This includes transportation to and from appointments or hotel stays in the event that your injuries prevented you from travelling. You might also want to include pay stubs and tax returns as proof of your financial losses.
Negotiating a Settlement
Insurance companies offer a low-cost settlement to victims of car accidents. They hope that you’ll accept the offer, but without an experienced attorney to fight for the actual damages you’re owed for your injuries.
An experienced auto accident attorney can assist you in negotiating an acceptable settlement that covers all of your expenses and losses. They can also assist you to in filing a lawsuit if your insurance company is unwilling to accept the offer of a settlement.
The adjuster for insurance will go over your medical records and other documentation to determine the legitimacy of your claim. It could take a few weeks or even months to receive a settlement.
It is highly recommended to keep a list of all documents relating to the accident. This will allow your attorney to quickly locate any information needed during the negotiation process. This will also save you from having re-submit any documents that were previously accessed by the insurance company, and then used against your case.
When dealing with an insurance firm, it is crucial to be calm and not jump into any emotional rage. Avoid making statements that may be interpreted as a confession of fault. Contact your attorney immediately if the adjuster makes accusations. The long time between rounds of negotiations may be an indicator that you’re being pressured and about to go into litigation.