When you are involved in any traffic collision, you can choose to file a lawsuit to get compensation for your medical bills and other expenses. Remember that no one can prepare for a traffic collision and the impact it can cause on your life. Unfortunately, these accidents can cause pain, fear, and inconvenience.
Besides, it can also raise concerns like whether not it’s important to find an attorney or do it alone. The truth is that you need to get an attorney once you are involved in a traffic collision. The good news is that you can find some lawyers who offer a free first consultation without any commitment. Because insurance companies can work against you, you need to get an attorney without delay. This post discusses the best time to hire an attorney after traffic collisions.
When you decide to maximize your compensatio
If you get injured or there was property damage during a traffic collision, there are good chances that there can be lost wages, significant medical expenses, and other expenses. In most cases, these expenses can build up even long after the accident. Some studies have shown that many car accident victims who decide to have legal representation tend to get higher compensations than those without legal representation.
The same studies have also indicated that some settlements can reach up to three times for the victims with legal representation. Experienced car accident attorneys know the tactics used by some insurance companies, so they can help you to negotiate better settlements with these companies. It’s also common for some insurance adjusters to tell you after a car accident that you don’t need to have legal representation. This is part of their strategy that aims at reducing your compensation that the insurer needs to pay.
The problem with car accident cases is that it can be hard to determine the losses that you incur, especially immediately after the accident. This is the reason why you need to find an experienced lawyer to assist you to make a better estimate for your future expenses so that you can include them in your claim.
In some cases, there can be minor injuries like whiplash, but this can get persistent or even become bigger health problems needing ongoing medical expenses. Keep in mind that the effect of either minor or major injuries due to a car accident can sometimes have far-reaching consequences.
You can incur some costs that can be beyond the normal medical expenses that are hard for you to consider, especially when you are handling the claim yourself. Many accident victims usually underestimate these expenses and the length of time they can last. As a result, you can accept an inadequate settlement that fails to cover all these expenses after your accident.
You want to avoid making a costly legal mistake
While many car accident claims are usually settled out of court, it doesn’t mean that dealing with insurance companies involves only a negotiation process, meaning that you don’t have to apply the relevant law. But this is not correct and can end up in lower compensation and lost claims. If you fail to secure a reputable attorney in a traffic collision case, your negotiation position can be weaker, and the insurer knows it. Remember that you can only have a successful claim if you know the relevant law.
Besides the key issues required for you to prove who was at fault in a traffic collision, there can also be other legal issues that can affect the case and compensation. It’s worth noting that you can lose a claim if you fail to file a lawsuit within the statute of limitations, though this depends on the state and type of claim. The state where you need to file the lawsuit can also be a complex legal process. This is because it can depend on the type of damage, where the car accident occurred, and where the people involved in the accident live.
Simply put, to decide where to file a lawsuit for a traffic collision claim, you should know that it can be affected by the amount of compensation, deadlines, and the process. This is because all these factors cannot be the same in all states. For example, some states use the comparative negligence rule. This means that they can reduce your compensation if you are also at fault for the traffic accident.
Worse still, you may not receive any compensation if they determine that you are above fifty percent at fault. This is the reason why it’s important to find an attorney so that they can consider all these factors. The good thing is that a lawyer can improve your claim as well as your negotiation position.
When you decide to negotiate with the insurance company
Any good attorney can provide a free initial consultation in person or on the phone to discuss your case. Therefore, a lawyer can listen to what transpired during the accident so that they can figure out whether or not you need an attorney to represent you. A lawyer can also explain how best they may assist you and how you can pay them. There are many car accident lawyers that use a contingency plan, meaning you can only pay them after winning your case and receive compensation.
With this initial conversation, you may not need to pay anything. Also, you don’t need to make any commitment to hire a lawyer. This is your opportunity to find out if it’s necessary to have an attorney following your traffic collision and if the attorney is good for you.
You should also remember that when you decide to file a claim in a traffic collision case, you are not up against an individual driver. Instead, there is always an insurance company that deals with these claims regularly. There are some people involved in traffic collisions who are concerned about causing stress or even expenses to the party at fault. But many drivers have car insurance, so you will be dealing with their insurer.
Insurance companies are well-established entities with large resources. Some of the resources include teams of attorneys and forensic and medical professionals. All these experts work to reduce the amount of money they pay out to accident victims.
You need to have an experienced car accident attorney to assist you level the playing field when it comes to dealing with an insurance company. The good thing is that these attorneys know the tactics used by some insurance companies to reduce the compensation they need to pay out to car accident victims. They can also handle all the paperwork, emails, phone calls, and many more associated with your insurance claim. As a result, this can free you up so that you can focus on recovering from your car accident.
Timing is crucial in a traffic collision case
Following a traffic collision caused by breaking the speed limit, there are usually many unexpected things that you need to take care of. Also, there are good chances that you can be dealing with emotional distress and physical injuries. Sadly, it can sometimes take a lot of time to recover from this. It can also be overwhelming to have to deal with all the necessary paperwork and phone calls.
As if this is not enough, the insurance company for the party at fault can be trying to decrease their liability in a traffic collision claim immediately after the accident. You should note that the required steps taken by insurance companies tend to be routine. They also have the right experience and resources needed to reduce your claim.
This is the reason you need to get an experienced car accident attorney who knows the strategies of insurance companies and the legal process you need to go through after a traffic collision. A lawyer can help you to fight against the large insurance companies.
Therefore, they can be more effective if you get an attorney immediately after a car accident. It’s always a good idea to speak with your attorney before you decide to talk to an insurance company. This is especially true if you sustained physical injuries, so let your attorney call the insurance company to talk about the traffic collision on your behalf.
Each state has strict deadlines that are under the statute of limitations, so there is a specific period you need to file a lawsuit after a traffic collision. Quite often, the specific deadline applies for personal injury claims, and in some states it can be 2 years from the date of the accident.
But this deadline can vary depending on the state where the accident occurred. The deadline can also begin running on a later date depending on the injury you sustained and the circumstances of the accident. When this deadline elapses, it means you can lose the right to file a lawsuit for your injuries. Hence, it’s important to get the right legal advice quickly after an accident.
In conclusion, you need to get an attorney if you are involved in a traffic collision. This can help you get a fair compensation for the injuries you sustained or for property damage. Keep in mind that a good lawyer can also assist you to take the right course of legal action, and even help you to go through some legal and administrative obstacles that can prevent you from receiving fair compensation.