It’s natural to have concerns after a serious accident. How will you get back on your feet? Despite your injuries, when and how can you return to work? What should you do next?
However, one of the most crucial things many people may ask after an accident is “Do I need a personal injury attorney?” Almost always, the answer is yes. The sooner you engage a personal injury lawyer, the easier and faster your case will be resolved. The answers to the following questions will assist you in comprehending why.
What Is the Severity of Your Injuries?
Perhaps you slipped and fell at a local store, resulting in minor scrapes and bruises, or were involved in a minor fender-bender that resulted in only cosmetic vehicle damage. Ordinary occurrences like these occur frequently, and the majority of us are capable of dealing with them on our own.
A slip-and-fall onto a hard surface, on the other hand, can shatter bones or induce concussions, and even a “small” rear-end collision can inflict catastrophic injury to the soft tissues of the neck and spine.
If you have sustained serious injuries as a result of your accident, you should contact an attorney as soon as possible. Severe injuries frequently leave accident victims with large medical expenses, lengthy medical procedures, and, in many circumstances, no or limited income to assist pay those expenditures.
Working with attorneys such as Tampa personal injury lawyers is essential when you suffer serious injuries in an accident, such as traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, or amputation because it helps you get the compensation you deserve while also giving you a better understanding of the claims process and how much compensation you can expect. Large damage awards and insurance companies that refuse to pay them are common in these very complicated injury cases; an experienced personal injury attorney will know the best techniques for pursuing your case and will safeguard your best interests throughout the claims process.
Who is to Blame for Your Mistake?
A personal injury claim requires you to prove that your injuries were caused by someone else. If you feel that happened, or that external causes had a role in the accident, you will almost certainly need an attorney to gather evidence and pursue your personal injury claim.
Multiple parties may be held liable in many accidents. An attorney can assist you in identifying all of those parties and pursuing reimbursement from each of them.
In a medical malpractice case, for example, depending on the circumstances, you may be able to file a claim against both the hospital where the negligence occurred and the doctor who committed malpractice.
Have you contacted the insurance company or the responsible party?
Many accident victims wait until they have spoken with the insurance company before contacting a personal injury lawyer, but you do not have to wait until you have spoken with the culpable party or the insurance company that covers the liable party. In reality, you’re virtually always better off delegating those communications to your personal injury attorney. Insurance companies are seldom in a hurry to pay out claims, and they may utilise your conversations with them to persuade you to settle your claim.
If you’ve already spoken with an insurance company representative, it’s possible that your original communication with the insurance company prompted you to seek legal advice about your claim.
Consider the following scenario:
1. Your claim is denied by the insurance company.
Many accident victims are devastated and terrified when they learn that their insurance company has refused their claim. You may be concerned that, in addition to navigating your injuries and recuperation, you will now have to figure out how to pay your medical costs on your own.
If the culpable party’s insurance company declines your claim, an attorney can assist you to appeal the decision and get a more agreeable outcome. For a variety of reasons, the insurance company may deny the claim.
An attorney can assist in the investigation of the accident and determine who is responsible. In the case of a car accident, this can entail not only looking for footage of the incident or speaking with witnesses on the site but also calling in an expert witness who can help determine exactly how the accident happened and who or what caused it.
Not only that, but an attorney may often gain access to facts that you would otherwise be unable to obtain. For example, in the event of an accident involving a commercial truck driver, an attorney may be able to obtain access to the trucker’s logbook, which will reveal how long the truck driver was behind the wheel prior to the accident.
For many accident victims, the inquiry yields more than just information about who caused the tragedy. It may also reveal crucial information about whether or not other persons were involved in the collision. This information can assist the sufferer in filing a personal injury lawsuit against each responsible party.
The insurance company denies that your injuries are the source of your limits. An insurance company paying a personal injury claim may need considerable documentation of your injuries’ limitations. The medical bills and paperwork that show the degree of your injuries are only the beginning. The insurance company will frequently want to know how those injuries influence your life, both immediately following the event and in terms of your long-term prognosis.
The insurance company may also conduct a personal investigation on you. The employer may deny your claim if it considers you exaggerated your ailments or lied about your restrictions. It will frequently look at your social media accounts to see if you participate in things that you claim your injury restricts you from doing—and it may well take your social media posts out of context to deny your claim.
2. The insurance company takes too long to reply to your claim or to pay it.
Although it has been some time since your accident, you have received no answer from the liable party’s insurance company or from the liable party personally. Alternatively, you may have had a quick response from the insurance provider at first, but later communication slowed.
Maybe you even accepted the insurance company’s settlement offer, but the promised payout never arrived.
A personal injury lawyer can assist you in obtaining the information you require from the insurance company. Often, merely hiring an attorney will signal to the insurance company that you are serious about seeking recompense. An attorney can also warn you of the penalties that the insurance company could face if it ignores your claim.
Contact award-winning Sarasota Personal Injury Lawyer at Matthews Injury Law. For a free consultation call at (941) 877-5800.
3. The insurer makes a low-ball settlement offer.
Many insurance companies would aim to limit the compensation they pay an accident victim rather than addressing the requirements of the victim and according to the wording of their policy. This usually starts soon after the accident. Within days of the accident, the insurance company may contact you with a settlement offer. This offer may reflect the bare minimum that the insurance company believes it can pay you.
If you take that offer, there’s a significant risk it won’t cover the entire scope of your injuries (both now and in the future). Accepting the original offer, moreover, frequently stops you from pursuing extra compensation at a later date, even if your real expenses end up far exceeding the initial settlement sum.
4. The insurance company refuses to bargain.
After getting a settlement offer, you may have decided not to call a personal injury attorney right away. After all, even a cursory glance revealed that the offer did not reflect the cash you truly earned, especially given the seriousness of your accident. You turned down the offer and countered with one of your own.
Unfortunately, the insurance company continues to make low-ball proposals that do not reflect the full cost of your injuries.
An attorney can represent you in court if your claim requires it. Throughout the negotiation, the attorney will focus on your requirements rather than the insurance companies. Insurance companies know that it’s easier to take advantage of a claimant who isn’t represented. You can demonstrate to insurers that you mean business by retaining the services of an expert personal injury attorney.
How long has it been since your accident?
Every state sets its own statute of limitations or the amount of time an injured individual has to initiate a personal injury lawsuit.
Do you have any concerns about your legal rights?
Most people are unaware of their rights in the aftermath of a major injury, whether caused by a car accident, nursing home abuse or carelessness, or a slip and fall.
