Following an accident, you may be able to recover to help cover the costs of medical bills, make up for lost income, and compensate for other accident-related damages. You can accomplish this by filing an injury claim or personal injury lawsuit against the person (or people) responsible for causing you to get hurt. These things can be complicated, time-consuming, and stressful.
Here’s why you should seriously consider hiring an experienced personal injury lawyer to help you navigate the process.
Insurance Companies Know the Process – You Deserve Someone On Your Side Who Does, Too
Insurance companies handle injury claims every day. They have processes in place that are designed to benefit them – not you. If you’re not represented by an attorney, they know that they might be successful in getting you to accept less money than you deserve. Or, they might even try to deny your claim altogether, hoping that you don’t have the energy or resources to appeal their decision.
When you hire a lawyer to handle your injury claim, you’ll have someone on your side who also has experience navigating the injury claims process. Your attorney will know the tactics most often employed by manipulative insurers. Better yet, they’ll know the steps that have to be taken to stop those tactics from working. Simply put, hiring a lawyer takes away any unfair advantage the insurance company might have had if you’d handled the claim yourself.
How An Attorney Can Help After a Car Accident
Insurance companies will investigate the accident that caused your injuries. The purpose of this investigation isn’t to help you. Rather, it’s designed to find any evidence to suggest that:
- Their insured party isn’t at fault.
- The policy doesn’t apply.
- You’re to blame.
They’ll do everything in their power to find a reason not to pay your claim. If that doesn’t work, they’ll work hard to find a way to reduce the value of your claim.
You can combat these efforts by hiring an attorney. Your personal injury lawyer can make sure that your accident is subject to a thorough, independent investigation. That investigation can be aided by experts who can shed light on detailed, complicated, or nuanced aspects of your case.
For example, if you were injured in a car accident, an accident reconstructionist can help your legal team see how the accident probably unfolded. This can really be helpful in seeing what factors might’ve contributed to the crash. From there, your attorney can identify who might be at fault and financially liable.
It’s simple – an independent investigation, aided by legal experts, can make a huge difference in the size of your settlement check.
Valuing Your Claim Can Be Tough, a Lawyer Has Experts Who Can Help
What’s your case worth? When fault and liability are clear, this will become the central point of contention. Insurers will want to pay you as little as possible, so they’ll try to play down the extent of your injuries.
Your attorney can protect you by consulting with medical and vocational experts. These experts can explain – in simple terms – how your injury impacts you today and how it might impact your life in the foreseeable future. This information can be critical in establishing how much certain hard-to-value damages (e.g., pain and suffering, emotional distress, reduced earning capacity) might be worth.
There’s a Chance Your Case Will Go to Court
It’s true that most personal injury lawsuits do not go to trial. Parties tend to settle before either has to go to court. However, it’s also true that your case might go to trial. This is particularly true if insurance companies refuse to negotiate and/or offer you a fair settlement. Insurance companies will be more aggressive in withholding meaningful offers if you’re not represented by a lawyer.
When a skilled personal injury trial attorney enters the equation, things change. It’s no secret that insurance companies are not popular with juries. Jurors are more likely to be empathetic to an injured plaintiff with visible injuries and struggles. Simply having an attorney on your side can be used to leverage insurers into taking your case seriously and extending a fair offer.
