If you recently got into a car accident, you may be wondering what the next steps are. You may be struggling with some injuries and know that medical bills could be adding up. While it may be something you can handle on your own, hiring a car accident lawyer can help you recover faster. There are a few instances when it makes more sense to hire a car accident lawyer.
When Negotiating with Insurance
Insurance is going to be the primary source of your compensation for injuries. Insurance companies are for-profit businesses and only care about making a profit. Paying out benefits doesn’t help them with this goal so they will do whatever they can to pay you as little as possible if anything at all. They also handle claims every day so they are trained to deny your claim. The system can work in their favor. If you have to negotiate with insurance in order to get fair compensation then you want to bring in an attorney who has experience handling your type of claim. Lawyers can anticipate what the insurance company is going to do and you are likely to get a more reasonable settlement. The higher your claim may be, the more likely you want to work with an attorney in order to make sure you get what is fair.
If You Have Been Blamed for Your Car Accident
No one wants to take responsibility for a car accident. Everyone involved and the insurance companies are going to point fingers to assign blame. If you aren’t going to fight the allegations, it may hurt your ability to recover the compensation you need. Your contributions to an accident can directly impact how much money you get for your injuries. Damages are going to be reduced based on your fault. If the parties are going to shift the blame to you then you are going to get nothing. Hiring an attorney can help you with these claims and the attorney can make sure that the accident is fully investigated in order to be sure who is at fault. This is necessary as you pursue your claim for compensation.
The Accident Causes You Emotional Distress
Damages after an accident come in two different types. These are economic and non-economic. Economic damages are for injuries and tangible things, such as damaged property and medical bills. Non-economic damages are more subjective and can be hard to calculate. These damages are for things like emotional distress or pain and suffering. Since they are hard to value in monetary terms, it’s important that you work with an experienced lawyer to help negotiate your settlement. Insurance companies want to downplay the effect these emotional injuries will have on your life. Your lawyer will fight to make sure that all of your damages, including ones that are subjective, are valued properly. If you don’t work with an experienced attorney, you could be leaving a lot of money on the table.
When choosing a car accident lawyer, make sure you choose one with experience in order to get the best results.
