When Do You Need to Hire a Car Accident Lawyer?
While it is not legally mandatory to hire a car accident lawyer after you have been in an accident, it may certainly help in making your life easier. If you have suffered injuries and are in shock in the aftermath, the last thing you need is additional stress. And you will certainly get plenty of it in dealing with the insurance company. It may be in your best interest to let a lawyer sort things out for you, protect your rights, and ensure that you receive fair compensation.
Here’s when you should consider hiring a car accident lawyer:
You need to negotiate with the insurance company
Accident compensation can cover lost wages, hospitalization fees, medical bills, pain and suffering, damaged property, disability-related expenses, and lost income-earning abilities. In an ideal world, the insurance company would pay you everything you deserve, and the matter would end there. We don’t live in an ideal world, though, and insurance companies are not in the business of maximizing payouts.
Most insurance companies will try to deny your claim, try to minimize payouts, or try to fob you off with compensation that does not entirely cover what you are entitled to. If you don’t have experience in handling legal matters, you will not find it easy to deal with them and their aggressive tactics. That is why you need to get a car accident lawyer to represent you and conduct the negotiations on your behalf.
The lawyer will reject the low-ball or unfair offers and uphold your end to get you the highest compensation possible in your situation.
You need to determine the settlement amount
A car accident lawyer can help you to determine if the insurance company’s settlement offer is sufficient to cover everything that you are legally eligible to receive. While most offers might compensate you for medical bills and lost wages, the standard ones could overlook the pain and suffering you went through and the emotional anguish you have endured. They could also ignore the temporary or permanent loss of income-earning ability, current medication costs, and future medical expenses.
By evaluating your case with the available evidence, the lawyer will decide which type of damages you can pursue and how much compensation you should ask for.
You need to decide between accepting a settlement or going to court
In many cases, especially if there is compelling evidence that the accident occurred due to someone else’s negligence, it may be possible to get fair compensation by negotiating with the insurance company. However, sometimes an insurance company might adopt a belligerent stance and refuse to entertain any talk of a higher compensation than what they have put on the table. If that happens, you will have to file a lawsuit and take the matter to court. The car accident lawyer will do the filing for you and will represent you in court to ensure you get justice.
Many people hesitate to contact a car accident lawyer because they think it might be too expensive to hire one. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. There are many car accident lawyers who work on a contingency fee basis and that can keep your costs down. You don’t have to pay them anything upfront, and, in fact, you pay them only if they win the case for you. Then you can pay them a percentage of the compensation that you will receive from the insurance company. This compensation can vary from lawyer to lawyer, but, generally, will not exceed 33 percent.
Additionally, it won’t cost you anything to consult a car accident lawyer. Most law firms offer complimentary evaluation services. After assessing your specific case and the available evidence, they will inform you about the legal process and expenses. You can then decide if you want to hire them to represent you.
One other thing you should know is that you are not legally obliged to provide any statement on the accident to the insurance company or the defense lawyers. In fact, you must refrain from it. Consult a reputable and experienced car accident lawyer first. You don’t want anything you have said to be held against you to deny you the proper accident compensation.