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Do You Need to Hire a Lawyer After a Car Accident?

In most instances, it takes a car accident injury lawyer to ensure that accident victims recover the actual worth of their medical bills, pain, suffering, disability (if applicable) and damages to their vehicle and its contents. More on this webpage
If the circumstances surrounding the accident and its coverage level are minor, or if everyone is behaving “above board.” a reasonably intelligent accident victim can likely handle his or her claim on their own without the assistance of a lawyer. Here are a few scenarios that indicate you need the services of a vehicle accident liability attorney:

You’re in Pain or Suffered Physical Injuries in the Car Wreck
If you suffered any bodily injuries that are more severe than bumps & bruises, it’s best for you to have an experienced attorney handle your legal business. A good rule of thumb in determining this is whether or not you must make a return visit to your doctor after being initially treated for your injuries. If the doctor you see is your family’s trusted primary healthcare provider, ask him or her. When you seek damages for bodily injuries, insurance companies don’t necessarily have to abide by any predetermined guidelines when deciding how much to pay you, especially when it comes to pain and suffering. Insurance companies are more about collecting premiums than paying claims and can choose to pay you nothing. Such blanket refusals are a huge benefit of having an attorney who is looking out for your interests. If you’ve suffered broken bones, head injuries, back injuries, or any other sort of injury in your wreck, do the smart thing and call a good attorney. Have your family do it if you are unable to, and do it quickly.

The Other Driver is Hard to Deal With
Call a lawyer if the driver who caused your accident gives you a hard time either at the scene of the wreck or later or if that other driver doesn’t want to give out his contact or insurance information. Belligerent accident “victims” usually have something to hide, either from the law or their insurance company. You should see such belligerence as a serious clue that he’ll make it as difficult as possible for you to recover what you deserve. Consider it a warning that you need to seriously consider hiring a lawyer, and don’t be slow about it. More on this webpage
The Insurance Company Pressures you to Settle or Continually Harasses You
Insurance companies can be extremely difficult to negotiate with. They waste a lot of your time if you haven’t got an attorney to stand between you and them.

Insurance companies are out to protect their own interests. Their interests involve collecting premiums and paying out as little as necessary in claims. They’ll use adjusters to find ways to deny your claim. These adjusters may repeatedly contact you and ask what appears to be harmless questions about the accident or your injuries under the guise of “getting the facts straight.” But they’re usually calculated to induce you to say something to be later used against you to deny your claims. All conversations will probably be recorded. They could come back to haunt you as evidence when it’s time to appear in court.

Our accident injury clients know the best way to deal with insurance adjusters is not to deal with them at all. Adjusters don’t call our clients, they call us instead. When adjusters can’t talk to you, they can’t twist your words to use against you.

An insurance company often pressures you to settle for much less than it’s worth. We have nothing against accepting a fair settlement if it will benefit you. An unfair settlement can devastate your legal rights. When you accept a settlement, you waive your right to sue the defendant in the future. The settlement you accept is all you will ever be able to collect. So it’s important not to accept an offer unless it’s fair. The only way to determine a fair settlement offer from an insurance company that wants to victimize you is with an attorney who knows how to assess the true value of your damages and knows when you’re being low-balled.

Insurance companies know that most accident victims are strapped for cash in the wake of the wreck. They have large medical and auto repair bills that must be paid in a timely manner. Perhaps injured victims are unable to work as a result of their injuries. Their already reduced income is used for paying the monthly bills that never stop, which means there’s little, if any, money left over to pay the additional burden of accident-related expenses.

The insurance company’s strategy is to entice you with just enough fast cash that might get you back to even. What if that’s not the end of your financial peril? Settlements you accept from an insurance company before you have a lawyer on your side rarely benefit you in the long run. They’re always binding. Don’t let the defendant in your case get away with paying you less than you deserve. Call our car accident lawyers to learn what your case is actually worth to determine whether or not the defendant’s offer is fair.