You’ve been in a car accident. Your car is badly damaged. Your health is suffering. You’ve seen ads on TV for personal injury lawyers…but should you call one?
If you have been injured due to the negligence of others, you deserve compensation. That’s not being vindictive. That’s being fair and respectful to yourself. That’s holding other people to a reasonable standard of accountability.
You’ll need to file a claim against the negligent party, and while you can do it on your own, there are many reasons why you should seek the help of a skilled Utah car accident attorney. A good attorney will help ensure that you get the maximum compensation for your financial losses. They will manage the stresses of dealing with Big Insurance and ensure that they don’t take advantage of you.
Here are some reasons why you stand to gain more by hiring a car accident lawyer.
They are experts in the laws surrounding your case.
Just as you might expect better results if you called in an electrician or plumber to fix something in your home, you can expect better results when you call on a seasoned expert to deal with your car accident injuries.
While personal injury law may be all new to you, an accident injury attorney helps people with their legal cases all day long, and they have likely been doing so for years. Personal injury law can be very complex, and if you are not familiar with all of the statutes that are relevant to your case, you might miss out on opportunities to maximize compensation for your legal case.
You won’t have to pay them unless you win your case.
Some people hesitate to hire a car or motorcycle accident attorney because they think they can’t afford it, but the vast majority of accident injury attorneys work on a contingency basis. This means that they do not get paid unless you do. In other words, hiring an attorney is a far lower-risk proposition than many people think.
Your first step is to find a reputable attorney who works off of contingency fees. If they accept your case, this means they believe they can win it on your behalf. If they do not secure an award for you, in most cases, you will not have to pay them. Talk to your attorney before you start working with them to make sure they abide by the “no reward-no payment” policy.
They see through lowball offers.
The defendant’s insurance company may offer what seems like a generous settlement from the get-go. However, when people jump at a settlement offer, they often find that it is not enough to adequately cover the costs of ongoing medical problems.
As kind and accommodating as the insurance company may seem, they are always trying to protect their bottom line. If they can get you to settle for less than you deserve, they have scored a big win for their company.
A good attorney can make an accurate accounting of potential medical costs related to your injuries. They can help you know when to settle and when to hold out for more. And if the settlement process is failing, they will know when to advise you to go to court.
Once you settle, you agree not to sue for further benefits. A good attorney will save you from the regret of settling for too little only to be left with mounting medical bills and no financial recourse.
They can save you from inadvertently jeopardizing your case.
Because insurance companies seek to pay out as little as possible, they will naturally look for ways to discredit you and your case. We have seen insurance companies call under the guise of collecting basic information with the real intention of getting you to say something that could jeopardize your case. We have seen insurance companies hire experts to monitor plaintiffs’ social media accounts to find a post—or comment on a post—that undermines the plaintiff’s credibility.
Your car accident lawyer can deal with the insurance company so that you don’t have to. Not only does this reduce stress in your life, it keeps you from falling prey to any underhanded tactics they may use.
They can handle messy, complex cases.
Some of the most complicated cases involve shared fault and pre-existing conditions. In a shared fault case, you may have done something that contributed to the accident, but it doesn’t mean that you don’t deserve compensation.
For example, perhaps you were making a left hand turn at night but had forgotten to turn your lights on. Just then, a drunk driver sped through the intersection and T-boned you. The insurance company may try to pin the fault on you for driving without lights. The best car accident attorneys know how to expose the negligence of the other party and keep them from pinning unwarranted fault on you.
In the case of pre-existing conditions, Big Insurance will likely try to blame your accident injuries on an injury that you sustained in the past. For example, if you threw out your back while lifting a piece of furniture five years ago, they may try to show that your ongoing back pain from the car accident is linked to the former injury—not the accident.
The best attorneys know how to present your medical history in such a way that your new injuries don’t get lumped in with the old ones.
They know how to build a compelling case.
As unfortunate as your accident injuries may be, the heart of your case does not lie in emotion, it lies in evidence. This means you must compile critical evidence and eyewitness accounts from the accident scene. You must see a doctor and follow their orders to a T in order to establish the scope of your injuries, the cost of past treatment, and the cost of potential treatment should injuries linger. You must show how your injuries limited your function and caused you to miss work. You may even be able to establish pain and suffering.
A capable personal injury attorney can guide you in providing the most compelling evidence. This includes getting the right medical care, documenting your injuries, documenting the accident, etc. If you haven’t saved or documented key pieces of evidence, you could jeopardize your case. Your attorney will make sure your case is supported by the facts necessary to make the most convincing arguments possible.
Don’t leave your physical and financial well-being to chance. Talk to our Salt Lake City personal injury lawyers. We’ll make sure your case is taken seriously by the insurance company. For decades, we’ve helped clients recover their losses after an accident injury and regain their quality of life. We’re ready to do the same for you.
Infographic
When you are involved in a car accident due to the negligence of others, it is important to hire a personal injury attorney to handle your case. That way, you can get the compensation you deserve. Other than this, there are tons of benefits you can gain from having a skilled and experienced car accident attorney by your side. Read about these in this infographic.
