3 Reasons To Call a Lawyer After a Car Accident
Have you ever been involved in a car accident? How did you go about the whole situation? Car accidents are fatal and cause great damage to property. It is important have the knowledge on how to conduct yourself in case of an occurrence of such an incident. Car accidents happen so fast, if you are not keen, you might find yourself in great trouble. Therefore, as the paramedics check your vitals to assert that you are in good condition, you should also contact an attorney at law to ensure that you are in perfect legal standing with the law. Get to familiarize yourself with reasons as to why you should contact a lawyer below.
Better Compensation
It is important to contact an accident attorney immediately an accident occurs. A lawyer is in a better position to negotiate for your compensation because of the familiarity with the law and the vast experience in dealing with car accident cases. If you decide to go up against the insurance company by yourself, there are high chances that you will lose the case and end up with little or no compensation at all. Car accident lawsuits are long and tedious processes that take a toll on people and cause a lot of stress. Therefore, a lawyer that will guarantee you of an auto collision repair for your totaled vehicle should handle the case. The lawyer also provides you with the comfort and flexibility to go about your normal day-to-day activities. This helps you salvage a lot of resources and time that would have been wasted. Legal advocates will help you get the compensation and justice you deserve.
Furthermore, an accident attorney will prevent you from settling early without examining the full extent of your injuries and car dents. This often leads to under compensation, which does not fully cover the underlying issues that progress and develop further after settlement leading to great cost implications. If you choose to settle early and get the compensation, you forfeit all you rights to claim any additional compensation from the car accident even if you sustain further complications from the accident. Legal advocates will help you get a fair, reasonable and sustainable compensation before settling.
Save Face
Moreover, when involved in car accidents, the insurance companies representing the party at fault will often require you to provide a written or recorded statement in regards to the car accident. The absence of an attorney at law will cost you greatly, in the sense that you may end up disclosing details that will completely damage your case. This will cost you the compensation that the insurance company was supposed to provide for your car dents and injuries suffered. Insurance companies often leverage this kind of information to have the case thrown out completely with the aim of trying to avoid paying the claimed compensation. Insurance companies are tactful in their moves and will often try to trick you to have the case ruled in their favor. Ultimately, you end up taking the blame for the car accident and facing the liability alone. Legal advocates will guide your responses by limiting the information you provide to the insurance company, hence ensuring that your claim is airtight and that you will be compensated. The legal advocates will prevent the insurance company from strong-arming you into accepting a sour compensation deal. Insurance adjusters are in the business of having the case closed as fast as possible and with the least amount of money compensated.
Secure Your Case and Claims
There is a lot of information and evidence that needs to be provided when making an accident claim for compensation. Relevant documentation and evidence required include medical records from the doctors indicating the extent of your injuries, photography from the scene of the incident reports from the police and sometimes the receipts from roadside assistance services. It is also important to have this evidence supported by testimonies from eyewitnesses, passengers aboard the involved vehicles and accident reconstruction experts. This information is important as it strengthens your case by identifying the main cause of the accident and other important factors that will hasten the compensation process.
An attorney at law will help you gather the relevant documentation and information at the location of the incident before the evidence is tampered with and rendered invalid hence complicating your case further. The lawyer will also be able to gain access of crucial evidence such as footage from nearby security cameras. Classified information like this may be difficult to access without the help of an accident attorney.
An accident attorney will also help you secure your case and claim by determining who is at fault. It is important to note that despite being partly at fault for the car accidents you might in some cases still qualify for damages compensation. Based on the comparative fault rule, the insurance adjustor gets to reduce your compensation proportionally by the amount of the damages you caused in the accident. The legal advocates will familiarize you with the fault rules that govern your state and help you determine whether you are eligible for compensation.
Advantages of Calling an Accident Attorney
It is quite evident that following an accident claim is no easy feat. You might be trying to nurse your wounds and injuries from the accident, conducting burial services for departed loved ones or generally just trying to get on with your life. Therefore, legal advocates come in handy by taking some of the burden off your hands and ensuring that you get the compensation you deserve. Here are a couple of benefits that you get from calling an attorney at law after having a car accident.
Susceptibility
The lawyer has to prove without any doubt that the accident occurred because of the negligence and carelessness of the defendant. This will ensure that you are compensated for your loss and injuries. Therefore, it is important to contact a lawyer immediately the doctors are done attending to you. An attorney at law that is experienced in such cases will be instrumental because he will demonstrate the key elements of neglect and careless acts that led to the occurrence of the accident. The financial damages you incur because of the accident should be compensated.
Application of Suitable Laws
Furthermore, when you are involved in a car accident you might not be in the position to make well-informed decisions. This is because you are unable to critically think and analyze the situation. In such circumstances, you will often find yourself in a frenzy that stems from the car accident. Before getting your auto collision repair done, you should contact a lawyer that is well conversant with traffic laws. This will make it easy to identify the laws that the other party violated leading to the accident prompting your compensation. The attorney at law will also ensure he identifies and applies the laws relevant to your case thus guaranteeing you a reasonable compensation package.
Valuation of Your Claim
The valuation of an accident claim is a difficult and tedious process. Many factors affect and determine the total amount that one should be compensated. Therefore, you should ensure that you contact a skilled and experienced attorney at law to handle your accident claim case. This goes a long way in ensuring that you are adequately compensated for your troubles and injuries. Some of the determining factors of an accident claim include auto collision repair charges, medical fees for treatment of the accident related injuries by doctors, extent of car dents, burial services cost if there is loss of life, lost earnings stemming from the time away from work amongst others.
Expedite Your Claim
Car accidents may have you admitted for quite some time in the hospital; this may make it difficult to make an accident claim later after full recovery because they should be filed within a stipulated amount of time. Filing for the claim after you have fully recuperated from the accident prolongs the settlement process. Therefore, it is important to ensure that you get a lawyer that will file your case in time, and gather the required evidence before it is tampered with. Legal advocates are able to identify setbacks in a case at an early stage because of their experience and skill set. They know how to get by the hurdles and ensure that justice prevails.
Scrutinize the Defendant’s Case
The defendant in any accident claim case will always try to wiggle their way out of the case by any means possible. Their defense team will present evidence that tries to prove his innocence. It is important to contact an accident attorney that will go over the evidence presented critically and carefully to ensure that there is no foul play. An attorney at law will be able to scrutinize the evidence presented and weigh your chances of winning the case and getting compensation.
Timely Compensation Settlement
Court cases often prolong as the defendants try to shift blame to avoid compensating the affected party. An accident attorney will help you avoid such issues. Instead, you will get to use the time to recuperate from the injuries sustained during the accident and immerse yourself in your usual day-to-day activities. Legal advocates have the mandate to follow up on your compensation claim process and ensure that you get the payment within the stipulated time. This ensures that the process is smooth and seamless.
Litigation
The defendant’s legal team may at times be reluctant to make compensation payments. Therefore, it is important to have a lawyer onboard from the moment the incident occurs. The attorney at law will have all the relevant information concerning the case that will allow him or her to advise you on the route to take with the case. The next cause of action after facing resistance from the defendant is to proceed with the matter to court. The case may easily be thrown out especially if you are ill represented or you do not have an attorney at law by your side despite presenting a legitimate accident claim. Well-versed legal advocates increase your chances of winning the case hence allowing you to get the most out of the compensation pay out.
Avail Medication and Treatment
Contacting an attorney at law after getting into an accident will facilitate treatment of your injuries and medication. It is important to get immediate assessment by doctors to ensure that you have not sustained any serious injuries that may lead to further complications. Lawyers usually have links with medical service providers thus fostering a quick medical response. The doctors not only ensure that you are able to recover from the injuries but also act as witnesses and provide information on the extent of injuries that determine the amount of compensation you get.
Decision Making
Moreover, when involved in a car accident there are two routes you can take to seek for compensation. You may choose to file for an insurance claim or a personal injury lawsuit. Both processes take up a lot of time especially if you are not conversant with the law. Taking the matter to court should be the last course of action because the court has to look over the evidence presented in order to determine the case, which takes a lot of time. However, it might be your only option especially if the defendant is reluctant to take up the responsibility for the accident. An accident attorney will be able to access the situation from an informed point of view, after going through the evidence provided and advise you accordingly on the route to follow. This elaborate measure will ensure that you are compensated for the injuries and losses incurred because of the accident.
You stand to lose a lot by not contacting your accident attorney when involved in a car accident. It is important to familiarize yourself with the traffic laws and use the expertise of a lawyer to get adequate compensation for losses incurred. Nevertheless, it is important to abide by the traffic rules and stay vigilant at all times for your safety and that of other road users.