How a Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help You
Most people don’t realize all the ways a personal injury lawyer can help them. A personal injury lawyer is beneficial because they know the legal system, they are talented negotiators, and they know how to ensure your insurance coverage does what it’s supposed to — cover your losses. This article will help explain how a personal injury lawyer can ensure you get the most from your insurance claim.
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Jeffrey Johnson
Insurance Lawyer
Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...
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UPDATED: Oct 2, 2022
It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.
We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.
Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.
UPDATED: Oct 2, 2022
It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.
We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.
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After incurring injuries and damages following a car accident, you might not be sure what to do next with your personal injury claim. New Link Destination help you navigate the legal system, consider hiring a personal injury lawyer to claim compensation for the damages you’ve incurred.
Some people might already be familiar with the process of making an insurance claim. However, if you have not experienced being in that position before, you might not know what your rights are and what the best way is to make a car accident claim.
Read on to find out exactly how a personal injury lawyer can help you win your claim. Then find legal help for your claim today!
Personal Injury Lawyers Know the At-Fault Legal System
In an at-fault system, the negligent party’s insurance company or insurer is liable for the payment of the damages incurred due to the car accident. Personal injury lawsuits may be filed for car accident compensation.
However, in order to claim for damages, you must prove that the at-fault party was negligent through different pieces of evidence. The majority of states in America conform to the at-fault insurance system.
California, for example, adheres to the at-fault system in the same way Georgia does. If you have gotten into an accident in San Francisco, you’ll undergo the at-fault processing claims.
It’s best to hire an attorney in the area to help you with your case.
Meanwhile, if you have a case in Duluth, Georgia, try to get a hold of services offered by Duluth accident injury lawyers.
Getting a personal injury lawyer is beneficial if you are involved in a car accident in an at-fault state. Having a lawyer will ensure that you will have the necessary evidence and arguments to strengthen your claim.
Although you have probably already taken photos of the car accident, the lawyer will most likely go back to the scene of the accident and investigate for themselves. The lawyer will make sure that your accident reports are complete. They will also speak with the witnesses and the officer assigned to your case for further information about the accident.
Your lawyer will make sure that your evidence is strong enough for you to file a claim.
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Personal Injury Lawyers Know How to Negotiate
Ideally, you will be paid a sizable settlement equivalent to your damages and injuries. However, this is not always the case. You may end up fighting with the insurance company over the amount of settlement that you think you deserve and the amount that the insurer is willing to pay.
After being injured in a car accident, you are entitled to compensation for damages and losses. In an at-fault state, you have two options to get compensation for damages: filing a lawsuit or resolving the claim with a voluntary settlement with the at-fault party’s insurance company.
Resolving through voluntary settlement is an easier and more cost-effective way of claiming compensation for damages. You will also save time and lessen the expenses needed for court trials.
However, determining the fair value of your losses and damages can be difficult because it involves many factors. The factors you should consider are the following:
- Special damages – loss of earning capacity, lost wages, medical expenses, and amount of property damage. Special damages are economic losses you suffered.
- Past and future economic losses – loss due to the injuries suffered from the car accident.
- General damages – pain and suffering, humiliation and embarrassment, mental anguish and shock, loss of reputation, loss of consortium, loss of society and companionship, and emotional distress. General damages are non-economic damages where the money is only a substitute.
It may be easy to calculate the amount of medical expenses, rehabilitation expenses, and lost wages. However, there is a problem when you start to compute for the general damages.
General damages are hard to compute because there is no hard and fast rule in calculating emotional damages.
These circumstances are where a personal injury lawyer steps in. The lawyer will know how much the damages are worth. The insurance adjuster also knows how much the insurer is willing to pay. Thus, the lawyer will bargain with the insurance company for the final amount of damages they should pay.
The lawyer will negotiate for the settlement. Negotiating well is a skill that most people do not have. Having a personal injury lawyer available to negotiate for your claims is always better than negotiating through a layman or trying to do it yourself.
The Insurance Company is not on Your Side
You will need the help of a lawyer if you are fighting against an insurance company. Sometimes, an insurance company will deny your claim or delay the approval of your claim.
If these instances happen, then you may need to take legal action, and this is when a lawyer comes in. The common reasons for denying the claim are:
- The insurance policy does not cover the specific loss you are claiming
- The loss is too minor
- There was allegedly no loss at all
- The claiming party also took part in the accident
The reasons mentioned above are legitimate reasons for the denial of an insurance claim. However, there are instances wherein the insurance company has no legitimate reason in denying your claim. Some companies even use vague words and policies to mislead the claiming party.
Some insurance companies use bad faith in processing insurance claims. The insurer might fail to investigate the accident promptly, refuse to pay benefits, not settle the dispute, or require unreasonable requirements and paperwork before processing the claim.
The main benefit of taking legal action by having a lawyer is that it helps you determine and receive a fair settlement for your damages. Aside from that, you may also claim additional benefits due to the bad faith of the insurance company in processing your claim.
You may also claim for attorney’s fees because you were compelled to file a lawsuit.
It can seem easier to resolve differences with the insurance company on your own. However, the insurance company might not give you the equivalent amount of the damages you sustained.
Thus, it is vital to get the services of a lawyer for them to protect your rights when you are fighting someone else or another insurance company for a car accident compensation claim.
Personal Injury Lawyers are Beneficial
Most people do not need lawyers in making small claims. Some people are comfortable with gathering information, procuring pieces of evidence to strengthen their car accident claims, and negotiating with the insurer themselves.
However, doing it on your own might not serve your best interest and your claim’s worth. Thus, getting a personal injury lawyer will ensure that your rights are protected and that your best interest is prioritized, and having a personal injury lawyer can make winning your claim easier. Find the best lawyer for your case now.
Find the right lawyer for your legal issue.
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Jeffrey Johnson
Insurance Lawyer
Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...
Insurance Lawyer
Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.