A car accident can total your car and cause serious injuries. You can’t work, and medical bills are stacking up on the table.
How will you get through this time? Do you have options to receive payment for your injuries?
When you are in a car crash caused by another person, you may seek damages for your medical bills, lost income, property damage, and pain and suffering. Learn below how to get paid the highest possible amount after a car accident.
To discuss a possible case in your specific situation, speak to a car accident attorney in your area today for additional information. Car accident lawyers offer free consultations and don’t get paid unless your claim results in compensation. So, there is no risk in having a car accident lawyer review your options.
What Compensation Is Possible in a Car Accident Settlement?
Generally, an auto accident settlement covers your economic and non-economic damages after a car accident, assuming the other driver was at fault.
Economic damages are for your measurable losses, such as medical expenses and lost earnings. Non-economic damages are for things that are more subjective, such as pain and suffering and loss of companionship.
Depending on your case, some of the payments you can receive in an accident are:
- Medical costs, including past, present, and future
- Property damage repairs
- Payment for long and short-term disability, if applicable
- Physical therapy and rehabilitation
- Pain and suffering
- Mental and emotional anguish
- Lost earnings
- Decreased ability to earn a living
The insurance company for the liable driver may try to wiggle out of paying the maximum amount of what they owe you. The insurance adjuster may attempt to pay less by arguing that a particular medical treatment isn’t necessary or that the accident wasn’t the entire cause of your injuries.
A skilled car accident law firm knows what a severe car accident claim is worth and will fight for the most compensation.
Valuing a Car Accident Claim
Understanding the money you can receive and how long it will take are common questions. It’s impossible to say what every case is worth because every accident and injury differs.
However, several aspects of a car accident claim will have a major effect on its value:
- Damage to your vehicle: If the fender is bent and the car can be repaired, the property damage value will be on the lower end. But if you were rear-ended at high speed, there is a possibility the car will be totaled. It means it costs more to repair than it is worth. So, you should receive a settlement check from the insurance company for its fair market value, minus whatever was owed on the car note.
- Cost of medical bills: Serious injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries, usually have much higher medical expenses that can go on for weeks or months. The more serious the injuries, the higher the medical bills and the higher the case value.
- The anticipated costs of future medical treatments: Perhaps you fractured a vertebrae in your neck that will require several surgeries to repair. Then, rehabilitation will be needed. This lengthy prognosis will mean more medical treatments and a potentially higher settlement.
- Your pain and suffering, both mental and physical. Severe injuries with a lot of medical treatments will involve more mental and physical pain and suffering.
Your car accident attorney will carefully note the extent of these damages and demand fair compensation in your claim.
You may not get a fair value for each type of damage without the help of an experienced car accident lawyer. You can end up with much less money than you need for a full recovery if you try to settle without legal assistance.
Key Steps To Get Paid After A Car Accident
There are several things to remember when settling a car accident claim when another driver is at fault. Most car accident claims end in settlement, but too many injury victims settle for too little.
Many just want to get any amount of money in hand to cover their medical bills. Insurance companies love desperate injury victims who sign away their rights for a pittance of a settlement.
However, lawyers know proven ways to get much more for your injuries, lost earnings, and pain and suffering:
Don’t Hurry to Settle
The best settlements often go to injury victims who are content to play the waiting game with the insurance company. It is easy to say but sometimes difficult in practice. A severe car accident can leave you in a financial bind. You broke your arm and leg, your car is trashed, you have mounting medical bills, and you can’t work for at least a few weeks.
In the middle of all this confusion and stress, you get a call from the other driver’s insurance adjuster to pay your medical bills and $3,000 for your other expenses and pain and suffering. It might sound like a good deal when you are starved for cash and out of work. But you should resist this temptation.
When insurance companies offer a quick settlement to a seriously injured car accident victim, they are looking out for the insurance company’s bottom line, not your health.
They may only cover reasonable medical expenses immediately after the crash, not considering any future treatment. You might have serious injuries that will require months of treatment, maybe years.
But the adjuster may stress that this is a one-time-only offer and that you need to decide on the same day, or you can lose this great deal.
Most of the time, you should politely decline and call a lawyer. They want to settle your case for pennies on the dollar. Once they get a signature on a settlement agreement for a few thousand dollars, there is nothing else you can do to get more money later.
So, do not allow yourself to get rushed into making a critical financial decision to settle by an insurance company that benefits from paying you as little as possible. Carefully weigh any settlement offer, with the help of an experienced lawyer.
Obtain All Medical Treatments You Need
Next, make sure you receive prompt medical attention for your injuries. The sooner you have a doctor look at your injuries, the easier it will be to make a strong claim with the insurance company.
You have the burden of proof to show that you have serious injuries related to the accident from someone’s negligence. Get all the medical treatment you need, and let the process take as long as your doctor thinks you need.
Having complete medical records from your entire treatment regimen, including medical records, bills, expert statements, and prognosis, will ensure the insurance company values the claim entirely.
Hire a Car Accident Lawyer
Everyone wants to get the most money for their car accident settlement or lawsuit. After all, the other driver injured you, costing you a lot in medical bills, lost earnings, pain and suffering, and lost future income. It is only fair that they compensate you for all of your damages.
The best way to ensure you get paid after a car accident is to hire an experienced car accident lawyer who can construct a legal case with convincing evidence. The more evidence that supports your case, the harder it will be for the insurance company to short-change you. A skilled attorney with an excellent reputation will leverage their skills and experience to get you more money.
Your car accident attorney will take over the case and collect vital information to prove fault and your damages. They will gather police reports, police citations, medical records, crash evidence, eyewitness statements, and more to prove fault and the extent of your damages.
They’ll do much of the work for you, but there is evidence you can collect to increase your chances of a solid payday. To build the case, you should maintain a file of all crash-related and medical-related documents, invoices, pharmacy receipts, letters, repair reports, and other communications.
Keep a journal or video describing how the injuries hold you back and cause pain.
For example, do your accident injuries prevent you from cooking meals and dressing? Do you have difficulty getting out of bed, walking, or exercising? These pains and limitations should be noted in your journal. This information may be powerful evidence to get you more money in a settlement or verdict.
Never Take the First Offer
Even if you have a car accident lawyer, the initial settlement offer is usually a test to see if you’ll bite. Insurance companies rarely make their best offer early in negotiations. Usually, the insurance company has a range in mind for your car accident settlement and will start at the bottom number in that range.
Be prepared for insurance negotiations to be drawn out over weeks and maybe months. The more you can hang in there patiently and let your attorney do their work, the more you will get.
Listen To Legal Professionals About Your Case Value
You might hear secondhand information from family and friends about what your case is worth. Take any of these suggestions lightly because all car accident cases differ. Your car crash case may not result in the same compensation as what your brother-in-law recovered.
Your car accident case’s value depends on what you specifically went through, how severe your injuries were, and your level of pain and suffering. The major factors are how much work you missed and how the accident affects your earning ability going forward.
Your car accident attorney can help you understand the many factors that affect your car accident claim’s value. If you had a broken arm in a car accident, the case can cost you thousands, but a severe head injury can cost much more.
Your attorney will have access to recent settlements in your area and will have a reasonable idea of what the case might settle for. He will use this information to inform him during the negotiation process to secure the most funds for you.
Remember The Insurance Limits In Effect
An important and potentially limiting factor in the size of your settlement is the insurance limits in effect. If the other driver hit and injured you, it’s likely their auto insurance policy will cover your damages.
However, many drivers only carry the minimum required liability coverage, which is not much. A serious injury can quickly exceed those limits in mere days.
However, in a case where the at-fault party was working when the accident happened, a larger commercial insurance policy may cover you. Or, multiple parties may share fault for the accident, resulting in several insurance policies available to pay your damages. So, you can potentially receive more compensation in this case.
Your attorney will quickly ascertain the insurance policies in effect for the liable party and parties and understand what you can obtain in a settlement or lawsuit.
Speak to a Car Accident Attorney Today
Mickey Fine, Car Accident Lawyer
You may have significant medical bills and lost work time after a severe car accident.
If the accident wasn’t your fault, one of the best ways to get paid after a car accident is to retain an auto accident attorney. Your attorney understands the value of your car accident claim and will negotiate for the most compensation.
Contact an experienced personal injury lawyer today for a complimentary legal consultation.