Being involved in a car accident is not a good situation, especially if you have injuries and damages to deal with. Fortunately, there is a branch of law that gives you the right to seek compensation for your damages and injuries, and this branch of law is called personal injury law. While you do not have to hire a lawyer to help you settle, it is often a good idea to do so. If you are not sure if you should or not, here are three questions to think about.
How Severe Are Your Injuries?
A lot of car accidents are minor, and they leave people with very few injuries; however, there are also cases when the injuries are extremely severe. In some cases, people are left with permanent injuries they will live with for the rest of their lives. In most minor car accident cases, handling the settlement alone is fairly easy to do. In fact, settling a minor car accident case is usually fast and simple, and you can usually get a few bucks out of the deal.
The problem with handling a major case yourself is having the knowledge to know how to do this. If you are suffering permanent or major injuries from the accident, you really should consider hiring a lawyer to help you. It's not easy settling a major case on your own, especially when you are struggling with health problems after the accident.
Is the Other Party's Insurance Company Willing to Negotiate?
The second thing to analyze is how willing the insurance company is to negotiate. Has the insurance company even agreed to take the fault for the accident? If the insurance company is fighting you about any part of the case, you may have a tough road ahead of you if you handle the case alone, even if you only have minor injuries.
When you are ready to talk to the insurance company after the accident, you can find out how willing they are to settle. You can ask the questions you have, and you can base what you do on the responses they give you. If you feel that they are not going to work with you the way you want them to, go and talk to an attorney about your case.
Do You Understand How Personal Injury Cases Work?
One of the main problems you can experience if you handle your case alone is losing out on compensation for things you didn't know you could ask for. For example, do you understand how to ask for damages relating to emotional trauma? Most people do not know that they can receive compensation for this.
Also, do you know how compensation works for loss of future income? If you incurred injuries that will prevent you from earning the same amount of income in the future, you may be able to receive compensation for this.
There are many things you can receive compensation for after a car accident. Unfortunately, average people do not know how this works. The best part about hiring a car accident lawyer is that you will have a knowledgeable, experienced person helping you fight for what you are legally entitled to. The result of this usually amounts to receiving more money in compensation from the accident. Why settle for less than what you could receive if you don't have to?
If you are not sure what you should do, you could talk to a car accident lawyer at firms like Speers Reuland & Cibulskis, P.C. to get advice. Most car accident lawyers offer free consultation appointments, and you can schedule one by contacting a law office today.
