If you have been involved in an accident and your vehicle has been damaged, you may be entitled to compensation. If you were at fault for the accident and the other party was at fault, then you will likely be able to file a claim with your insurance company. However, if there was no fault on either side, then you may be able to sue for damages without help from your insurance company. A claim lawyer can help you file a lawsuit against the person who caused the accident and recover damages from them.
Auto claim lawyers provide legal services to car owners who have been injured by someone else. A car accident can cause serious injuries and even death, so you need to make sure that your rights are protected.
The Auto Claim Lawyers at O’Connor Law Group has over 20 years of experience helping people get the compensation they deserve from insurance companies. We have helped hundreds of people fight for their rights in court and win millions of dollars in settlements for them.
If you have been injured in a car accident, call us today at (888) 585-5455 for a free consultation about your case with one of our auto claim lawyers.
When you have a car accident, your first instinct may be to file a claim with your insurance company. In some cases, this is the right move. But in others, it’s not.
If you have been involved in an auto claim and have questions about how to proceed, contact an experienced auto claim lawyer who can help.
It’s important to understand that filing a personal injury lawsuit can be costly and time-consuming. Depending on the severity of your injuries and the amount of money at stake, it could take years before you see any recovery.
By hiring a qualified attorney, you will reduce your legal expenses by avoiding unnecessary court costs and allowing you to focus on recovering lost income and medical bills.
If you have been involved in an auto accident, it is important that you contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. You have a legal right to compensation for your injuries, and you need an experienced attorney who will fight hard on your behalf to get the most money possible.
The first step towards recovering compensation after an accident is seeking medical treatment at the scene of the accident. If you do not receive medical attention at this time, then it may be several hours before someone else can help you. In addition, there is often damage to both vehicles that need to be assessed before anyone can tell how serious the accident was and what needs to be done to repair them (or what will happen if they are totaled).
It is always important that you talk with your insurance company right away after any car accident so that they can determine what coverage applies and what damages need to be settled.
Auto Claim Lawyer
The auto claim attorney can be a great help for you if you have an accident and your vehicle is damaged or stolen. The auto claim attorney will look out for your best interests and make sure you get the compensation you deserve.
If you have been injured in an accident, it is important to take legal action against the driver who caused it as soon as possible. You should not wait until the case is closed before filing a lawsuit. If the driver refuses to take responsibility for their actions, then they may be liable for damages that occur after the accident occurs.
An auto claim lawyer is a person who will help you in the event of an accident. This person will help you with everything from filing claims and collecting money, to negotiating with the insurance company.
The auto claim lawyer will be your main point of contact while dealing with the insurance company. The main goal of this person is to try and get as much money as possible for you, your family and loved ones.
The auto claim lawyer should also be able to negotiate with the insurance company on your behalf so that they will pay out more than what they originally offered. If possible, the auto claim lawyer should be able to reduce their fees as well.
Auto claim lawyers can help you save money on your car insurance. Auto claim lawyers are professionals who help victims of auto accidents get the compensation they deserve for medical bills, lost wages, and other damages.
Auto claim lawyers are also helpful in negotiating with insurance companies to reduce your car insurance premiums. They will work with your attorney and make sure you are getting the maximum amount possible from your case.
Auto claim lawyers will help you recover everything that was stolen or damaged during an accident. If someone steals your car after an accident, it is important to have a lawyer on board to protect your rights.
If you have been injured in an auto accident, you may be entitled to compensation under the law. If you have questions about your rights and responsibilities, call the Law Offices of Richard L. Reibstein to speak with a qualified auto claim lawyer.
You May Be Eligible for Compensation
If you were involved in an accident with another vehicle or object, such as a tree, utility pole or guardrail, and suffered injuries that are not covered by your insurance policy, you may be eligible to file a personal injury claim. For example, if someone caused an injury by running a red light and causing an accident with your car, you could file a personal injury claim against that person’s insurance company.
How much will it cost?
- The amount of compensation you receive will depend on factors including:
- The severity of your injuries;
- How long it takes for them to heal;
- How long it takes for them to recover from their injuries;
- The type of treatment needed; and
- Your future medical needs.
What Will My Car Accident Lawyer Do?
While much depends on the specifics and the complexity of your car accident case, in general, a lawyer can:
- communicate with the other driver’s insurer
- obtain the necessary evidence with respect to fault for the accident
- organize your medical records and bills
- communicate with your healthcare providers to obtain missing records
work with your doctors to make sure they provide the medical information you need so that you can prove damages in your claim
organize and present the evidence in order to prove liability and damages
negotiate with lien holders on your claim (such as health, disability, or workers’ compensation insurers) to potentially reduce the amount of those liens, and
negotiate a satisfactory settlement with the insurance adjuster or defense attorney.
- Let’s look at a couple of these things in-depth.
- Communicating with the Other Driver’s Insurer
In any personal injury case, your lawyer will open up a line of communication with the insurance adjuster for the other party (or parties) involved. The adjuster has the pocketbook, so it is critical for a plaintiff’s lawyer to have good communication and a good relationship with the adjuster.
Obtaining Necessary Evidence of Liability
A good lawyer can help obtain all of the evidence that you will need to prove liability in a car accident claim. Although you may have already taken photographs of the accident scene, your lawyer will probably go back to the scene him/herself to see what it looks like. While a picture may be worth a thousand words, actually seeing the scene can be worth a thousand pictures.
The lawyer will make sure to get all of the accident or police reports in the case and will often speak with the investigating police officers and witnesses. A good lawyer will leave no stone unturned when it comes to obtaining evidence of liability. Learn more about proving fault for a car accident.
Obtaining Necessary Evidence of Damages
This is where a good lawyer can be essential to your case, especially when you’ve suffered significant car accident injuries.
It is critical to obtain all documentation related to your injuries, but it isn’t always easy to get your hands on those records and bills from healthcare providers. Although the records are technically yours, and you have an absolute right to them, sending medical records to patients and lawyers is just not a healthcare provider’s first priority.
Small doctors’ offices may not have the staffing or the time to respond to medical record requests on a timely basis. Large hospitals may have specific procedures that must be followed in order to respond to medical record requests. If you don’t follow their procedures (which they often don’t publicize very well), they simply won’t respond to your request.
Then, when the healthcare provider does respond to the request, the records may be incomplete. Any lawyer’s secretary or paralegal will tell you that they often have to request the same records more than once and that they have to follow up endlessly with the provider’s office.
Finally, it may turn out that the doctor did not use the “magic words” as to causation, prognosis, and disability in his or her notes. In order to successfully prosecute any type of personal injury claim, you must be able to prove, through medical evidence,
exactly what your injury, disability, or physical limitation is, and
that it was caused by the defendant’s negligence.
Doctors often don’t mention the causation and extent of the injury or disability in their medical records. If this happens in your case, your lawyer will write the doctor and ask for a special letter in which the doctor gives his/her opinion that the accident caused your injury or disability and that, as a result of the accident, you will be hindered or disabled for a specific period of time.
Negotiating With Lien Holders
If you received benefits from a health, disability, or workers’ compensation insurer, that insurer will have a lien on your claim. A lien means that the lien holder gets paid before you do, out of any settlement or judgment you receive. A good lawyer will work with the lien holder to try to get the lien holder to reduce its lien. This is important work. Every dollar less that the lien holder takes is one more dollar that goes into your pocket. Learn more about healthcare provider liens on personal injury settlements.
Negotiating With Insurers/Defendants
Negotiation is a very specific skill (some might even call it an art). A personal injury lawyer is always going to be far better at settling a car accident case than a layperson would be. A good lawyer knows how much the case is worth and knows how to work the case and conduct the negotiations in order to arrive at the best outcome for the client.
When Can I Handle a Car Accident Claim Myself?
If you weren’t hurt all that badly, if you’re comfortable gathering necessary evidence and documents, and (most importantly) you’re ready and will
How Car Accident Settlements Are Calculated
First things first: Knowing the average car accident settlement amount isn’t very useful to victims, because every car accident settlement is calculated based on the unique circumstances of the collision.
Crash victims who sustain only minor property damage, for example, would be offered far less money from an insurer to settle a claim than those who lose loved ones to an accident or who sustain permanent injuries.
Car accident settlements are intended to cover the losses a crash victim experiences. Typical car accident settlement amounts are based on:
- Medical bills
- Lost wages
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Property damage
How Long Will It Take to Get a Car Accident Settlement?
Car accident settlements typically occur fairly quickly, which is one advantage of settling a claim versus pursuing a lawsuit.
According to Martindale-Nolo, it took an average of 10.7 months for collision victims to receive a car accident settlement. More than half of the victims were able to resolve their claims within six months.
How Much Can I Get for My Car Accident Claim?
The amount of compensation available for a car accident claim depends on the extent of damage suffered and other factors.
Data on average car accident settlement amounts vary by source. The Insurance Information Institute reports the average claim for bodily injury after a collision was $20,235 in 2020, while the average property damage claim was $4,711. However, a Martindale-Nolo survey of readers who made car accident claims between 2015 and 2020 reported an average settlement of $23,900. Most received less than $10,000.