Getting into an accident is a traumatic experience. You not only have to deal with what happened at the time of the injury. You also have the fallout and recovery that comes after.
Not only that: a reported 31,785 people died from car crashes in the first nine months of 2022 alone. This means getting injured in a crash is more common than you think.
Do you want to learn when hiring a personal injury lawyer makes sense? Below are some common scenarios when you’ll need to hire a professional to help you get a settlement.
You Have Severe Injuries
It shouldn’t be on you to cover medical bills if you’re injured in an accident. There should be insurance available to help you take care of your needs.
Severe injuries are more complicated than minor scrapes. Even if you don’t need much help after an accident, you never know what complications will come up in the future.
You need to ensure you have all the help you need when that happens. Working with an attorney on a personal injury lawsuit will help determine how much you should get from your case.
Your attorney will help you get not only the help you need today. They will also help you get compensation for any complications you have in the future because of permanent damage and future medical care.
You Receive the Maximum Allowable
Most insurance policies have a maximum allowable. They only pay out a certain amount of money and won’t pay anything in addition to that amount.
This is a big problem if you have injuries. A small allowable will work fine for handling things like car damage. But when your injuries cost a ton of money to deal with, you may get stuck with the bill if you leave things as they are.
In cases like this, you can go after the other driver. You may not be able to get much if the defendant doesn’t have many assets. You’ll be able to settle and get some extra money to take care of your medical bills.
But if they have enough to cover your injuries, it makes sense to go after the other person involved to get compensation.
Insurance Isn’t Cooperating
Insurance companies don’t usually have your best interests in mind. Their goal isn’t to pay as much money out to people who suffered accidents as possible. It’s to make as much money as they can.
It’s hard to do this when you pay the maximum amount in every case. Instead, insurance companies do whatever possible to pay injured people the least they can.
This means that some insurance companies won’t act in good faith. They’ll take shortcuts to reduce your payout amount and not give you what you need.
An experienced lawyer helps in this situation. They know how to communicate with insurance companies and will use that skill to help you get the compensation you deserve.
You’re Blamed for the Accident
In some situations, the other person involved in the accident may blame you for what happened. Even if this isn’t the case, it’s still a problem that you need to deal with.
It’s on you to prove the other person is at fault. This is important if you don’t want your insurance premiums impacted as much and may be at risk of not getting help.
Anything you say in this situation can be held against you. That’s why working with an experienced attorney who knows how to handle these situations is critical. Your lawyer will help you avoid implicating yourself and gather the necessary information to prove you aren’t at fault for the accident.
You Have a Unique Situation
Not all personal injuries are the same. The law changes based on the parties involved, their unique situations, and much more. These can drastically change what’s required for an accident case.
Take a pedestrian accident, for instance. The law changes based on whether or not you’re in a car and involved in an auto accident. A pedestrian accident attorney will be more qualified to handle this situation because they are uniquely experienced in these situations.
Things are different when both parties are in cars when an accident happens. A normal accident lawyer can handle these cases and help you get your settlement.
You Lack Time
Unfortunately, you may have a lot on your plate after a car accident. If it’s a bad one and you have severe injuries, you may spend much of your time at the doctor to figure out what’s wrong and work on rehabilitation.
You may not have the time to deal with an accident case in this situation. Your goal is to focus on getting better. The more time you take away from this process, the harder it is to get better.
You can count on an experienced attorney to take care of things in your absence. They can handle the heavy lifting while you focus on getting better.
It also doesn’t matter if you don’t have much money to hire an attorney. Most injury attorneys will work on contingency. This means you won’t pay a penny unless your lawyer wins, and that fee will come from your settlement amount.
Don’t Wait to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer
It’s not always easy to understand when hiring a personal injury lawyer makes sense. You’ve suffered an injury because of someone else or a company, but you aren’t sure if it warrants going after the other person for compensation.
But now that you’ve read about the situations above, you should understand when it makes sense. Don’t hesitate to contact a personal injury attorney to see what they can do to help you get an accident settlement.
Are you interested in more guides that will help you in other life situations? Check out the lifestyle posts on the blog to learn more.
