Don't be afraid to DEMAND they pay YOUR full limits. The insurance company forwards a check to your attorney. This muscle often gets them to pay far more settlement money than they would have considered before suit was Long Does a Car Accident Lawsuit Take? To avoid this fate, you must forward your SR-22 to the BMC or your local DHSMV office by their deadline, along with the liability releases you obtained from each person involved in the accident. You know the number.
This is often the biggest reason there is a delay in settling a serious injury claim. As an example, if you are involved in an auto accident in Chicago that causes you $100, 000 in damages and causes the other driver $50, 000 in damages, and if the court rules that the other driver was 75 percent at fault and you were 25 percent at fault, the court will calculate your damages as follows: [$100, 000 – (25 percent times $100, 000)] = ($100, 000 – $25, 000) = $75, 000. In my career of handling over 3000 cases just like yours, I have only had one defendant pay a judgment that was not covered by insurance. How Can Seeing a Doctor After a Car Accident Help My Claim? 2- You will have a lawyer appointed to you by the insurance company, and he WILL have a conflict of interest with YOU. If the other driver(s) involved in the accident pursue(s) legal action against you–and obtain a judgment against you for damages–the BMC can suspend your license for as long as 20 years or until you satisfy the judgment by paying the damages. There are bottlenecks in the settlement process that no amount of hustle can speed up. I was driving north on Highway 1 when another driver lost control and hit me head on. While you focus on getting well, I focus on obtaining full justice for every harm and loss caused by the accident. You sign an agreement and now you are legally responsible for paying him a fee to set up your file. These companies are notorious for "low balling" the people that get hurt by their insureds.
In many cases, you might have to file a lawsuit in order to pressure the other side to issue an adequate settlement offer. Having said that, if you are reading this and significant time has elapsed since your car accident, it is never too late to visit your doctor, and you are better off doing so weeks or months later than not at all. Given the choice between going home and going to the hospital for a check-up, our attorneys generally advise that you go to the hospital. Get Your Free Consultation. A personal injury lawyer will make sure to handle your claim correctly from the beginning at no out-of-pocket costs to you.
Settlement before a lawsuit in an accident claim is going to be based almost exclusively on the victim's medical records. You can and should purchase car insurance immediately after a crash. What Are the Consequences for Uninsured Drivers With the Florida DMV Following an Accident? The facts of the crash, such as the date, location, and weather conditions. Additionally, insurance companies take advantage of people who try to represent themselves, even in settlement negotiations. So it may be there is nothing your accident lawyer can do because the attorneys is waiting on medical records or waiting for the insurance company to respond. After going up a few levels of management, they ultimately did and the lawsuit was quickly dismissed. I am married to my lovely wife Lauren and we have two beautiful daughters, Mia and Bridget. Punitive damages: If we can show that the other driver was behaving recklessly or maliciously. Reduced quality of life: You cannot move as freely, take care of yourself, or enjoy favorite activities to the extent you did before the accident. If someone else caused the accident, however, you can likely pursue compensation for injuries and damages from the at-fault party's insurance company. However, he did what every defense lawyer does, and told me that he was not going to admit fault in the answer, and was going to try to put some of the blame on the person I had hit. That defendant has never, and will never, have to pay a single red cent, although the court will never share that information with you.
However, it is our goal to take all those who contact us from wreck to check to help lessen some of the stressors that appear after an accident. But there is no question that the delay is often the result of a plaintiff's lawyer who is not staying on top of the case. At Malman Law, our car accident defense track record speaks for itself. If the police report and the evidence show that the other driver was at fault, then in most states, including Florida, they are responsible for your property damage. The legal doctrine used to determine liability after a car accident in Louisiana is called pure comparative negligence. You have received a settlement offer from an insurance company that is low. You want to put your car crash – which was likely very traumatic - behind you, right? The best way to protect your rights and ensure that you get the compensation to which you are entitled is to retain an attorney who understands how insurance companies work and can take steps to protect your rights. After impact, I had to pull off onto the side of the road due to pain in my chest and left arm (which prevented me from driving). You do not have to provide the at-fault driver's insurance company with recorded statements or records authorizations. It is also very helpful if witnesses have recorded videos or taken pictures of what happened during an accident.
Of course, you might get lucky if you were hit by a commercial driver – if the other driver was an employee of the company he or she worked for (rather than an independent contractor), you will probably be able to sue the employer. Negligent Driving Changes Lives in a Heartbeat. I got out of my car, and I apologized to the gentleman that I just hit. You are not going to jail. That is simply untrue, and borders on illegality. When people choose to violate these rules and drive faster than the speed limit or fly through red lights, they are violating South Carolinians' right to safety. If the insurance company makes a counteroffer, generally, the same number of days applies for a response from your attorney and throughout the rest of the settlement negotiations. Once it is established that the driver's BAC was at least 0.
Serious injuries can lead to lost wages if your injury keeps you away from work for any period of time. Click to Contact Our Louisiana Car Accident Lawyers Today. For example: say you've suffered $12, 000 in damages from a car wreck. One benefit of having an auto accident attorney is not having to deal with insurance adjusters or their gimmicks. At Malman Law, whether your case involves small-scale damage, catastrophic injury, or even a tragic loss of life, we have the knowledge, experience, and resources necessary to effectively pursue your claim. The process to receive compensation for bodily injuries, however, can be more complex. Other than your initial negligence, the cause of filing this suit is outside of your fault and control. If you're asking what are the most common types of car accidents and if you should seek representation if you were involved in an accident, here are some examples of when it can be a good idea to seek legal representation: - The accident caused you serious injury or the death of a loved one. While there is that chance, it is very low. How do you find out why your case is taking so long?