Fighting the Insurance Company after a Car Accident
Request Free ConsultationSerious car accidents that result from driver negligence can lead to debilitating medical complications, high medical expenses, and lost earnings.
In most situations, car accident victims will deal with the at-fault driver’s insurance company. However, these insurance companies are never on the accident victim’s side and will do everything they can to undervalue an accident victim’s claim.
If you suffered injuries in a recent car accident, consult a knowledgeable car accident lawyer near you immediately. Your attorney can handle all dealings with insurance company representatives and aggressively negotiate for fair settlement compensation on your behalf.
Your lawyer can highlight the strengths of your case and even threaten the insurance company with litigation if they refuse to compensate you fairly for your injuries.
Throughout the process, your attorney will address all your legal concerns, fight for your legal interests, and pursue the maximum monetary compensation you deserve to recover for your car accident injuries and losses.
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Potential Car Crash Injuries
The injuries that a car crash victim suffers will depend primarily on the type of car accident, the accident victim’s bodily movements inside their vehicle at the time of the crash, the force of the collision, and other factors.
Since every car accident scenario is different, some car crash victims will suffer more severe injuries than others.
Some of the most common injuries that a driver or passenger may sustain in a local car accident include:
- Soft tissue whiplash injuries
- Broken bones
- Rib fractures
- Mouth and teeth injuries
- Eye injuries
- Internal bleeding and organ damage
- Spinal cord injuries
- Complete and incomplete paralysis injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Facial contusions
- Permanent scarring
- Permanent cognitive impairments
- Bruises
- Open lacerations that require stitches
If you suffered any of these injuries in a car accident that a negligent driver caused, you must obtain the medical care that you need and complete your medical treatment regimen fully.
As part of your treatment regimen, consult your primary care doctor or seek care from a medical specialist, such as a neurologist, mental health professional, or orthopedic doctor.
Additionally, if you need surgery or other medical procedures due to your car accident injuries, you might need physical therapy for weeks or months afterward.
Completing your medical treatment regimen increases your chances of recovering favorable monetary damages for your injuries. You also increase your likelihood of making a full medical recovery from your accident-related injuries.
While you focus on attending all medical appointments, your attorney can begin handling the legal components of your personal injury claim.
Specifically, they may gather the documents necessary to prove your case and draft a settlement demand letter to the insurance company before beginning settlement negotiations.
Once your medical treatment is complete, your lawyer can start negotiating with the insurance company adjuster for fair settlement compensation on your behalf.
Common Car Accident Causes and Types
When other drivers violate standard traffic laws or otherwise engage in reckless driving maneuvers, they are more likely to cause serious car accidents that leave other drivers and passengers with severe injuries.
Some of the most common traffic law violations that lead to severe accidents include violating right-of-way laws (including those that apply at traffic intersections, highway exits, and highway merge lanes), speed limits, and turn signal laws.
Drivers may also cause a severe accident if they fail to use mirrors, their vehicles’ backup cameras, and lane-change warnings.
Traffic accidents can also occur when other people drive distracted or carelessly. In many instances, drivers become distracted when they look at their phones or program a GPS navigation device while attempting to drive.
They may also become distracted if they roughhouse with vehicle passengers, turn their heads to discipline young children sitting in the backseat, comb their hair, or apply makeup while driving.
These activities cause drivers to lose their mental focus and take their eyes off the road. As a result, the driver may fail to notice another vehicle approaching and may cause a serious accident.
Another common cause of traffic accidents is intoxicated driving. In most situations, a legally intoxicated driver’s blood alcohol concentration (or BAC) meets or exceeds 0.08 percent.
When a driver has a high BAC, they may experience mental and physical impairments, including limited concentration, blurred vision, delayed reflexes and reaction time, lack of coordination, and poor judgment, all of which may severely hinder their driving abilities. They may also misjudge distances between their vehicle and other vehicles, causing serious accidents.
Finally, some car accidents happen when drivers exhibit road rage.
Road rage refers to reckless driving maneuvers that many drivers use to get ahead of other traffic, such as tailgating other vehicles, passing other cars in a designated no-passing zone, and weaving around traffic without using a turn signal.
When drivers exhibit these various types of negligence, they may cause several types of traffic accidents, including rear-end collisions, head-on collisions, T-bone accidents, and sideswipe accidents.
A rear-end collision happens when a driver negligently causes the front of their vehicle to strike the rear of another car, usually because they speed or fail to observe the road.
On the other hand, a head-on collision happens when the front of one vehicle strikes the front of an oncoming car, usually because the at-fault driver is intoxicated, not paying attention, or otherwise causes their vehicle to cross the center median strip or double-line into oncoming traffic.
A T-bone or broadside accident typically happens at a traffic intersection when a driver negligently fails to yield the right-of-way to intersecting traffic.
Finally, a sideswipe accident occurs when the side of one vehicle strikes the side of another car moving in the same direction, such as on a multi-lane highway or road.
If you suffered injuries in a motor vehicle crash that resulted from driver negligence, you are not alone. You can consult an experienced car accident attorney in your area immediately.
Your lawyer can review all of your legal options with you, file a claim with the appropriate insurance company on your behalf, and handle all written and oral communications with insurance company representatives.
Filing an Insurance Claim With the At-fault Driver’s Insurance Company After Your Accident
If another driver negligently injured you in an accident, your attorney may file a personal injury claim with the responsible driver’s insurance company.
The first part of the claims-filing process allows your attorney to gather essential documents in your case and assemble them into a settlement demand package.
Pertinent documents in a car crash case typically include medical bills, medical records, police investigation reports, expert reports, injury photographs, property damage photographs, and photographs depicting the accident scene.
Once the insurance company reviews an accident victim’s settlement demand package, they will likely decide whether to accept fault for the accident.
Often, insurers follow a playbook: delay, deny, and defend.
They’ll ignore you, hope you go away, run out the statute of limitations, and let important evidence disappear.
If you persist, they may flat-out deny your claim, again, hoping you’ll go away.
If you persist, they may defend the claim, trying to eliminate or limit liability. They may blame you or someone else for the accident.
A lawyer can get you past these tactics.
However, the first offer that an insurance company representative puts on the table usually will not compensate the accident victim fairly for their injuries. Insurance companies frequently take this approach to see if the accident victim will settle their case quickly and cheaply. After all, insurance companies want to keep as much of their money in-house as possible.
A car accident lawyer can handle all settlement negotiations, point to expert reports and pertinent medical records, and pursue the maximum monetary compensation in your case.
In most car accident claims, settlement negotiations are a back-and-forth process, where the accident victim’s attorney gradually reduces their original settlement demand while at the same time, the insurance company adjuster gradually increases their settlement offer. If the insurance company does not make you a fair settlement offer, your lawyer can file a lawsuit on your behalf.
Your attorney can estimate the likely value of your car accident case, enabling you to make informed and intelligent decisions throughout the process. If you decide to go to court, your attorney will represent you in all legal proceedings and aggressively fight for your legal interests.
Recovering Favorable Car Accident Monetary Damages
Upon suffering injuries in a car accident, your attorney can pursue a personal injury claim or lawsuit for the favorable monetary recovery you deserve.
The financial compensation that a car accident victim may recover will depend on the accident, the severity of their injuries, the specific medical treatment they underwent, and the total cost of their medical expenses and other losses.
The overall extent of their pain and suffering and any permanent limitations they suffered may affect the monetary damages that a car crash victim receives.
First, a car accident victim may recover monetary damages for their accident-related medical expenses, loss of earning capacity, or lost income.
Additionally, they can pursue and recovery compensation for their intangible losses, including their inconvenience, loss of use of a body part, loss of life enjoyment, loss of spousal consortium, pain, suffering, mental anguish, permanent disability or disfigurement, permanent scarring, or long-term care costs, such as for care at a nursing home or assisted living facility.
Your attorney will do everything they can to maximize your compensation by aggressively negotiating with insurance company representatives on your behalf or, if necessary, litigating your case to a prompt conclusion in the state court system.
Talk With an Experienced Car Accident Lawyer in Your Area Today
If you suffered injuries in a recent car accident that a negligent driver brought about, you need a skilled personal injury lawyer in your case as quickly as possible.
Under the state statute of limitations, a car crash victim must file a lawsuit within two years of their accident. Absent an exceptional circumstance, if a car crash victim does not file their personal injury lawsuit on time, the court will prevent them from receiving any monetary compensation for their injuries.
Therefore, given the time constraints, you need to retain skilled legal counsel in your case as quickly as possible. Additionally, an attorney will have experience dealing with insurance companies and their tactics.
Upon entering an appearance in your case, a personal injury attorney can aggressively investigate the circumstances surrounding your accident, file a personal injury claim on your behalf with the at-fault driver’s insurance company, or litigate your case in court.
Your attorney can also aggressively negotiate for favorable settlement compensation in your case and represent you at all legal proceedings, including a discovery deposition, civil jury trial, binding arbitration, or mediation.
Throughout the process, your attorney will advocate in your best interests against the insurance company and pursue the total amount of monetary damages you deserve to recover in your case.
Remember, you never have to fight insurance companies alone and should never try to do so. Instead, call a car accident lawyer near you for a free, no-obligation case evaluation.