As the saying goes, there is no time like the present to hire a car accident lawyer. The moment the insurance company learns about your crash, they begin to protect themselves. Insurance companies will take your recorded statement before you’ve hired counsel. They’ll attempt to settle your personal injury case before you’ve even seen a doctor.
As the victim of negligence, you should be looking to protect yourself as well. You can protect yourself by hiring a lawyer to pursue your personal injury claim for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages. This isn’t simply about a small legal issue, it is about your health.
Hire a Car Accident Lawyer to Protect your Rights
At first, many people don’t believe they need legal representation for a car accident case. Victims of negligence often believe their pain will go away and the insurance company will do right by them. Quite often, the victims wait weeks or even months to realize that the insurance company is not looking to help them and that their “fender bender” was more serious than they originally believed and they are still in pain.
An experienced Florida car accident attorney can help you file a claim for your medical expenses and the rest of your damages. Personal injury lawyers typically work on a contingency fee basis. That means that if you’ve been involved in a car crash and you hire an attorney, you only pay the attorney if you receive a settlement or a recovery.
If you or a loved one has been involved in a car accident and you’re still in pain, call Knapp Accident & Injury Law today for a free initial consultation.
Liability Issues
When questioned by police at the scene of a crash, defendants will quite often admit to being at fault. Many will apologize for their carelessness and offer to help in any way they can. However, it is not rare for a defendant to later change their story. Once they realize that their rates will go up, or that their insurance policy could possibly pay for your medical treatment, many will change their story.
Proving liability is essential to winning your personal injury case. An experienced car accident attorney will investigate your accident immediately. They will know the information needed to document and prove a liability theory in your case.
Frequently, a savvy personal injury attorney can collect surveillance footage of your accident before it is erased. I have had several cases where video footage of the crash proved a defendant was lying.
Property Damage and Causation
Many people are so shaken up after a car accident, that they don’t take photographs of the damage to their vehicle. Without your own photographs of the damage, these accident victims are left at the mercy of the insurance company and the photographs they are willing to provide. A competent personal injury attorney will get photographs that reveal your vehicle’s damage in the best light right away.
Remember, insurance companies are for profit businesses and they want to save money in any way that they can. Insurance adjusters are employed by insurance companies to do one thing: pay as little on your claim as possible without getting sued. Therefore, adjusters are seeking any reason not to pay you what is fair for your injuries and damages.
Mild to moderate property damage is often the excuse used by insurance adjusters not to pay you fairly for your claim. Insurance companies and their adjusters know that juries respond to photographs. If an insurance company’s attorney shows a jury a photo of a vehicle with minimal damage, they know that the jury is less likely to give the injury victim a large verdict. That is why victims must protect themselves.
Medical Treatment and Injuries
Beyond their primary care physician and dentist, most people do not know many doctors. Additionally, they may not realize that many doctors (especially primary care physicians) do not accept accident victims as patients.
When a person is a victim of negligence, they’ll often not know which doctors will treat them. An experienced personal injury attorney will have a thorough knowledge of the doctors in your area.
An experienced personal injury attorney will be able to help you find high-quality doctors. In turn, those doctors will help the victim heal more effectively and quickly from their injuries. All the while, the attorney is able to build a strong case for the victims damages. Ultimately, your entire car accident case is made stronger by involving an attorney early on in your medical care.
Hire an Experienced Car Accident Lawyer Today
Insurance companies make profits by receiving premiums from their insureds and paying as little to claimants as possible. If a victim of negligence waits too long to hire a personal injury attorney, they are giving the insurance company an advantage. The insurance company and adjusters will waste no time building their defense to your injury claim. If the insurance company has their way, the claimant will lose their case entirely.
When you’ve been involved in a car accident, time is of the essence. If a victim waits too long to hire a personal injury attorney, their case will be damaged or possibly defeated before it even begins. It is also important to bear in mind that there is a statute of limitations that limits how long you can wait to file a lawsuit for a personal injury case. If you miss that deadline, your case can no longer go forward.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident, call Knapp Accident & Injury Law. We are ready to investigate your case and help you begin the road to recovery.
