Getting involved in a car accident can cause one or more injuries, as well as trigger emotional distress issues such as fear and anxiety. Although the aftermath of a vehicle collision can leave you confused as to how to address your injuries and financial losses, you should act with a sense of urgency by contacting an experienced car accident attorney.
The most important reason to enlist the aid of a car accident attorney concerns getting the compensation that you deserve for suffering financial losses. An auto collision can result in medical bills that run into thousands of dollars. Add to medical bills lost wages and the cost to repair property damage, and you might find yourself in a deep financial hole. Working with a state-licensed personal injury lawyer can help you recover financial losses.
Here are four other great reasons to enlist the aid of a car accident attorney.
Filing an Insurance Claim
Insurance companies prefer to process claims filed by policyholders that are not represented by a personal injury lawyer. Without legal representation, the insurance company processing your claim might either deny it or approve a claim valued well below what you deserve. By hiring an experienced car accident attorney, the insurance company processing your claim knows you are serious about receiving just compensation.
Your lawyer gathers and organizes the physical evidence you need to file a persuasive insurance claim.
Determining the Amount of Compensation
Filing an insurance claim and a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages requires your personal injury lawyer to calculate a fair value for compensation. Your attorney combines the tangible costs associated with medical bills, repairs to property damage, and lost wages. Non-economic damages cover the emotional issues that arise from trauma produced as the result of a vehicle collision. Your lawyer calculates a reasonable value for non-economic damages by using a formula that factors in the value of economic damages.
Prove Negligence
To file a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages, your car accident attorney must prove the presence of the four elements of negligence. Duty of care means another party assumed the legal responsibility to ensure your safety. Breaching the duty of care doctrine involves another party committing an act of negligence that caused your harm. The third element of proving negligence involves showing the judge hearing your case that the car accident produced your injuries. Finally, the injuries sustained as a result of an auto crash must have generated financial losses.
Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit Before the Deadline
Each state has established a deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit that seeks monetary damages. Also referred to as the statute of limitations, the deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit in most states is between two and four years. By hiring an experienced car accident attorney, you can rest assured that you will file a personal injury lawsuit before the expiration of the statute of limitations.
If you fail to meet the deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit in the state where you live, you can expect the court clerk processing your case to remove it from the judicial docket.
