When You Know that You Need an Attorney
When it comes to car wrecks, most accidents result in only property suffering damage. When it comes to damaged property, insurance companies have very little leeway to cheat the victim out of compensation. In most cases, if your car was the only thing damaged in the wreck, then you can likely resolve your situation and obtain restitution from the insurer. On the contrary, if you’ve suffered an injury or a loved one has been killed in a car wreck, then you must seek the help of an accident injury lawyer if you want to secure the compensation you merit. Unfortunately, the greater the value of the damage you have suffered, the harder it usually is to obtain fair compensation from an insurance company, which has the primary motivation of making money and not helping people. In order to protect their bottom line, insurance companies will expend a great effort, so you need the help of a skilled attorney if you are going to have any chance of success.
Look out for Pushy Insurance Adjusters
As the value of the possible compensation increases after a car accident, so does the likelihood that the insurer will assign one of its shrewdest and most experienced adjusters to deal with the claim. No matter how much you deserve to be compensated, the insurance company is only concerned with saving its money, and that means finding a way to deny your claim or at the very least reduce the size of your settlement. These are clever adjusters who know how to truck inexperienced accident victims. If they think you have a strong case, then they will offer you a settlement that is far less than you actually obtain, hoping you will take the bait. Particularly if they offer you a settlement before you hire an attorney, then that settlement is probably suspect, designed to prevent you from seeking competent legal aid. You need to have a skilled accident injury lawyer review any settlement offer before you accept it. Only an experienced eye can tell the difference between an equitable offer and an unfair one.
When the insurance adjuster cannot hustle you into signing away your right to sue in return for a sub-par settlement, they will attempt to trick you into affecting your own ability to be compensated. They will ask you a slew of questions designed to get you to admit your liability or to accidentally downplay the severity of your injuries, so they can deny or at the very least diminish the size of your compensation package. At our Law Office, our attorneys have 20+ years of experience handling accident injury cases, so we know what a fair settlement offer looks like. Moreover, we buffer our clients from all interactions with the insurance company, so they can’t fall prey to a confusing line of questioning. We will not let our clients get hustled by fast-talking insurance adjusters.
It’s He Said/or She Said, so You’re Going to Need Evidence
There are at least two sides to every accident story. While you might be telling the truth, and the other driver might be lying, you’re going to need more than your word to win a court case. Finding evidence is difficult to impossible for a novice. The accident injury lawyers and associates at our Law Office have been investigating accident scenes for as long as we’ve been litigating cases. We know how important it is to investigate quickly and diligently in order to have the best opportunity to find the needed evidence. On a busy roadway, evidence disappears immediately, so we begin searching for proof immediately, sequestering and examining all involved vehicles, locating and interviewing witnesses, analyzing any forensic evidence, reviewing police reports, and uncovering any available video. We know your word is not enough, so we will do whatever we can to prove your word.
Beware the Prejudice of Juries
There are certain circumstances in which jurors may have negative preconceived notions about certain elements of an accident case. For instance, some people have trouble accepting the validity of soft tissue injuries like whiplash, or muscle sprains, strains, and pulls. Many jurors come into a case not accepting that these injuries are as deserving of monetary compensation as more tangible harms like broken bones. In fact, soft tissue injuries can often take longer to heal than broken bones and can sometimes mask much greater problems in the long run. A well-seasoned and schooled accident injury attorney, however, can convince even the most hostile juror that the injuries you have sustained are legitimate and merit restitution.
