Every day, millions of people get in their cars expecting to make it to their destinations safe and sound. And yet, as many of us know, this is not always the case.
Car accidents may be as harmless as a simple scratch or scrape. In other instances, tragedy can strike and lives can be lost. In both cases, victims and their families may be asking themselves “when should I get a car accident lawyer?”. On this page, we answer just this and more.
However, if you’re searching for specific legal information regarding your motor vehicle accident, you may fill out the form on this page or call us directly for a 100% free legal review of your case by our experienced auto accident attorneys.
If you or someone you know has ever been involved in a car wreck, you probably understand that you will be dealing with insurance companies for some time afterward. This is true whether the motor vehicle accident resulted in injury or merely in cosmetic damage to the vehicles (e.g. property damage). In most cases, it is a car insurance company who is responsible for paying for the damages.
To handle car accident claims, the insurance companies will hire the top adjusters they can find. The job of these insurance adjusters, in its simplest form, is to figure out how to save their employer money by reducing the amount they pay on insurance claims to those who have suffered an injury or other damages.
As you can imagine, an experienced insurance adjuster will be very good at negotiating down the compensation amount on a car accident claim, especially if the person they’re dealing with does not really understand the law and the compensation that they may be entitled to.
Here is where a car accident attorney really proves their worth.
An experienced car crash lawyer will not only have a track record handling hundreds of similar cases, but they’ll be up-to-date with the latest state law and regulation. They’ll know how to negotiate with the insurance company, they’ll have expert witnesses on call if necessary, and they simply will not be scared to see an auto injury claim through to the end, especially if it reaches the litigation stage.
Insurance companies are always trying to save money, and a claimant who’s willing to battle it out for as long as it takes will likely cost them a significant amount in the long run. Simply put, if the insurance company sees that you are well-armed with a tireless and knowledgeable car accident attorney, they’re much more likely to offer a higher dollar amount as a final settlement.
Now that we’ve covered how a car accident lawyer can help you get a larger compensation amount, you may be asking yourself if, in your situation, you actually need one. Fortunately, this is not a particularly difficult question to answer for injury victims.
It’s all going to come down to the circumstances of your car accident. More specifically, you should consider the damage that may have occurred to the vehicle and, most importantly, any injuries that you may have suffered in the crash.
When car accidents leave the persons involved in them with injuries, the claims process becomes a lot more involved. A number of factors play a part, though the main one is the cost of professional medical attention. Victims of injuries will need to be treated not only directly after the accident, but oftentimes for months or even years afterwards.
This is because physical or even emotional conditions resulting from being the victim of an auto accident may not arise until later. Even worse is the fact that these kinds of injuries which take time to manifest, often called “latent injuries”, can be the most expensive to treat.
For example, the driver of a car involved in an accident may suffer a severe whiplash but have no perceivable injuries or pain in the days or weeks after the incident. The victim can even visit a family doctor who may not find any issues and essentially give them a clean bill of health. The auto accident victim would then speak with the insurance company and settle for a low dollar amount as they are not expecting any more medical costs to arise.
An experienced auto accident lawyer would know that whiplash can sometimes cause severe back injury which doesn’t show up until months after a crash. As a result, the attorney suggests that the injury victim visit a specialized doctor who will carefully analyze their vertebrae and spot the early signs of back injuries.
The attorney can then consider the expected cost of the back issues over the long term onto the auto accident claim or injury lawsuit, ensuring that the victim’s medical issues are covered not only in the short term but also as they grow old.
Medical costs are just one component of the damages calculation. Other damages considered by a car accident lawyer who is pursuing an insurance claim can include lost wages, both past and future.
As we mentioned early on, the goal of adjusters is to save as much money as possible on insurance claims. They may employ whatever tactic is necessary to get you to sign away your rights – whether it involves belittling your injuries, debasing your claim for lost wages, or even lying about your potential for achieving a higher compensation with the help of an auto accident lawyer.
In addition to this, any kind of information you give them will only hurt your claim, not help it. This is exactly why, if you were hurt in a car accident, you should contact an accident attorney as soon as you are physically and mentally able to do so.
Aside from speaking to the insurance company on your behalf to let them know that you’ve retained an auto accident lawyer, your lawyer will begin to collect evidence as soon as possible.
Vital evidence (such as witness testimony) can be lost, so time is absolutely of the essence when building the strongest case possible in a car accident lawsuit. Every day, if not every hour or minute, after car accidents is critical towards getting you the full compensation that you deserve.
As disappointed as you may be to hear it, an auto accident attorney will not be able to give you a dollar amount for how much your case is worth.
The reason for this is that there are a countless number of factors that are taken into account when the compensation amount is calculated after a car wreck. These factors can include the age of the victim, the extent of injuries, the damage to the vehicle, pain and suffering, the long-term medical cost (if applicable), and many more.
In fact, it’s likely that the insurance companies are the only ones who would be able to estimate the full value of a motor vehicle accident lawsuit based on the facts of the case. Of course, they will never share this number with anyone, especially the victim of the injuries. Moreover, they will enlist their best adjusters to prevent the maximum potential compensation from being paid out, no matter the circumstances.
If you or someone you love has been involved in car accidents in the New Jersey area, don’t delay in getting the legal help that you deserve. Our attorneys boast decades of experience serving the victims of car accident injuries in Jersey, earning compensation for their pain and suffering, and they can help you too.
Contact our team via the form on this page or by phone today to receive a free legal consultation. Our team will analyze your case and lay out all of the avenues for compensation at your disposal. Afterward, you’ll be more than equipped to make the right decision for you and your family.
