There Is No Time To Waste After Car Accident Injury
Car accident injuries and property damage range from mild to severe. Being hurt in a car accident means you need to seek immediate medical attention, no matter how minor your injuries may be. After medical attention has been received, your next call should be to an experienced car accident lawyer.
There are time restrictions in how long you have to file a legal claim after receiving car accident injuries. These time restrictions cause many cases to fail before they even have all of the evidence they need to progress through the legal process. A personal injury and car accident lawyer in your state can guide you regarding your state’s restrictions and how they apply to your individual circumstances. But you should always remember, regardless of where you live, that time is not on your side when it comes to filing a car accident injury claim.
Many people believe they can recover first, then pursue damages through a car accident claim. Others think they have to have all of their expenses documented before they can talk to a lawyer. This is simply not true, as your car accident injury costs may continue throughout your life. You need a personal injury lawyer to help you from the very beginning, after you seek immediate medical attention. Your family and friends can help you gather evidence for your case while you are recovering, so nothing should delay speaking with a qualified attorney.
Medical insurance can be tricky after a car accident. You may quickly go through funding of your policy and your income may be reduced or stopped altogether as you recover. This means you will have no money to pay your bills and your lifestyle will drastically change.
The party who is responsible or at fault in the accident may be criminally charged through law enforcement. But more often, there is only a civil suit to compensate injured victims and hold the driver or other party accountable. Whether or not criminal charges are filed, you may still proceed with your civil case to get the compensation you are owed.
Who decides whether a car accident claim is valid?
Injuries do not always appear immediately following a car accident. Some take days or even weeks to manifest. In these cases, you may not be thinking about filing a claim. Still, there is limited time for filing a claim, based upon your state laws. To determine whether a case is valid, many factors must be taken into consideration.
As examples of these factors, injury documentation and medical treatment provide important evidence. These items must be documented as injury and financial damages evidence in your case. You may file a claim while your car accident injury treatment is still ongoing. You do not need to wait until you have a clear idea of your diagnoses or prognoses, before talking to a car accident lawyer. You need instead to start the filing process for insurance and personal injury claims as soon as possible.
Court Case Filing Time Limits
There are statutes of limitations – time limits – for filing of every type of claim in your state. These laws affect whether your case will go forward when it is filed. The type of injuries suffered also affect your statutes of limitations. There is little to no leeway on these statutes, so you must know them and respect the time constraint as being concrete. Do not be fooled into thinking that insurance settlement discussions mean you do not need to prepare a case under the statutes of limitations. Your settlement negotiations may stall and then where will you be, if it is too late to take your case to court?
Settlement and Legal Assistance
There are many circumstances of low settlement offers from insurance companies, particularly when they know you have little to no legal recourse. If you are not actively preparing for a trial possibility, the insurance company will only offer low amounts, if any at all. You may not even receive half of a fair amount, according to what you are owed for your injuries and other costs.
Before accepting any settlement offer, you need the guidance of a qualified personal injury car accident lawyer. The lawyer will calculate your true damages to negotiate the right amount for settlement. He or she will deal directly with the insurance company for you, taking away the immense stress you are under when seeking fair compensation. A lawyer will work to ensure all of your medical costs, lost income, pain and suffering, property damage and other costs are resolved.
