If you’ve ever been involved in an auto accident, then you know how scary it can be. On top of the incident itself, the aftermath can be lengthy and stressful… coordinating with your insurance company, finding medical assistance, vehicle damage repair, and more. Throughout this process, it may be beneficial to hire a personal injury attorney to assist with the claims process and to ensure that you’re getting the necessary compensation to account for all related expenses.
Why Hire a Lawyer?
The primary reason that people hire attorneys is to assure that they are gaining fair compensation to cover care & medical expenses. Allowing an attorney to take care of a case also gives victims time to recover from the accident by allowing their body to heal. Additionally, a lot of attorneys don’t require a payment until they win the case. Insurance companies will want to settle claims for as little money as possible without giving you the opportunity to receive more compensation. The issue with this is that oftentimes you may have internal injuries that take longer to show up. If this happens, you can’t gain more compensation if there’s already been a settlement.
Should I Always Hire a Lawyer?
If there aren’t any damages or injuries following an accident, then the claim should be fairly simple and not require an attorney. Even minor damages may not cost as much to repair compared to hiring an attorney, so the decision to hire one is completely circumstantial. However, it’s important to note that even minor injuries can sometimes require doctor appointments – leading to not-so-cheap expenses. That being said, consider hiring an attorney regardless of whether or not the damages / injuries from your accident were major or minor. Other situations when it’s necessary to hire an attorney are:
- Major injuries (broken bones, severe head injury, etc)
- Multiple passengers involved in the accident were injured
- The accident resulted in one or multiple deaths
- A pedestrian was hurt
- High medical bills
- Inaccurate police reports and / or insurance claims
How do I Find a Good Personal Injury Attorney?
The single most important thing to do when looking for a car accident attorney is to do thorough research. We recommend looking for these 5 things:
1. Experience: You want the person managing your claim to have thorough experience working with claims similar to yours – especially with successful outcomes. This will make you feel much more secure.
2. Reviews: Looking through online reviews of different attorneys will give you a better idea about how efficient they are. Despite being helpful, this requires a bit more research. Don’t believe every single review online because a lot of websites are skewed. Also, take note of repeated complaints and positive aspects that you see in the reviews. If multiple people say the same thing, then it is most likely true.
3. Referrals: Ask friends and family you trust who were in past car accidents. Chances are, they had to hire a lawyer for their case. If they had a positive experience, then they will almost always recommend their attorney and provide you with necessary information and details about their process.
4. Location: Try finding a lawyer that’s within your community because they will be the most familiar with local laws, regulations, and medical service information.
5. Effective Communication: The final thing to look for in an attorney is their communication. Do they value your case? First impressions are everything, so make sure that you have an initial consultation with your attorney to figure out how personable they are & how much insight they provide to you about the case process.
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