After a car accident that resulted in injuries, one of the things you may need to decide on is an accident settlement.
After sustaining an injury, a car accident attorney from the Law Office of Brian P. Azemika can help you secure the monetary compensation you need.
The attorney will advocate for your legal rights and interests, ensuring the insurance company cannot exploit you and your situation.
Are You Eligible for Compensation Following a Car Accident?
Before you get financial compensation for the injuries you suffered in a car accident, you need to prove the other party involved caused the collision.
The majority of car crashes take place due to driver negligence.
As the victim, you need to establish the other motorist owed you a duty of care, that they breached this duty, that this breach resulted in a crash, and that you suffered losses.
A skilled lawyer can help you collect evidence to prove the other driver’s negligence.
They can educate you about your rights, assess liability, and make sure you get all the compensation you deserve after a collision on the road.
Damages You Can Recover
Damages in car accidents come in different categories.
They include the losses you have sustained due to the car accident.
Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to recover economic and non-economic damages.
Learn more about these damages below:
- Economic damages. These damages include physical losses from a car accident. They cover medical expenses, lost income, lost earning ability, property damage, and rehabilitation.
- Non-economic damages. These include non-physical losses associated with an accident. Proving these damages can be tricky since they do not have a specific dollar value. They include loss of life enjoyment, pain and suffering, loss of consortium, emotional distress, mental anguish, and disfigurement.
- Punitive damages. While available in rare situations, punitive damages can be awarded. They don’t pay you for your losses; instead, they are meant to punish the defendant for their serious misconduct and discourage them from doing it in the future. Your attorney can determine if you can recover these damages.
Tactics Insurance Companies May Employ When Handling Your Claims
Insurers are focused on paying the least amount of compensation to claimants or denying claims altogether.
That is why you should not trust any representative from them who will try to convince you to settle your claim early.
They may use any of the following tactics:
- Make an early settlement offer. After a car accident, you may get a call from the insurance company of the at-fault driver to make a settlement offer. But this offer may not cover all the losses you have suffered. In other situations, you may not hear from the insurer. Delaying contact can make you vulnerable to accepting their lowball offer.
- Denying liability. To avoid paying your claim, the insurer may deny liability and blame you for the accident instead. Any statement you make can be used by the insurer against you or your claim. But you can avoid this situation with an attorney handling your claim.
- Misrepresenting the law. Insurers concentrate on their bottom line. To safeguard their profit margins, they will cut corners, which could mean misrepresentation. They adopt deceptive practices like refusing to pay legal claims or using threatening language. Especially if you are not educated about the terms of your insurance policy, you could be exploited by the insurer. No matter the strategies the insurance company may use, an attorney can counter them and ensure they don’t affect your claim. Often, insurance companies take claims seriously if the claimants have legal representatives. They could never trick an experienced car accident attorney who knows the law better than them.
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