If you’ve been injured in a motor vehicle crash, you may be questioning whether you should hire a car accident attorney or try to negotiate with the insurance company on your own. The answer is nearly always that you should consult a car accident lawyer right away–ideally before you engage with the insurance company. Here are 8 reasons.
Unfortunately, this is true even when you’re dealing with your own insurance carrier. Insurance company profits depend on keeping payouts low compared with premiums collected. From the first moment you talk with them, they’re looking for ways to minimize your claim or avoid paying you anything–and one of those ways is to convince you that you don’t need a lawyer. When you hire a car accident attorney in Jacksonville, that lawyer is in your corner every step of the way.
One recent study showed that car accident victims represented by attorneys received settlements that were 3.5 times as large as unrepresented injury victims. In part, that’s because insurance companies know that most people without attorneys won’t be able to fight them in court. Other reasons may include the tricks mentioned above, unrepresented accident victims not knowing how to quantify their damages and put together an effective demand, and claimants not having a good sense of the value of their claims.
Small actions like an offhand comment to the insurance company representative, a post on social media or a missed doctor appointment can impact your claim. Most people simply don’t have the experience to anticipate all the pitfalls. When you hire a Jacksonville car accident lawyer soon after your injury, your lawyer can advise you on how best to protect your claim.
If you’re inexperienced with auto insurance companies, it can be easy to fall into their traps. An attorney who routinely handles car accident cases will be familiar with the tricks and tactics common to car insurance companies and their lawyers, and can provide the buffer you need to avoid them.
No attorney can tell you exactly how much your car accident claim is worth, but an experienced car accident lawyer in Jacksonville will be able to tell you about the factors affecting the value of your claim, the types of settlements they have seen in similar cases, and how Jacksonville juries have treated cases like yours. This not only helps you know what to expect, but helps ensure that you don’t fall victim to insurance company manipulations and accept less than you deserve.
In most Jacksonville car accidents, one or both drivers is at least partly responsible for the collision. But in some cases, there may be other responsible parties. Some possible examples include the driver of another vehicle, the manufacturer of a defective auto part that contributed to the accident or the party responsible for debris in the road that helped cause the crash. If you overlook a responsible party, you could end up getting less than full compensation for your injuries and other damages. Your car accident attorney can conduct an investigation to make sure you’re pursuing all possible sources of compensation.
Whether your case is settled or goes to trial, receiving fair compensation depends on the evidence you present. That includes both evidence of fault and evidence of your damages. In some cases, proving one or both will require the use of expert witnesses. When that’s necessary, your car accident attorney will hire experts on your behalf and work with them to build your case.
Most personal injury cases, including car accident cases, are settled without going to trial. But sometimes it’s necessary to file a lawsuit to push the insurance company to offer a fair settlement, or to preserve your claims when the statute of limitations is running out. That process is a sea of technical requirements, from the elements of the initial complaint and service of process requirements to the mandatory formal exchange of evidence between the parties. Your attorney can take all that work and stress off your plate, and help you avoid technical errors or missed deadlines that could derail your case.
As you can see, there are many reasons you don’t want to tackle a car accident injury claim on your own. The system isn’t designed for people to navigate on their own, and insurance company lawyers will take full advantage of that imbalance. When you’re represented by an experienced Jacksonville car accident lawyer, the insurance carrier loses a lot of their power. They can’t trick you or pressure you because their attorneys aren’t even allowed to talk to you without your lawyer.
The insurance company also knows you’re not at their mercy–if they don’t make a fair settlement offer, your attorney can file a lawsuit for you. That’s especially true if your attorney has a history of taking car accident cases to trial when the insurance company doesn’t play fair.
The first step toward protecting your car accident claim is knowing your rights and options–and the best source of that information is an experienced car accident attorney. When you consult the injury lawyers at Harrell & Harrell, there’s no charge and no obligation. We’ll evaluate your case, explain what you can expect as the case moves forward, and give you a chance to ask questions about your claim and about our experience and how we work with car accident clients.
Pick up the phone right now and schedule your free consultation to learn more about how we can put our decades of injury-related experience to work for you. Call (904) 251-1111 or fill out our contact form.
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