Being injured in an accident can be a traumatic experience, especially if you’re not responsible. Suddenly, you’re dealing with unexpected costs like medical expenses.
While you should be able to file a compensation claim, navigating the ins and outs of personal injury laws can be confusing and you don’t want to make a mistake. If you’re not sure if you need a personal injury attorney, the legal complexities should be enough to convince you. There are also financial benefits of a personal injury attorney to consider.
Still not sure if hiring a personal injury attorney is necessary, here are some reasons why it often makes sense.
Your Attorney Understands Personal Injury Law
States have varying personal injury laws and this can be confusing. If you’re filing a claim in Florida, you’re dealing with no-fault and comparative negligence laws. What do these laws mean for your injury claim?
No-fault insurance laws require everyone involved in the accident to file a claim with their insurance provider. Your auto insurance handles your vehicle damage claim. Your personal injury protection (PIP) insurance handles most of your medical expenses. PIP can also cover lost income if your injuries are preventing you from returning to work.
Sounds fairly simple right? Your claim can get confusing when you hit your PIP cap. Your PIP insurance doesn’t cover all of your medical expenses. Generally, it pays out up to 80% of your medical costs or up to the policy’s cap, whichever comes first. To receive compensation for your remaining damages, you need to file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver. You don’t want to go through a civil lawsuit without legal representation.
Now, on to comparative negligence rules. Comparative negligence allows more than one individual to assume blame for an accident. A judge or jury assigns everyone involved a percentage of blame. As long as you’re not more than 50% at fault, you can still file a compensation claim against the other involved party.
However, your settlement is reduced by your percentage of blame. An attorney can help ensure you’re not assigned more than your fair share of the blame.
An Attorney Can Help You Calculate the Value of Your Claim
You may initially believe you can calculate the value of your claim without assistance. After all, how difficult is it to tally up your economic damages? You grab your bills and receipts for damages caused by the accident. Their total is your claim’s value, right? You’re partially correct, except you’re forgetting about your non-economic damages.
What are your non-economic damages? These are intangible things like pain and suffering stemming from the accident. Non-economic damages aren’t covered by PIP or auto insurance, even if you’re carrying full coverage. You must file a claim with the at-fault party’s insurance to receive compensation for your non-economic damages.
So, how do you calculate your non-economic damages? Your attorney can use either the per diem or multiplier method. Both methods use the total of your economic damages but have different formulas for calculating non-economic damages.
The per diem method counts the number of days you’re in pain and multiplies this by the total of your economic damages. The multiplier method assigns your pain a number and multiplies this number by the total of your economic damages.
You can do the calculations on your own, but it’s best to work with an attorney since you don’t want to forget to include anything in your claim. Once you sign a settlement agreement you can’t file another claim for the same accident. This applies even if you find out that you forgot to add in a medical bill.
An Attorney is More Affordable Than You May Think
Lawyers can be expensive—yhe average hourly rate for an attorney is around $51, and it can go much higher depending on their experience and location. The complexity of the case can also affect attorney fees. So, how can you afford an attorney when you’re dealing with mounting medical bills and other expenses stemming from your accident?
There are many surprising benefits to hiring a personal injury attorney, especially after a car accident. For more details, visit https://munley.com/personal-injury-lawyers/ to find the right attorney for your case.
Personal injury attorneys have the option of working on a contingency fee basis. A contingency fee payment structure allows you to retain legal counsel without paying any upfront or hourly costs. Instead, your attorney receives a percentage of your settlement if your injury claim is successful. When the insurance company issues a settlement check, your attorney deducts their percentage and you get the rest.
If the personal injury claim is unsuccessful, you’re not on the hook for attorney fees. For you, it’s a win-win situation.
Your Attorney Has Access to Helpful Resources
Even in a no-fault state, you still need to prove negligence if you’re filing a claim with the other party’s insurance company. While you may know the precise cause of the accident, your word isn’t enough for insurance adjusters. They will require proof.
Proving negligence can be a complicated process, especially if there are multiple parties involved in the accident. Your attorney has access to experts that can include accident scene reconstruction specialists. You may also need to call in medical experts to testify to the extent of your injuries.
A Better Chance of Receiving Fair Compensation
Part of the claim process involves negotiating with the insurance adjuster. You submit the value of your claim and the insurance adjuster counters with a lower offer, which can go on for a while, it’s not uncommon to go through several rounds of negotiations.
The insurance company’s objective is to wear you down until you accept their preferred offer, which is usually significantly less than the calculated value of your claim.
Your attorney is a skilled negotiator and familiar with the tactics insurance companies commonly use in personal injury claims. The attorney can handle the negotiations to help ensure your claim isn’t devalued. Since your attorney is taking care of the claim process, you can focus on making a full recovery from your injuries.
Hopefully, these reasons can help you decide what’s best for your injury claim. Chances are, you’ll realize it’s best to work with a personal injury attorney.