Why Hire a Personal Injury Attorney After an Accident?

If you are involved in an accident where you sustain personal injury and the accident is the fault of another person, you may be eligible to receive monetary damages from that person. If the person’s insurance company agrees to pay for the cost of your injuries and accept responsibility for taking care of all of your property (such as your car), you may find it unnecessary to hire a personal injury attorney.

However, if either the individual(s) responsible for the accident is uncooperative or you find that the liable insurance company is refusing to pay a fair amount, it may be a better idea to hire a personal injury lawyer experienced in leveling the playing field and getting you your fair settlement.

Becoming a lawyer entails learning a different way of thinking. Almost like a chess player who learns how to think two moves ahead, personal injury lawyers with considerable experience know how to anticipate the moves of insurance companies, placing your interests at an advantage. The leverage the insurance companies have by dealing directly with you can be negated with an experienced attorney.

Experienced personal injury attorneys typically know what your case is worth by being able to weigh all of the direct and indirect injuries. Knowing these factors can maximize your settlement and make sure money is not left on the table. Most personal injury attorneys work on the basis of a contingency fee, which means that they have a stake in the outcome. If the case is unsuccessful, you will not have to pay a dime.

Have you heard of stories where insurance companies utilize delay tactics or place pressure on individuals to settle their cases? Do not be swayed by these techniques. Your case may be more complex than you realize.

For instance, the insurance company at fault may offer to pay for your vehicle’s damages completely and then reimburse dollar for dollar medical expenses? Isn’t that sufficient? The answer is no, it’s not.

Once your car is fixed completely, it will not be worth what it was before the accident. This is termed diminished value and should be negotiated into a settlement. When you eventually go to sell your vehicle, the damage history will become evident and will factor into the auto’s value. Having received money from the diminished value calculation will help ease the pain of that calculation.
People should do what they do best, and not become attorneys when it comes to their own personal injury cases after a car accident. Only in simple circumstances should you deal with the opposing insurance company by yourself.