Car accidents can leave you with bills and pain and missed time at work that can throw your life into disarray. When someone else causes your crash, it is up to them to pay for the harm they caused you – and it is up to an attorney to help you fight to get your damages paid in full.
While insurance might be your go-to option for compensation, insurance companies might not pay you what they owe you. Instead, taking the case to court could be the best way to get full compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, vehicle damage, pain and suffering, and other damages you might have faced.
For a free review of your potential case, reach out to the car accident lawyers at Howe Law by calling (844) 876-4357.
The Process for Filing a Car Accident Case in Hoover, AL
Getting medical care, building a car accident case, filing a claim with insurance, negotiating the claim, and taking the case through the courts are the general stages of a car accident case. While this may seem like a long, daunting process, you can rest assured that our car accident lawyers can be there every step of the way to help you execute the steps necessary to build a strong case, and we can represent you before insurance companies and courts to fight for your compensation.
Getting Medical Care
Immediately after the crash, your primary focus should be on your health and safety. If you need medical care, go with the ambulance crew and get the treatment you need. If you were unconscious and woke up in the hospital, do not worry about collecting evidence at the scene of the crash; focus on your recovery.
Simply by getting the treatment you need, you are helping your case in two major ways. First, your case will be seriously hurt if you do not get medical care. The defense will claim that you allowed your injuries to get worse, potentially hurting how much you can receive in the end. Second, getting treatment means creating a record of the injuries, including details about when they occurred and how severe they are. This will be vital evidence in your case.
Building Your Case
If you were injured but not enough that you needed to leave the accident scene right away, then you might have been able to collect evidence and take pictures at the scene of the crash. If not, then we can get a lot of the same information from the police officer’s report. Ultimately, we will need to know who was involved, what vehicles were involved, and who witnessed the crash, as well as basic information about the lighting, weather, and location.
From there, our attorneys can take up the lead on collecting other evidence, reaching out to businesses and homeowners to see if there was security camera footage of the accident, and taking depositions and statements from witnesses.
Filing an Insurance Claim
Many cases start the claims process with an insurance claim. In many cases, insurance can provide benefits if you have first-party benefits like medpay on your own auto insurance policy. However, you should never accept compensation from the at-fault driver’s policy without consulting with a lawyer first.
Insurance companies often try to pay low settlements to end cases, and accepting money from the insurance company usually means signing away your right to sue for more. It is vital to have a lawyer review your case and see what it should be worth and then have them negotiate with the insurance company for a fair settlement. If the insurance company only comes back with low offers, we can escalate the case to a lawsuit.
Filing a Lawsuit
When you file a lawsuit, the insurance company and the defendant have to respond in court before a judge. Our lawyers can use this process to help get additional evidence and statements that might be in the defense’s control, and we can push for a trial before a jury to get you the compensation you need. When the case goes to trial, the judge and jury will hear from witnesses and decide which side they believe, awarding damages to you if they think your story is more likely than not to be true.
In court, the neutral nature of a jury can help you have your voice heard fairly instead of leaving it to a biased insurance adjuster to decide your case. However, you are free to settle with the insurance company if they come back with a fair offer at any point along the way.
How Much is My Car Accident Case Worth in Hoover, AL?
Determining the specific value of a car accident claim requires looking into the specifics of the case: how much damage the crash caused, how bad your injuries were, how much time you missed at work, etc. For that reason, we cannot tell you what your case is worth right now, but we can help you understand what damages go into your case so you can start calculating some of these damages.
Pain and Suffering
Starting with perhaps the most complex compensation, you should be compensated fairly for any pain and suffering you faced. This can include things like emotional distress and other effects as well. Often, more serious injuries result in more pain and suffering, and these damages are often based on the other damages you faced in your case.
Lost Wages
You can typically calculate lost wages by looking at how much time you missed at work because of the accident and determining the wages lost during that period. If you are left out of work on an ongoing basis or you had to take a lower-paying job with fewer demands, you can calculate the difference between your old and new wages (potentially $0) and claim that, even projecting the damages into the future.
Medical Bills
Any treatment from a hospital, doctor, therapist, psychiatrist, physical therapist, or other healthcare professional should be included in your damages. You can also claim compensation for things like medical transportation, crutches, and more.
Contact Our Hoover, AL Car Accident Lawyers Today
To have Howe Law’s car accident lawyers review your case in a free case review, call us today at (844) 876-4357.
