After a car accident, your life might be upended. Serious injuries could keep you from work or cause lifelong disabilities that make enjoying previous activities impossible. Damages for the vehicle damage you faced are available, along with compensation for these economic and non-economic harms.
Working with an attorney can help you understand what your case might be worth and help you get compensation for all of these damages. Our attorneys can also negotiate with insurance companies and fight to get fair settlements or else take your case to court to fight for compensation.
Reach out to our Columbus car accident lawyers from Howe Law today at (844) 876-4357 for a free evaluation of your car accident case.
Getting Damages Paid for a Car Accident in Phenix City, AL
Car accident victims can be left with expensive bills for auto repairs and medical bills, but at the same time, their injuries might keep them from getting back to work where they can get money to pay for those bills. As such, insurance is often available to cover damages quickly, but the damages paid through insurance are not always adequate.
In Alabama, insurance policies for the at-fault driver pay damages to the victim of the crash. However, you have to provide evidence to their insurance company showing that their driver was actually at fault and demonstrating the full value of your damages before the insurance company will pay anything. Often, even after this proof is provided, they will still deny fault or refuse to pay full damages.
As such, it often takes a lawsuit to get full compensation for your injuries. In a lawsuit, our car accident attorneys can file your claim in court and seek a judgment in your favor that will order the insurance company and the driver to pay the full value.
In between those two paths is settlement through negotiation. Our attorneys can speak with the defendant’s attorneys (or, more likely, the defendant’s insurance company’s lawyers) and attempt to reach a settlement that adequately covers your injuries and damages but still avoids the need to go to court.
All of these paths are available to most injury victims, provided that the defendant carries insurance. If they violate Alabama law and drive without insurance, you might need to turn to your own insurance policy’s uninsured motorist insurance for coverage instead. But even then, your insurance company might not want to pay, and our attorneys will have to demand full damages.
Damages You Can Claim in a Phenix City Car Accident Claim
All of the following damages should be available to you if you incurred these damages in your car accident:
Vehicle Repairs
The cost of repairing or replacing your damaged vehicle can be covered as part of your injury claim. Insurance companies routinely pay these damages in full even if they refuse to pay other damages for injuries or pain and suffering.
Medical Expenses
Any medical bills you face because of the crash should be covered. Drivers who cause the crash can be held responsible for essentially all economic harms you suffer from the accident, especially medical expenses.
Lost Wages
If you cannot work because of your car accident injuries, that is the driver’s fault. These damages – both for lost wages so far and lost wages you will face going forward – should be covered in full.
Other Expenses
If you had to pay for additional childcare, house cleaning, or even parking at the hospital, it should all be covered as part of your case. Those payments were only made in the first place because the other driver caused your crash, so they should not be your responsibility.
Pain
The actual pain you face is separate from any of the expenses related to your injury. As such, you should be able to seek compensation for pain and discomfort as well.
Emotional Distress
The emotional and mental suffering of an injury can also be difficult to deal with and should be compensated as well. The helplessness of being injured, the changes to your daily activities, the loss of certain activities, and other damages can also be compensated.
Loss of Consortium
Technically, loss of consortium damages are paid to your spouse for the loss of intimacy, affection, and other marital benefits they face from the injuries. Especially if your accident caused permanent injuries, these damages can be high.
Calculating Car Accident Damages in Phenix City, AL
Determining how much to claim for these damages is often complex, and it is something our lawyers can help you with. Getting full compensation for these damages often means going to court instead of relying on an insurance company to pay you what they owe you, and our attorneys can locate and provide the relevant evidence necessary to get you that compensation.
Calculating damages for medical bills and other expenses usually means using receipts and bills. Damages can be claimed both for bills you already paid, in which case the damages are paid to you to reimburse you. Alternatively, damages can be paid directly to the people billing you, such as the hospital or auto repair shop.
While bills are an example of money you had to pay because of the injury, lost wages are money you did not receive because of the accident. Proving the value of absent money is a bit more complex, but this value can be proved by producing pay stubs from previous pay. Financial experts can also project lost wages into the future if you cannot work anymore.
Damages for non-economic harms like pain and suffering and emotional distress are paid based on their severity. Instead of paying a set value for an injured arm or injured leg, car accident claims usually look at the whole picture and pay you a value based on the other damages you receive or a per diem value for pain and suffering.
Contact Our Phenix City, AL Car Accident Lawyers Today
For a free review of your car accident case, call Howe Law’s car accident attorneys at (844) 876-4357.
