3 Reasons to Hire an Attorney After an Accident

Car accidents are emotional, traumatic, and terrifying moments. They often lead to life-long changes and expensive injuries. Even a minor car accident can cause severe injury that requires medical treatment. If you would like to know more, check out these three reasons you should hire an attorney after an accident.

1. To Talk to the Insurance Agency

After an accident, you should contact your insurance agency and report it. Even if you didn't cause the accident, you are required to contact your insurance agency. You do not, however, have to contact the other driver's insurance agency to report the accident, but they will likely contact you soon after the accident to talk about a settlement.

At first, this seems kind and professional. However, the insurance company wants to make money, so their first settlement will be significantly reduced. They may even use pressure tactics to try and get you to accept a small settlement. Once you've accepted the settlement, you're out of luck.

For this reason, a skilled attorney can help. They will talk to the insurance agency for you. Since they better understand how the personal injury process works, they can fight for a better settlement, so you may avoid court completely.

2. To Help Prove the Extent of Your Injuries

In some cases, injuries are easy to prove. For example, a broken femur or vertebrae can be easily measured with an X-ray. However, soft tissue injuries are harder to prove, so you want a skilled attorney to work with your doctor. They can better prove the extent of your injuries.

However, a skilled attorney can also prove pain and suffering. Pain and suffering can be mental or physical, but it refers to any ongoing issue/medical condition related to the accident. For example, if you were paralyzed in a car accident, you may have ongoing physical pain and suffering because you can no longer walk, but you may also have chronic pain. Similarly, the inability to walk and be who you were before the accident is emotional pain and suffering.

3. To Protect You From Being Found At-Fault

In some places, if you are found partially at fault, it will affect your settlement. Most states will simply reduce your settlement by a percentage. If you are found to be mostly responsible, however, you won't get any settlement.

A few states, however, won't give you any settlement if you are found even remotely responsible. In this case, even if the other person is more responsible for the accident, you are out of luck. However, a skilled attorney can find the witnesses and proof that shows you had little to nothing to do with causing the accident.  

No one plans on getting into a car collision, but accidents happen. If you've been injured after a car accident, you should talk to an attorney. At the very least, they can get you a better settlement to pay for your damages. If you would like to learn more, contact a car accident attorney in your area today.


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