Auto Accident? Should You Call an Accident Attorney?

If you have been in an auto accident that was not your fault and have been injured, it would be the right thing to do for the driver at fault to compensate you for your injuries and pay your medical bills, or at least have their insurance company do so. Unfortunately, most insurance companies and private parties are not concerned with the right thing. They are more concerned about their profit or the least amount of money they can pay you. If you are negotiating a settlement with an insurance company, they will try to take advantage of your lack of knowledge about personal injury laws and your legal rights and remedies. If you or someone you love has been hurt and you expect a large settlement from their insurance company, it would be best to call an accident attorney, even if it is to see if the settlement the insurance company is offering is a fair one.

An experienced accident attorney can advise you of your rights, build your case for you, and help you get the money you deserve. Everyone is supposed to be insured in case something happens, so don't let an insurance company give you the short end of the stick. Their job is to pay for righting the wrongs of accidents. So when should you call an accident attorney? Here are some questions that can help you decide if and when you need an accident attorney and the advice to go with:

1. Was it a fender bender or major accident?
2. Who's at fault?
3. How bad are my injuries, or the injuries of those I am responsible for?
4. Is the other party insured?
5. How much experience with the legal process do I have?
6. Am I willing to give a third to a half of my settlement to an attorney as legal fees?

Was it a fender bender or major accident?

The worst thing you can do after an auto accident is waste your time and money, so hiring an accident attorney right away may not be the best solution. If you are in a simple fender bender where there were no injuries or the injuries were minor, hiring an attorney is waste of your time. Insurance adjusters will give you the money to fix your car and cover any medical expenses involved with treating a minor injury and you can go on with your life.

If your accident was a bit more serious, however, and you have to miss work to recover, then hiring a lawyer to make sure you get the money you deserve is a much better options than leaving it to the claims adjuster to treat you fairly. If your mobility is limited, you have to have surgery as a result of the accident, or you have to have extensive therapy, insurance companies are really good at wiggling out of having to pay you for your time and suffering. An accident attorney will make sure you are well compensated for your injuries and time spent away from work, so calling them to see if you have a case worth pursuing is a good idea.

Who's at fault?

If you have been involved in a serious accident and you are at fault, your insurance company will hire a lawyer to represent you and their interests, unless you intentionally crashed. If you are at fault you won't need to hire an accident attorney, unless you have full coverage and your insurance company will not compensate you.

If you are not at fault in the accident and serious injuries occured, you should hire an accident attorney as soon as possible. Don't accept the first settlement the other person's insurance company offers you and don't make a statement to them about the accident before consulting an attorney. If you are not at fault, your rights will not be protected by the person that was at fault or their insurance company, so find an accident attorney to represent you and advise you in your settlement and statements with the other person's insurance company. Through litigation and if your case goes to trial, an accident attorney will represent your rights and interests, whereas the other party will not.

How bad are my injuries, or the injuries of those I am responsible for?

If your accident was a serious accident and you were not at fault, the next question to ask to figure out whether you need an accident attorney or not is what was the extent of injuries to you and those who you are responsible for that were in the accident. If your injuries or the injuries of those who were with you that you are responsible for were bad, you will need an accident attorney.

Many times the extent of your injuries is not manifest for days or even weeks after the accident. If you receive emergency care at the time of the accident, be sure to have a follow up visit afterward to make sure everything is okay. Even if you don't think you are injured, you may have serious whiplash, internal injuries, or if you are pregnant, injuries to the baby after an accident are common. Be sure to have a follow up visit, if for nothing else, for the documentation you will need for your case. An accident attorney can advise you on the documentation you need for your case from your doctor.

Is the other party insured?

When you are in an accident with an uninsured motorist you will always want to retain legal counsel regardless of how serious the accident was, and you will want to find an accident attorney as soon as possible after the accident. When you are in an accident with an uninsured motorist, you only have a limited time to come to a settlement. The typical uninsured motorists don't want to pay for damages, let alone your time and suffering if it was a serious accident and they were at fault. An accident attorney will make sure that you are compensated, especially when the party at fault is uninsured.

How much experience with the legal process do I have?

Many times when you have been in an accident and you are not at fault, you will be offered a settlement that you don't think is high enough. If you are comfortable with the legal processes and you are asking for less than $15,000 you can represent yourself in Small Claims Court. The legal process can be intimidating for some, but if you think you can handle it, you can represent yourself.

However, if you want more money than the $15,000 limit for Small Claims Court that is in most states, you will be filing a civil suit and will probably need representation. Civil cases go through litigation, arbitration, and sometimes a trial. If you represent yourself through all of it, you will probably come out on the raw end of the deal, if you win at all. An accident attorney can help you navigate the legal system, and one who knows personal injury law and has experience in trials will know how to best represent you and get the best settlement possible for you. No matter how much experience you've had in the legal process, hiring an advisor who knows the legalities of what you are facing is always better than going it alone. Nine times out of ten you will get more money, even after legal fees, by hiring someone than you will by representing yourself.

Am I willing to give a third to a half of my settlement to an attorney as legal fees?

Most accident attorneys work off a contingency basis which means, you pay them if you win. When you win you give them a percentage of your settlement. All accident attorneys who charge on a contingency basis charge from 25% - 40% of your settlement. Some, because of reputation and other factors, will charge 50%, but the average is 35% of your settlement goes to your representation.

When you think about it, that is a large amount or money, especially if you are pursuing hundreds of thousands for your settlement. So you have to ask yourself if a third to a half of your settlement going to your accident attorney is worth the cost. Most people will answer yes, because an accident attorney is a lot more likely to win than you will on your own, and they will be able to get you a lot more money than you would by yourself. Even with their percentage taken out, most cases will settle for much more than you can get on your own. If you loose, you don't have to pay them anything, so it really is a win win situation for you.

The bottom line is that an accident attorney is a good call when you've been seriously injured in an accident that is not your fault. They will help you win the compensation you deserve for your time and suffering.