When hiring a personal injury attorney, it is important to choose an attorney familiar with the region’s laws. For example, if you are in Atlanta and are seriously injured in an accident, you must reach out to an experienced personal injury lawyer Atlanta and so on.
Whether it is a car accident, medical malpractice, or any other type of accident, a personal injury attorney helps injured victims by protecting their interests and fighting for the compensation they deserve. But when should you hire an attorney? Does every injury case require the need for an attorney?
Let’s find out!
When Should You Hire A Personal Injury Lawyer?
Here are a few situations where you will need legal assistance from an experienced personal injury attorney.
Do You Need An Attorney For Serious Damages?
Not every case requires the skilled expertise of a personal injury lawyer. This is especially true if the case has minimal damage. Insurance companies are more likely to process smaller claims than large ones.
For example, if you’ve missed work for a few days, you do not need to hire a lawyer for a worker’s compensation claim.
However, if you’re seriously injured or have permanent injuries or disabilities from an accident that was not your fault, you need to hire a personal injury attorney immediately.
Serious injuries may exceed the negligent party’s insurance policy, but an attorney can help explore other options from where they can get you the compensation you deserve.
Do You Need An Attorney If You’re In A Fault-Based State?
In the United States, there are 12 states, including Michigan, Florida, Utah, and Kansas, that are no-fault states. No-fault states are those states where you don’t have to prove the fault of the other driver to receive compensation.
Drivers must have personal injury protection in these states that kick in to help pay for the victim’s medical bills for treatment of injuries in the event of an accident. The negligent party’s insurers are only required to pay for property damage.
However, when it comes to states with comparative negligence laws, injured victims must file a claim against the negligent party if they wish to receive compensation to pay for their medical bills, lost income, and other damages. The amount of compensation awarded is based on the degree of fault.
For example, when Ted drives through an intersection, he is overspeeding by 10 miles per hour. He gets hit by John, who was running a stop sign. It is revealed that John was 90% at fault while Ted was 10% at fault due to overspeeding. If the compensation awarded is $50,000, Ted will receive $45,000.
Do You Need An Attorney If Your Claim Is Rejected?
Whether you’re dealing with a minor car accident or a major injury at work, an insurance company may decide to decline your claim.
You may want to believe that insurers are working for your best interests, but they’re not. They’re in the business to make money for their investors or shareholders, and paying claims affects their profits.
Even if your case is serious and a genuine one, insurers may decline your claims without any reason, which is referred to as “bad faith insurance.”
You would need an attorney to contest your case and even explore options for pursuing legal action against the insurance company for refusing a legitimate case.
