Most drivers get into car accidents at some point, and unfortunately these result in injuries sometimes. If you’ve been injured in such an accident, you’ll probably find yourself needing to file a car accident injury claim in order to cover your medical expenses and get your life back to normal. Unfortunately, all the misinformation that’s floating around on this topic can make it difficult to glean the information you really need. Here are five of the biggest misconceptions laypeople have about car accident injury claims:
- Filing a Lawsuit Should Be Your First Course of Action
People tend to confuse claims with personal injury lawsuits. While a lawsuit may be the natural course of action if you’re unable to get your claim settled, your first course of action will in the vast majority of cases be filing an insurance claim. There’s no need to escalate to a courtroom battle if you can get a fair settlement without one.
- You Don’t Need a Lawyer If You’re Not Going to Court
The flipside of the previous misconception is that people often think there’s no reason to hire accident and injury lawyers unless they’re headed for court. But in reality, hiring a lawyer to help with the claims process can make it more likely you can avoid court; a lawyer can help you draft a strong initial demand letter and then handle private negotiations to get you a better out-of-court settlement offer.
- You’ll Automatically Get “Pain and Suffering” Damages
Many accident victims assume they’ll be getting a huge payout from their accident because of “pain and suffering” damages. But you should know these aren’t automatically added just because you felt pain as a result of the injury. You’ll likely need to provide evidence of an extended recovery process or unusual levels of emotional stress to see high dollar amounts attached to pain and suffering.
- Your Lawyer Should Be Able to Estimate Your Payout
Lawyers can, over time, develop a sense of how certain cases will turn out, but it’s important you understand that these are only educated guesses. There’s no chart of brain injury settlement amounts, broken bone settlement amounts, back injury settlement amounts or anything else along those lines. It all comes down to making a compelling case and negotiating wisely.
- You Can Trust the Insurance Company to Be Fair
All too often, victims get into financial trouble because they assume that insurance companies will be fair. Unfortunately, that’s simply not true most of the time. Insurance companies employ adjusters so that they’ll be able to pay out as little as possible, which is why you need to be vigilant to ensure you’re being treated fairly.
Do you have anything to add about car accident injury claims? Join the discussion in the comments.