Car accident settlements work by parties building their cases, exchanging settlement demands and offers, and finding an acceptable financial compromise. Once you agree to a settlement, you generally cannot seek further compensation from the insurance company or the at-fault party—for this reason, you must be certain the offer is fair.
The realities of securing a fair car accident settlement are more complex than many accident victims realize. Proving the cost of your damages and convincing liable parties to pay you fairly is rarely easy. Allow a car accident attorney in Phoenix to bear this responsibility for you.
Post-Accident Steps to Take to Pursue a Fair Settlement
You can start working towards a settlement from the moment your accident happens. There are several steps that will benefit both your physical recovery and any claim or lawsuit you pursue, and those steps include:
Notifying Your Insurance Provider of the Car Accident
You should inform your insurance provider of the collision if you have yet to do so. It is important that you:
- Do not state or suggest you had any fault for the accident
- Delay giving a recorded statement until you have spoken with an attorney (though it is OK if you have already done so)
- Do not accept any settlement offer before consulting a lawyer
- Recognize that an insurance company may try to pay you as little money as possible for accident-related losses
A lawyer can formally report your accident to the insurance company and other authorities who need to know. This prevents you from saying anything that might affect the insurance process.
Hiring a Car Accident Lawyer
Do not hesitate to find a lawyer to seek a fair settlement for you. A lawyer can seek full coverage of your losses and prevent insurance representatives from convincing you to accept a lowball settlement (or make other mistakes).
You may face the prospect of several thousand dollars or more in damages, if not more. With a lawyer on your side, you’ll know you did everything in your power to secure the compensation you deserve.
Getting Medical Care as Soon as Possible
You may have already sought and received medical care. However, you should consider if you may need further evaluation, as any of the following might be true:
- You need to undergo additional medical imaging like X-rays and MRIs
- Your doctors have not yet provided the level of detailed diagnoses you need
- You may have undiagnosed injury symptoms
- You have injuries like whiplash that can cause late-onset symptoms
- You need ongoing medical care from specialists or other providers
Your doctors will provide documentation critical to your case, such as images of injuries and medical bills. Your car accident lawyer will work directly with your attorney(s) to obtain all relevant information and prepare for settlement negotiations.
Negotiations Will Be the Key to a Fair Settlement
Car accident settlements are the direct product of negotiations. While the process can be more complicated, the general shape of settlement talks includes the following:
- The insurance company making an offer or your attorney making a demand
- Your attorney or the insurer making a counteroffer
- Both parties making their cases, presenting relevant evidence and documentation, and working towards an acceptable settlement agreement
Your attorney will present any evidence of fault, witness testimony, expert testimony, proof of damages, and other materials supporting your case. They will demand that the insurance company cover each of your accident-related losses.
Most car accident cases end up settling. Not all settlements are equal, though. A dedicated attorney will build a detailed, comprehensive case and will only advise you to settle if you receive an adequate offer from the insurance company.
How to Build the Case for a Fair Car Accident Settlement
Leave this responsibility to an attorney. Lawyers spend their days helping clients (including car accident victims) by preparing the strongest cases they can. An experienced car accident attorney will fight for your best interests and financial recovery by:
Gathering the Evidence
Getting a fair settlement starts with proving fault. Fault for the accident can determine who is financially responsible for your damages, as the at-fault party or their insurer may be on the hook for your damages.
Your attorney will obtain all evidence that helps establish fault, including:
- Witness testimony about how the car accident happened
- An expert’s digital or physical reconstruction of the collision
- Video from traffic cameras, security cameras, dashboard cameras, or cell phones
- A police officer’s report about the car accident
- Any other evidence that speaks to fault
Circumstances permitting, car accident lawyers or their investigators might visit accident scenes, photograph vehicle damage, and take other measures to establish fault and build an evidence-heavy case.
Analyzing Related Insurance Policies
Your lawyer will scour the details of all relevant insurance policies. They can determine
- Which insurance companies are responsible for your losses
- Coverage limits within all accident-related policies
- Various strategies for securing fair compensation from all liable insurers
Your lawyer will also determine if insurance claims will adequately cover your losses or whether suing may be necessary. They may form this decision as they negotiate with insurance companies.
Representing You with Insurers
Your lawyer will handle as many interactions with insurers as they possibly can. This may include:
- Providing your written statement to insurers
- Providing evidence your lawyer gathers during their investigation
- Passing on documentation of your accident-related losses (like medical images and invoices for car repairs)
- Handling all phone calls and letters from the insurers
- Submitting demand letters to insurers
By handling every aspect of the claims process, your attorney will spare you from potential rights violations. They will also allow you to focus on recovery without worrying about interruptions from insurance companies.
Documenting Every Form of Harm from the Car Accident
To secure the compensation you deserve, your attorney must know the nature of your damages. Your attorney may do this using:
- Medical bills
- Invoices for the repair or replacement of your vehicle
- MRIs, X-rays, and other medical images of your injuries
- Experts’ testimony about your physical and psychological injuries (doctors and mental health experts may help here)
- Economists’ explanations of your professional damages
Because each car accident victim endures different damages, lawyers must develop a personalized record of your unique damages. They will do so as quickly as possible.
Calculating the Exact Cost of Your Losses
Allow an experienced attorney to calculate your case cost. Lawyers know how to evaluate damages, calculate the long-term cost of economic damages, and calculate non-economic damages with non-obvious values (like pain and suffering).
Negotiating
Your attorney and their team will negotiate a settlement for you. This settlement must:
- Reflect the full cost of your car accident
- Reflect both economic and non-economic damages
- Account for any ongoing damages you’ll continue to suffer in the future (as is the case when accident victims are disabled)
- Be precise
Your car accident lawyer will know you have one shot at obtaining the financial recovery you need and deserve. By the time they begin negotiations, they will be totally confident in their settlement calculations.
Minding Every Other Case-Related Detail
Every other aspect of your case will fall to your lawyer. Be prepared to focus intently on recovery. Let your lawyer field phone calls, secure evidence, draft paperwork, and fight for a fair financial recovery.
Common Damages Covered by Car Accident Settlements
The injuries suffered by one car accident victim are different from the next victim’s injuries, even if they have a similar diagnosis. Attorneys evaluate their clients’ damages on a case-by-case basis, but these damages often include:
Pain and Suffering
In serious cases, car accident victims suffer from fear, chronic stress, and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These cases are more common than you may realize, and you may suffer from these symptoms.
Other types of pain and suffering in car accident victims can include:
- Immediate pain from injuries
- Recurring or chronic pain
- Sleep disruptions
- Lost quality of life
- Loss of physical or cognitive abilities
- Scarring and other types of disfigurement
Car accident lawyers often arrange for clients to see mental health professionals. These professionals can provide formal diagnoses and treatment plans that benefit the client’s case.
Medical Costs
Your legal team will evaluate all accident-related medical costs. No matter the extent of your medical needs, you should not pay any out-of-pocket costs (including higher healthcare premiums) because someone else caused you to suffer injury.
Vehicle Repairs
Car accident lawyers almost always face property expenses, which can include:
- Vehicle repairs
- Replacing a totaled vehicle
- Replacing clothing, electronics, and other personal property damaged during an accident
- The cost of a rental vehicle, Ubers, or other temporary transportation
Your attorney will work to ensure you face no direct cost for such expenses.
Disabilities
If you have any disabling injuries, your damages may be more extensive than someone whose injuries will heal. A disability can mean facing:
- Total loss of income and earning power
- The cost of medical equipment
- The cost of adding ramps and other features to your residence
- Lifelong pain and suffering
- Extensive rehabilitation
- Other financial and non-financial challenges
Any injury can be debilitating, whether or not it is disabling. However, attorneys account for the details of each injury, including the unique challenges of being disabled.
Lost Income
Many car accident victims face professional harm after their accident, which can include:
- Lost income
- Lost earning power
- Inability to earn overtime compensation, bonuses, promotions, and other performance-related benefits
- Other professional damages
Many people draw fulfillment and security from working. Your attorney will consider whether work-related interruptions have worsened your pain and suffering.
Challenges You May Face When Seeking a Car Accident Settlement
Allow a car accident attorney to take on the inevitable challenges of seeking compensation for a car accident. These challenges can include:
- Securing time-sensitive evidence (potentially from unfriendly parties): Car accident victims are often wallowing in hospital beds, struggling psychologically, and making professional arrangements because they can’t work. Important evidence can go unclaimed if you don’t hire a lawyer to gather it right away. Your attorney may even need to secure evidence from the parties you seek compensation from.
- Overcoming bad-faith insurance tactics: Your attorney may face deception, lowball offers, allegations that you caused the accident, and other bad-faith insurance tactics. Lawyers know these tactics and have several ways of overcoming them. Spare yourself the headache of bad-faith approaches by letting a car accident attorney represent you.
- Calculating damages accurately: Anyone can “calculate damages,” but not everyone can calculate damages accurately. Your attorney will use proven, reliable methods to ensure their settlement demands are accurate and appropriate, especially if you face long-term damages.
- Filing case-related documents before deadlines expire: Attorneys must file lawsuits before statutes of limitations expire. There are often other deadlines lawyers must be aware of and abide by.
The need to secure fair compensation is arguably the greatest challenge of all. Attorneys are up to this challenge, as they face the challenge of securing fair settlements and verdicts daily.
What Happens If Liable Parties Don’t Offer a Fair Settlement?
Those responsible for car accidents are not always willing to pay, or at least not willing to pay fairly. Your lawyer will give those liable parties every opportunity to offer a fair settlement, but insurers or defendants may choose not to seize the opportunity.
If it is clear that liable parties will not offer a fair settlement, your lawyer may discuss with you:
Filing a Lawsuit
Your lawyer may file a lawsuit on your behalf. There are two general paths your case may follow after filing a lawsuit, which are:
- Securing a settlement
- Going to trial
If filing a lawsuit doesn’t motivate liable parties to pay you fairly, a trial may follow.
Going to Trial
Every car accident lawyer should be willing to go to trial if that is their client’s choice. Trials are relatively rare, but they can be a viable option (particularly when a large financial recovery is at stake and the liable parties won’t settle fairly).
Hire a Car Accident Attorney to Fight for Your Financial Recovery Today
Bring an urgency to your search for a lawyer, as they may have a limited time to file your case. Seek your free consultation now.
David Abels
Partner
David Abels has carved a niche for himself in the personal injury law sector, dedicating a substantial part of his career since 1997 to representing victims of various accidents. With a law practice that spans over two decades, his expertise has been consistently recognized within the legal community.
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