We asked 27 auto
accident lawyers to answer a simple, yet important question: “When do I need to
hire a car accident lawyer?”
Remember that the insurance companies have groups of
lawyers who begin to evaluate the injury claim immediately. Because of this, it
is essential that you retain an auto accident lawyer immediately if you are
injured in a car collision in order to level the playing field.
Choosing those who work full-time for billion-dollar
insurance companies isn’t a wise move. You could go at it alone; however, they have you under their feet. They may
decide whatever they please: a few bucks,
thousands, or even decline your
claim. Your ignorance concerning your own legal rights and the ways in which
you could fight back allows them to control the situation. The outcome of your
face off with them would be obvious due to your lack of experience in the
field.
It is important to note that not all auto accident lawyers
are the same. Actually, way too many of the huge advertising firms are a bit
more than settlement mills. A settlement mill is a firm that relies on heavy
advertising as the lifeblood of their business and litigates a disproportionate
amount of their cases. Those firms are not relying on former clients in order
to refer cases through word-of-mouth and can, therefore, afford to hire a mill
mentality to their own handling of cases.
In fact, settlement mills tend to leave money on the table
at the time of settlement as they are more concerned with resolving a volume of
personal injury cases each month to pay their expensive advertising budget. The
insurance carrier has to spend money in order to defend a case which has
advanced far in litigation; therefore, a settlement mill is a bit inferior to
an average trial lawyer. Saving money is the ultimate goal of any insurance
carrier, and making them run up costs catches their attention.
The best auto accident attorneys have decades of experience
in protecting the rights of car accident victims whenever needed. The skilled
and dedicated ones will fight to ensure that you are fairly compensated for
your losses. So, do not hesitate to call one as soon as possible if you end up
in a situation where you need their help.
Filing a claim with your insurance company as well as the
insurance carrier for the party that is at fault is the first step for you to
take if you have suffered from a physical injury due to an auto accident. You
must also file a claim with the other driver’s insurance (if they were at
fault) in order to pay for the medical bills and lost wages that exceed PIP’s
$10,000.00 in maximum benefits.