A car crash can leave you with out of work, with injuries, and struggling to get by. The expenses can pile up while you seek relief through insurance claims and the financial reprocesses can affect you for years after your accident.
Following a crash, victims often find themselves at odds with the insurance companies they thought would protect them and struggle to meet their financial obligations due to injury or loss of employment.
The car accident attorneys at Morgan & Morgan’s Melbourne offices have decades of experience dealing with all types of motor vehicle accidents. Our attorneys will assess your claim and help you understand your options and avenues for recovery as a result of your accident. This can act as the guide to putting yours needs first when it comes to navigating settlement negotiations and complicated trial processes. If you are ready, you can submit your free consultation today.
The Process – What You Need to Do as the Victim in a Car Accident
Immediately following the car accident, it is important to receive medical attention from a licensed physician. Your physician will be able to:
- Help determine if you have an “emergency medical condition.” This can increase the benefits you can collect under PIP coverage and will be important for your attorney to know when evaluating your options.
- Record and document any visible scratches, lacerations, or bruising.
- Evaluate you for any internal damage that may not be readily apparent to non-medical professionals.
- Provide information on and evidence of injuries that may manifest at some point in the future.
The information documented in this evaluation can be crucial to the success of your case and the amount of compensation could recover. Following this initial evaluation, it is important that you do not discuss the accident or your injury with anyone other than your physician and attorney. Anything you say can be used against you during future negotiations and litigation. Your attorney will handle all discussions concerning the case on your behalf.
Contacting our car accident attorneys immediately after your accident will help them instruct you on how to best document your injuries and allow them to most effectively communicate with all parties involved.
Our attorneys have handled cases on behalf of clients who have sustained injuries ranging from minor lacerations and fractures, to debilitating disfigurement, internal organ damage, and even death. They know how to delicately handle cases involving fatal accidents, pursuing compensation on behalf of the victim’s surviving family members.
Our attorneys may be able to help you recover compensation for your losses, including:
- Current and future related medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Loss of earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Loss of consortium
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Funeral expenses and other related costs
How Can Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Insurance Affect My Car Accident Case?
Some states provide no-fault compensation up to a certain amount for parties in motor-vehicle accidents. No matter who caused the crash, some of your initial expenses will be covered. However, many accident victims find themselves having to shoulder expenses well in excess of that prefixed amount. One size does not fit all and you may need to fight for your recovery.
To pursue claims for additional compensation, victims must meet an “injury threshold” just to be eligible to pursue a personal injury lawsuit. Injuries that meet this threshold include paralysis, brain damage, significant head injuries, permanent scarring, disfigurement, or fractured bones.
If you cannot prove that your injury meets this threshold, you may not be able to file a lawsuit for additional compensation. An immediate evaluation by a physician, in addition to further testing and monitoring at the hospital, can be vital in proving that your injury is severe enough to warrant legal action under insurance laws.
Motorcycle Accident Attorneys
Properly handling motorcycle accident cases involving life-threatening injuries requires a knowledge and experience that our Motorcycle Accident Attorneys can provide.
In some states, motorcyclists are not required to purchase PIP insurance and are therefore eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit, regardless of the severity of their injury. In seeking compensation for your injuries, your motorcycle attorney will collect evidence showing how the other party was negligent in the operation of their vehicle. Drivers may be considered negligent if they fail to:
- Pay attention to their surroundings and others on the roadway
- Turn left into the path of a motorcyclist,
- Change lanes without checking their mirrors,
- Give the biker the right of way, or
- Operate their vehicle while distracted.
Truck Accident Attorneys
Trucks put other drivers on overcrowded roads at a higher risk of serious bodily injury. They are significantly less maneuverable, heavier, larger, and require a much greater stopping distance to come to a complete stop.
Due to the additional dangers associated with truck operations, truck drivers and trucking companies are required to adhere to local and state regulations, as well as a set of laws passed by the Federal Motor Safety Administration regulating the operation and maintenance of trucks. A failure to adhere to these additional regulations may impute liability on the owner, manufacturer, or maintenance crew for any resulting damages.
It is important to hire an experienced truck accident attorney to help you navigate the complicated process for recovering compensation for your losses in the wake of a truck accident.
If you have been injured or lost a loved one in a car accident, you may be entitled to compensation for your losses. To learn more about how we may be able to assist, please complete our free case review form.