OBTAINING THE FULL COMPENSATION FOR A CAR ACCIDENT CLAIM
Many drivers and passengers do not have the good fortune of escaping car accidents with only minor scrapes and bruises, which will lead you to wonder how to get the most money from a car accident settlement. They are suddenly confronted with life-altering health challenges and massive financial burdens they had not anticipated, and which, in many cases, they had nothing to do with. Read this article if you suffered car accident injuries.
Innocent victims of car accidents may have rights under the law to recover substantial compensation from the individuals or entities whose actions led to a crash. Our car accident lawyers discuss how those victims can get the most money for their injuries in this blog post.
A personal injury lawyer is someone who is committed to helping people injured in motor vehicle collisions. They also help you get the most money for a car crash from the other driver’s insurance company. You should start with the accident report. Your insurance company can usually get you a copy of it if you don’t want to order the police report from the Colorado Springs Police Department. The accident scene can have very valuable evidence to determine who is at fault for the collision.
Car accident injuries are nothing to take lightly. You will likely need medical treatment. To make a personal injury claim, you will need to get medical care for your injuries, especially if you suffered serious injuries. The other driver’s insurance company will not pay for pain and suffering without evidence of treatment. A car accident claim, and how to get the most money, often rides on the amount of medical treatment.
COMPENSATION OPTIONS FOR CAR ACCIDENT VICTIMS
To begin with, you’re not alone: every day, drivers and their passengers suffer catastrophic or fatal injuries in vehicle accidents across Colorado, from the eastern plains to the western slope. According to state data, there were just under 400,000 crashes on Colorado roads last year, with 454 people killed and another 103,844 injured. Every day, approximately 1,100 crashes occur, resulting in 1 deaths and 700 injuries.
Almost everyone understands the basic principle that if someone causes a car accident that injures others, that person should be held liable for the injuries caused by an auto accident. In Colorado, that principle applies, but with variations that may come as a surprise to some accident victims. Below, we discuss the ways someone hurt in a automobile accident caused by someone else’s poor choices or dangerous conduct can get money to compensate for injuries.
If you are not at-fault in the car crash, you are entitled to a fair settlement that compensates you for medical treatment, pain and suffering, emotional distress, lost wages, and possible more.
NO-FAULT INSURANCE COVERAGE
Anyone who registers a car in Colorado must purchase no-fault auto insurance. As the name suggests, this insurance provides personal injury insurance coverage for a person injured in a car accident, regardless of who is at fault for the accident.
Medical payments coverage, or MedPay coverage, is the no-fault insurance policy that Colorado law requires drivers to have. Drivers are required by law to carry a minimum of $10,000 in MedPay medical and disability coverage.
For an individual wounded in an car accident, MedPay coverage is usually the first or major source of money. It covers the driver, their immediate family members, anybody who drives the driver’s car, passengers who do not have their MedPay coverage, and certain others hit by the car. After being injured in an car accident, any of those persons should use their MedPay coverage first, before turning to any other insurance or another source of money, to pay for medical treatment and impairments caused by the auto accident.
LONG-TERM DISABILITY INSURANCE AND HEALTH INSURANCE
However, in this day and age of growing healthcare bills, $10,000 in PIP coverage doesn’t go very far. Medical expenses and missed time at work may quickly exceed $10,000 for anything other than a minor car accident injury.
When PIP benefits expire, motor vehicle accident victims may use other insurance plans, such as health insurance or long-term disability insurance, to offset the expenditures that PIP did not cover. Of course, not everyone has these coverages, and they don’t always cover all of the costs associated with a car accident.
LIABILITY INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR INDIVIDUALS AND ENTITIES WITH LEGAL LIABILITY
Anyone blamed for an car accident that causes serious injuries and expenditures exceeding the victim’s PIP coverage limit may seek damages from anyone at fault for the accident. The categories of injuries that provide an accident victim the ability to sue an at-fault party are defined under Colorado law as follows:
- A significant and irreversible loss of a vital biological function.
- Permanent harm, other than scars or deformity, within a fair degree of medical probability.
- Significant scarring or deformity that is permanent.
- Death by Mistake
- Emotional distress
- Medical costs
- Rental Car
- Surgical Procedures
Getting the maximum money from an at-fault party as compensation for one of the sorts of injuries listed above typically necessitates the assistance of a knowledgeable and experienced car accident injury lawyer.
HOW VICTIMS OF CAR ACCIDENTS HOLD OTHERS FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE
It’s one thing to know that Colorado law permits a car accident victim to seek compensation from the party who caused the accident for a significant injury. It’s one thing to take the measures required to get the greatest money possible.
Hiring an experienced car accident attorney is the safest and best method to recover maximum compensation for a car accident injury in virtually all circumstances. Typically, a lawyer will take the following measures to assist a client in getting the greatest money for an accident:
AN IN-DEPTH INVESTIGATION OF BOTH THE ACCIDENT AND THE INJURIES IS REQUIRED.
Without understanding precisely how the accident occurred, who is to blame, and how much money is required to pay for the full degree of the victim’s injuries, a car accident victim cannot expect to collect the maximum amount of money feasible. This material demands a thorough examination by someone who understands what they’re doing, such as an experienced car accident lawyer.
Accidents occur for a variety of causes. Accident victims seldom notice all of the circumstances that had a role in the collision that wounded them. If they recall anything about the accident, someone did something risky that caused the crash.
Experienced car accident attorneys, on the other hand, understand that a car accident seldom occurs as a consequence of a single poor judgment or reckless action. A crash is often caused by a series of events, only some of which are evident.
A lawyer’s role is to pursue that sequence of choices and acts to its conclusion, identifying one or more persons or organizations who may be legally responsible for the accident.
THIS MIGHT INVOLVE THE FOLLOWING IN A NORMAL CAR ACCIDENT:
A driver of one of the cars involved in the collision, such as someone who chose to drink and drive, text and drive, or drive too fast for the circumstances.
The driver of a commercial car involved in the accident’s employer. Employers may be held liable for their workers’ behavior in many circumstances, and they can also be held liable for failing to teach employees or sending them out on the road in safe cars.
A consumer goods producer who is responsible for an accident. This may include car parts manufacturers that sell faulty items that fail and cause an accident, as well as a road engineer who plans and constructs a road that is unsafe for the general public to use.
Engineers, for example, can design unsafe crossings that are too difficult for cars to negotiate safely or have inadequate sight lines that prevent drivers from seeing oncoming risks.
Of course, this is just a sample list. Every accident has its own set of events and facts. A skilled car accident lawyer’s role is to go through the data to determine who is responsible for a client’s injuries. There are no such things as “cookie-cutter” car accidents.
A lawyer must assess the level of damage caused by a car accident victim’s injuries after identifying one or more parties having legal obligation for the victim’s injuries. You can’t get full compensation for a car accident unless you know the full extent of your injuries, including not only what they’ve cost you in medical bills and lost wages but also what they’ll cost you in the future and how they’ve harmed your life in ways that are more difficult to quantify in dollars and cents.
A car accident lawyer discovers all of the ways a car accident hurts its victims by careful inquiry and know-how to come up with an amount of money that represents the full spectrum of damage.
A NEGOTIATION THAT IS BOTH SKILLED AND RATIONAL
A car accident lawyer gains leverage for holding legally culpable parties accountable by conducting a comprehensive investigation. Then it’s time to make a payment demand on those parties. Typically, the parties with guilt and their insurance carriers retain their personal injury attorneys, and the two sides negotiate whether and how much money will be paid to the accident victim.
Lawyers participate in these conversations daily, but they are anything from normal. They often resemble a complex boxing match, with each party exchanging blows and counterpunches while searching for flaws in the other’s case. Of course, the car accident victim’s lawyer aims to score a knock-out blow that persuades the opposing party to pay the maximum amount of money possible.
Accident victims often believe they are capable of handling this kind of talk on their own. That is almost usually a tremendous blunder. Negotiating car accident settlements may seem to be a straightforward back-and-forth over a sum of money, but they need a thorough grasp of how the law works in one party’s favor or the other.
DEALING WITH INSURANCE OFFERS ALONE IS NOT A GOOD IDEA
Insurance firms representing legally culpable parties may contact an accident victim with an offer to settle a claim straight away to avoid dealing with the victim’s lawyer. Victims may choose to accept the money provided for a variety of reasons. However, this is usually always a terrible decision.
Insurance companies engage directly with car accident victims because they feel they will have a greater chance of avoiding paying the maximum amount of money the accident victim is entitled to. In summary, insurers seek to take advantage of car accident victims who have been hurt. Having an expert car accident lawyer on your side might help you avoid this.
LEGAL ACTION THAT IS AGGRESSIVE AND SOPHISTICATED
In actuality, most car accident cases are resolved by the kind of settlement outlined above rather than going to court. However, getting the maximum money for a client in almost every car accident case necessitates demonstrating to the opposing side that you and your car accident lawyer are ready, willing, and able to take a case to trial.
JEREMY D. EARLE, JD, IS A LAWYER WHO SPECIALIZES IN CAR ACCIDENTS
However, many of those instances settle for the maximum money available because the legally culpable parties recognize they would have an uphill struggle if the matter ever goes before a judge and jury. To paraphrase Teddy Roosevelt, getting the maximum money out of an car accident necessitates accident victims and personal injury attorneys speaking quietly and wielding a large stick.
What does it take for the opposing side to be afraid of losing a legal battle? Preparation and reputation are two adjectives that come to mind. When car accident victims choose a legal firm that performs the groundwork required to create an ironclad case and has a track reputation in the legal community for winning large cases for big money, they offer themselves the greatest opportunity of receiving the most money for their injuries.
Of course, not every car accident lawsuit is worth tens of thousands of dollars. However, there is a theoretical limit amount of money accessible to accident victims in every instance. A tenacious, smart legal team that strikes terror in the hearts of opposing lawyers and insurance adjusters is frequently the key to unlocking that money.
MAKING THE MOST MONEY IS A DIFFICULT TASK
Our personal injury lawyers work on a contingency fee basis. We only take a fee if we get you a settlement for your personal injury case. You deserve a free consultation.
Do not be tricked into believing that simply because you have suffered a major injury in a Colorado car accident, you will be able to collect all of the money you need and deserve without any work. To extract the most money from an car accident, you’ll need expertise, determination, meticulous preparation, and legal knowledge.
The majority of car accident victims lack the ability, time, or finances to pursue legal action independently. They need the assistance of a legal team with extensive expertise in obtaining favorable outcomes for car accident victims both in and out of court.
If you have been physically, emotionally, and financially harmed due to a serious car accident, you may be entitled to compensation from the parties responsible for the accident. Following a car accident, an expert car accident attorney can assist you in learning more about your rights and developing a plan for moving ahead. You may reach out to Warrior.
Warrior Car Accident Lawyers
1902 W. Colorado Ave., Suite 100
Colorado Springs, CO 80904
