Have you ever been involved in a car accident? It is important to keep in mind that 90% of car accident cases happen with a human factor. It means that in many cases, one or several of the parties involved in the accident have made a mistake that led to the occurrence of the accident.
Most type of accidents involving cars are collisions.
1. Rear end collisions – the driver who is in the car behind you is usually the one to blame
2. Side collision – typically, this kind of collision happens once another driver ignores traffic rules in crossroads and hits a car on the side.
3. Head on collision – the gravity and severity of damage is calculated by the overall speed of both cars involved. This kind of accidents occurs following bad take-over that is made riskily.
Embarking upon a car accident claim or any type of personal injury claim, for that matter is not all that easy or spontaneous. Before filing a claim, you have to make sure that all necessary and obvious factors are covered in your claim, as well as the hidden factors that could make or break your case.
Here are several of the most important things to have in mind if you are planning to file a car accident claim.
1. Requesting for a car accident claim can only be done if you have nothing, which could pinpoint the blame for the accident to you.
2. When you are sure that you are blameless in the course of the events that led to the accident, next thing to do is to find an expert car accident lawyer to assist you with the procedures of filing your claim.
Even as you have read instructions and several laws about it, do not even consider doing your claim by yourself. If the knowledge you have gained is still lacking, and you attempted to do your claim on your own, then it may be detrimental for your case.
It is even more advisable to find car accident specialists in a car accident law firm, wherein they would have various expertises in claiming for certain car accident scenarios.
3. It may be serious mistake to lay out all of your money and take it with the insurance company. If you fail to get assistance from a lawyer, chances are the other party’s insurance company would extend all its efforts to reduce the amount that you rightfully deserve, up to minimum.
Your lawyer would clear up issues like this, for you. He/she can tell you the specific amount of money that you could receive, what to do to achieve this, what are the things to and the proper way of saying it.
One major advice in dealing with car collision lawyers where you would be satisfied with the outcome is to retain a lawyer on a contingent fee basis. In this case, the no win no fee rule will be implemented and you would not be burdened with costs and expenses without being sure of the outcome.
This is important since if you were injured, your priority must be recuperating and not being bothered with more financial problems of supporting your case.
By: Carla C. Ballatan
Posts Tagged ‘Important Things’
Things to Remember Concerning Car Accident Claims
February 5th, 2010Essentially Relevant Information Regarding Car Accidents
December 28th, 2009
In a busy city like Los Angeles, jammed traffic and busy highways may always be a scenario especially during rush hours. Almost every car driver may be aware of the ever-present danger of the occurrence of minor to major car accidents. It has become an unpleasant fact that may be inescapable sometimes.
Just about every folk in Los Angeles would attest that they have been involved in one car accident in the course of their lives.
Meanwhile, given that vehicle, particularly car accidents may happen just any time to any one, unpredictably, it is quite practical to go beyond the actual occurrence of it and see the repercussions it can bring to your life, if ever it occurs to you.
The legal implications of a car accident are one of the main things that have to be considered. The evidence of any negligent acts that has been committed or any other civil and traffic ordinance violations have to be considered. You need to have a lawyer with significant and qualified experience and admirable track record in handling car accident cases to depend upon in seeing beyond the facts and evaluating your accident for legal remedies.
For the car accident lawyer to do this, there are important things that need to be gathered right after the accident that would support your claims for recovery of injuries and damages later on.
• No matter whom you believe has been negligent and thereby, at fault, you have to record all details from before, while and after the accident transpired, that is relevant. You have to do the recording by writing it down.
- Your condition and emotions before, during and after the accident
- The weather conditions
- The road and traffic signals condition
- Your observation of the other car or vehicle involved
- Equipment defects and car system failure
- Obstruction or any distraction during your driving
These are several of the essential and relevant information to recall and jot down for your car accident lawyer’s evaluation in building up your claims. These are the necessary factors that your lawyer could use in listing down the discrepancies that contributed to the accident and to your sustaining of injuries.
Further, by having a proper listing of the discrepancies that happened during the accident, your lawyer could ascertain the parties that can be considered at fault for the incident and should be liable to pay the necessary compensation for the damages you have suffered directly caused to the accident.
Additionally, list down even all the other matters you feel may not be that important. Part of the car accident lawyers’ training and expertise is on how he/she could stretch out even the tiniest detail and link it as being very relevant to your case.
As such, may this be reminder to anyone. Even if you are doing everything possible to avoid being in an unpleasant incident such as a car accident, you still need to be prepared for the worst, but of course, hope for the best, or for nothing unpleasant and tragic happen to you while driving. Still, remember the things you are supposed to do as soon as anything of the kind does happen.
By: Carla C. Ballatan
Car Accidents – When To Sue, Who To Sue, Why Sue At All
December 11th, 2009
Don’t you just hate it when you see those tacky TV ads about accident lawyers? How about that obnoxious billboard you just passed on the highway showing a crashed car and someone being taken away by ambulance? Or what about those endless yellow page ads where they show a car driving off a cliff, and someone smiling in the foreground holding a nice big fat check with lots of numbers on it? It all makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside, doesn’t it?
Not. It makes me sick. Don’t get me wrong. Every lawyer in New York is permitted to advertise according to the Court rules (which were recently made stricter at the beginning of this year). However, there is something to be said for tasteful ads, and ads that are trying to sell you something.
When you’re in a car accident, the last thing you think about is finding a lawyer to sue the driver of the car that caused your accident. The first thing on your mind should be how to get better. You need to recuperate, regenerate and get your strength back. You need to worry about the important things in your life like putting food on your family’s table, and going back to work.
Well how can you go back to work if you’re still in the hospital after weeks of surgery and rehabilitation? Can you go on disability? Who will pay your medical bills? What if you don’t have medical insurance? How can you feed and clothe your family if you can’t work? These are all very important questions that often arise after a car accident.
In New York, your own car insurance will pay your medical bills- up to a maximum of $50,000. This is known as no-fault insurance. Once the details of the accident are resolved, to figure out who really caused the accident, the insurance companies settle up on their own regarding the medical expenses they had to pay.
But what about that often-heard phrase, “Pain & Suffering”? Aren’t you entitled to that as well? The answer is yes. However, in order to obtain compensation for your pain and suffering you will probably need to start a lawsuit against the owner(s) and driver(s) involved in your car accident.
How much time do you have to start a lawsuit for your injuries arising from a car accident?
In New York, you generally have only THREE (3) years from the date of the accident within which to start a lawsuit for your injuries. HOWEVER, YOU HAVE ONLY 30 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THE ACCIDENT TO FILE A CLAIM WITH YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY TO GET THEM TO PAY FOR YOUR MEDICAL EXPENSES!
A car accident is traumatic- no question about it. Your road to recovery is the most important part of events after the accident. Whether you have a valid and meritorious case hinges on many facts that only an attorney should be evaluating. Don’t rely on good-hearted friends and family to tell you their tales of woe when they were involved in an accident years ago. You need an experienced attorney who has handled cases like yours.
You need someone who has experience in Court and isn’t afraid to go to trial if the insurance company refuses to settle for an appropriate amount of compensation. You need a lawyer who can guide you through the minefield of litigation. Hopefully, with good legal counsel you’ll be able to make the right choices that will help you recover both emotionally and monetarily.
By: Gerry Oginski