How Can an Attorney Help You Recover Compensation After a Car Accident?

Being involved in a car accident is always traumatizing, and the difficulties don’t stop once the accident is over. Not only do you have to recover from your injuries and deal with getting your car repaired or replaced, but you may also find yourself in a battle with an insurance company that’s reluctant to give you the full compensation you’re owed. An accident attorney in Lee’s Summit, MO can help.

How Can an Accident Attorney in Lee’s Summit Help You Recover Compensation After a Car Accident?

Investigate the Accident Thoroughly

Attorneys have resources and experience in this area. Your lawyer will conduct a comprehensive investigation of the accident and find and gather the evidence needed to prove what happened and who was at fault. This evidence will likely include the police report, any witness statements, traffic camera or dash cam footage, and photos from the scene itself.

In some cases, your lawyer may also collaborate with accident reconstruction experts to piece together the events leading up to the crash. This is all very important to showing what really happened and what degree of fault each person holds.

Handle Communication with Insurance Companies

Dealing with insurance companies is tough for the average person. Most people haven’t been involved in these sorts of negotiations before and don’t realize that the insurer’s main interest is minimizing their payouts. Insurance adjusters have quite a few tricks up their sleeve to devalue your claim, from getting you to say something they can use to saddle you with more fault to challenging whether your injuries are as severe as you claim. They also commonly try getting victims to accept a quick, low settlement.

An attorney can handle all communications with insurance companies on your behalf, and you can have confidence your lawyer knows how insurance companies operate and how to challenge them. Your lawyer will prevent you from making statements that could inadvertently harm your claim and work to ensure that you receive a fair settlement offer.

Calculate Your Damages Completely

The last thing you want is to lose out on damages you’re owed simply because you didn’t know to include them or how to properly figure the total. Your attorney won’t let you make any mistakes here.

Not only will they tally up all the immediate medical expenses and property damage, but they’ll also help you estimate your future medical costs if you’re in need of ongoing treatment or rehabilitation. They’ll calculate all your lost wages from time off work, lost opportunities for overtime and promotions, and the potential loss of earning capacity if you can’t go back to your original job. Your lawyer will also help you take into account all your non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, or loss of enjoyment of life.

Negotiate a Fair Settlement

Negotiation is always required in these settlements, and attorneys are skilled negotiators by trade. An experienced lawyer will advocate effectively on your behalf and challenge any initial offers that are too low, countering with higher demands until a fair settlement is reached.

Your attorney does a lot more than just gather evidence: they also know how to put it all together effectively to present a compelling case for why you should be compensated for the full amount of your damages.

Represent You in Court

If negotiations with the insurance company aren’t fruitful, an attorney can then file a lawsuit and represent you in court. Thankfully, most of these settlements are dealt with out of court, but if you have an attorney with courtroom experience and a willingness to go to court if necessary, this signals to the insurance company that you are serious.

That in itself makes it more likely the insurer will come to the bargaining table and talk honestly with you. But if not, your attorney’s experience will, of course, be very valuable in presenting your case in the best possible way and challenging the insurance company during litigation.

Reduce Your Stress

When you’re trying to recover from a car accident, you’re trying to get over not only physical injuries but also emotional challenges. You may also be dealing with all the difficulties that come when a car is lost or so damaged that it takes weeks in the shop to get it back to a usable condition.

A lawyer can take all the burden off your shoulders when it comes to the legal issues and make sure everything is filed correctly and on time and all communication is done properly. This goes a long way to alleviating your stress during a very difficult time.

Handle Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist Claims

In cases where the at-fault driver is uninsured or underinsured, recovering compensation can become a lot more difficult, and you’ll be especially glad of a lawyer’s help here.

You would think that your own insurance company would be on your side and very happy to honor your uninsured or uninsured motorist coverage. But all insurance companies are, in the end, businesses with bottom lines, and you may find your insurance company delaying, denying, or challenging you at every step. Your attorney could not only help you here but also help you investigate all possible avenues for compensation.

Advise You on Settlement Decisions

Right from the beginning, it’s likely that you will be receiving settlement offers from the insurance company. Each time you get an offer, you have to decide whether to accept it or push further, and that can be a very difficult decision. Not only are you not feeling your best after an accident, but you’re also likely feeling the stress of mounting bills. As you feel this stress, you naturally begin to feel more desperate. Insurance companies are banking on this, hoping that you will accept a lower settlement out of desperation rather than hold out for everything you are owed. Your attorney will protect you at this point.

The first way you’re protected is as your attorney evaluates the offer itself. Your lawyer can also consider each offer against the likelihood of going to court and winning and help you know when it’s time to accept. And when it comes to all of those mounting bills, your attorney can help you there, too.

Your attorney can give healthcare providers, for example, official notice that you are bringing a lawsuit and encourage them to put a medical lien on that lawsuit. The term “lien” sounds scary, but this is actually a good thing when it comes to personal injury. It basically means the healthcare provider is deferring payment until your settlement comes through. Your attorney will also be responsible for repaying the healthcare provider out of your settlement, and your attorney will protect you from any bill padding or unfair claims that a healthcare provider might make.

Studies show that those who bring a claim with a lawyer tend to walk away with larger settlements, even after legal fees are considered, than those who don’t. Contact us today at the Wendt Law Firm P.C. in Lee’s Summit, MO and beyond for a free consultation. You only pay us if we win your case.