There are countless situations in which personal injury claims can be filed. You can end up injured in car accidents, during slip and fall incidents, and you can even end up bitten by a dog. How much you are injured is going to dictate claim processing and how difficult the process is going to be.
Unfortunately, when faced with serious situations, you need to hire Westwood MA personal injury lawyers at StoneInjuryLawyers. Fortunately, in other situations, you can handle the entire process alone. But, knowing when it is time to hire an attorney as opposed to handling everything alone is not easy to understand. Here’s what you should understand about managing personal injury cases alone, without the help of an attorney.
Managing The Case Alone
If you try to handle the claim alone and then you decide to hire an attorney, the entire claims process becomes complicated. This is why you need to make your choice at the very beginning. You have to fully understand exactly what you are capable of. Then, you need to fully understand what the problem is if the case is mishandled. When you are unsure about any part of the claims process, you have to get in touch with a personal injury attorney and hire them to help you.
Some cases in which you can handle the injury claim alone are:
There Are No Injuries Or They Are Minor
This is particularly the case with car accidents. If the collision happens at low speed and you only have to deal with some minor vehicle damage, there is a very good possibility you will be able to handle the case alone. In most such cases, you just have to file injury claims with an insurance company and you will get the money that you need to deal with injuries and minor property damages. When satisfied with the coverage you have and the service received, you do not need the help of a car accident attorney.
No-Fault States
In no-fault states, you can only sue to receive financial compensation when you have injuries that are at least of a specific level. This is determined by how much it costs to treat injuries and what the injuries actually are. When being limited by this, it does not make sense to hire personal injury attorneys if you have to deal with only some minor injuries. But, if there is a possibility that your injury is quite serious, you need to go with the services of the lawyer since the process can be quite complicated.
You Get The Maximum
An insurance company will make a payment based on the maximum policy amount. This needs to be taken into account as you make your final decision. For instance, if your maximum coverage is $150,000 and this is what you receive, the attorney is not needed unless you need to get more. Extra amounts can only be obtained from the party at fault directly. But, when there are not many assets in the name of the defendant, the settlement is definitely the very best move you can make. Further notifications would not allow you to receive much more.
When do you need to hire an attorney for injury cases?
Not all personal injury cases are the same. As we said, there are some personal injury cases that are not going to require an attorney’s assistance. However, there are some other situations where it can be very helpful to have someone professional with legal knowledge and experience that can review your case. If you are not sure what you should do after you have been injured, the attorney will help you by explaining your legal rights and whether you can handle your case on your own or not. Below, we prepared some situation that indicates that you may need to hire a personal injury attorney.
Ask yourself whether the liability for the accident is disputed?
Victims need to prove that they have been injured by the other party’s negligence or failure. If you have trouble proving that another driver caused the car accident which injured you, you need to ask for professional assistance. That counts also when that driver disputes liability. In that situation, the professional lawyer will immediately start with the investigation in order to find the proves and determine who is responsible for your injury. After the lawyer collects the evidence, he or she will create a legal strategy in order to prove liability.
Are you being blamed for contributing to the cause of your own injury?
In many cases the other party’s insurance company accepts the liability, however, they also claim that you contributed at some point in causing the accident. For example, the insurance company can say that you drive too fast when the accident occurred and you were injured. In that way, you are failing as well for the crash. Even if something like this did not contribute to the injury, you need to realize that insurance companies are usually trying to lower the amount of money they need to pay to resolve a claim. Because of that, they are seeking contributory negligence. However, luckily, if you hire a lawyer in this situation, he or she will know how to fight against them.
Look whether multiple parties are involved in your case?
You should hire a personal injury attorney if the other parties are involved in your case. If you are wondering what includes multiple parties, you should know that they are referring to medical malpractice claims, construction accidents, multi-vehicle accidents, and product liability claims. Every professional and experienced lawyer will know how to deal with all of these additional issues which can make the whole case a lot more complicated. Moreover, you will not be able to handle the case by yourself because it would involve multiple defendants. Everyone will find a way to neglect their responsibility in causing your injury. With the attorney who will protect you, you will not need to worry about anything.
Did you experience traumatic injury or some permanent disability?
If something like this happened, you do not have other choices except to hire an attorney. These types of personal injury cases are very complex. For instance, you can experience some conditions that will require medical care for the rest of your life. You might not be able to work or to live normally for the rest of your life. Also, you will have a lot of financial problems in the future because of this. Therefore, the lawyer will be there to ensure that you receive the maximum value for your personal injury claim.