How To Determine If You Need A Lawyer For Your Car Accident Case}

Submitted by: Howard Santos

There are three considerations that will determine whether you need a lawyer for your car accident:

1. Extent of property damage

2. Extent of personal injury

3. Major injury incurred

Usually if you or anybody in your car has not suffered any injury, you would be able to settle your case with the opposing insurance adjuster without needing the services of a lawyer. The cost of hiring a lawyer in this case would equal the cost of hiring an insurance adjuster. In this type of case, you are entitled to repair costs or replacement costs for your vehicle. You can also include the cost of renting another vehicle until your damaged vehicle has been repaired or replaced. However, if there is a foregone income, you need a lawyer to argue your case so that this foregone income can form part of your claim.

To determine the amount it would cost to repair your car, you should get estimates of repair shops near where the accident took place and compare these prices to the estimate arrived at by the insurance adjuster. If your damaged vehicle is beyond repair, you could consult valuers to get your vehicles fair market value. You can get accurate information about all makes and models of cars from these publications. Major bookstores sell these publications or they can be located online by searching the internet.

If the extent of your personal injury is only minor, you have to include this in your claim. If your injuries are not serious and you can recover in a few days, you do not need the services of an attorney. Minor injuries usually amount to less than a thousand dollars in medical bills. To know about your rights in small medical claims, you could buy books such as self-help guides for victims of car accidents, or you could locate information online to see how much you could legally claim. Hiring an attorney only means decreasing your claim since the cost of an attorney will take a sizeable portion of your claim. However, if you do not have time to research these matters carefully and you do not mind collecting less of your total compensation, go ahead and hire an attorney.

If your personal injury and the damage to your vehicle are considerable, it is advisable to hire an attorney. Most people do not have sufficient knowledge on negotiation, statutes, common law provisions and estimating legally enforceable damages to get a settlement in instances where major injuries have been sustained. When this happens, somebody who does not know the law and does not have any experience in these matters is at a distinct disadvantage in getting fair compensation for their legally enforceable damages. Do not believe in stories that say hiring an attorney would reduce the value of your claims. In 2004, the Insurance Resource Council found that people with extensive car damage who hired attorneys to help them received more than three times the compensation than those who did not. So, if you are seeking a just settlement for your injuries and damages in the case of major accidents, hiring an experienced automobile accident lawyer is a necessity you cannot avoid.

Thus, the deciding factor on whether you should consult a lawyer is the extent of damages that you hope to be compensated for. If your estimate for damage compensation is large, it is advisable to let an attorney handle it for you. If your estimate for compensation of damages is rather small, it would be better to negotiate a settlement by yourself.

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