An accident can interfere with your life in many ways. It can lead to huge medical bills that you are not prepared for, deter you from working, and cause emotional trauma. No one will be ready for the consequences of an accident because no one expects to be in an accident. Most of these accidents occur due to negligence.
The good thing is that personal injury laws exist. Victims can file a lawsuit against the at-fault party if their accident was caused by negligence. Personal injury lawyers help victims of negligence by assisting them throughout the claim process. Claiming compensation for your losses is a necessity if you ever get into an accident.
As said, you will incur many losses as a result of the accident. So, to recover from these losses, you have to claim compensation.
However, not everyone knows how to claim compensation since, for most people, it will be their first time. Worry not. In this blog post, we discuss the important steps a victim needs to take to claim fair compensation.
How to Claim Fair Compensation
Step 1: Call 911
Getting medical help following an accident is mandatory. It is both good for your body and your case. Even if you think your injury is minor, you need to call them since some injuries might not show up immediately. In addition, a defendant can claim that the injuries were not severe enough to warrant medical help or that you intentionally made them worse by not getting medical help. This can lead to complications in your case.
Step 2: Get a Police Report
A police report of an accident will consist of statements of the parties involved and statements of eyewitnesses, the time of the accident, the contact information of the eyewitnesses, etc. Police reports play an important role in proving your case. Since the report is from the law enforcement department, everyone will believe it without any questions.
Step 3: Hire a Lawyer
The first two steps are the immediate actions you need to take at the accident site. After those two steps, you need to consult a lawyer at the earliest. You don’t have to worry about the cost of a lawyer since they will offer one free initial consultation to analyze your case. Also, they work on a contingency fee basis, so there are no upfront costs. A lawyer will help in collecting evidence, calculating your losses, determining liability, negotiating with the insurance company, and acquiring fair compensation for your losses.
Step 4: Calculate Your Losses
You will incur two types of losses; economic and non-economic. You should calculate your losses in order to know what you are owed. Calculating economic damages is fairly easy. You just have to collect all your medical bills, property repair bills, and other bills and add them together. However, calculating non-economic damages is not that simple. You cannot put a definitive value on non-economic losses. You can get help from lawyers to calculate your losses.
Step 5: Negotiate with the Insurance Companies
The first thing the insurance company will do once you file a claim is reject it. Yes, insurance companies will never accept your offer since accepting it means a loss for their company. So, the back-and-forth negotiation will begin. Honestly, it is a long, tiring, and stressful process. However, you don’t have to go through it because your lawyer will do it for you. Your lawyer knows the strategies an insurance company will use and will counter them effectively.
Final Thoughts
Yes, claiming compensation for your losses is a complex process. But you can make it easier by hiring a lawyer. A lawyer can maximize your chances of obtaining fair compensation with their knowledge and skill. Obtaining fair compensation can fast-track your recovery process and get your life back on track soon.
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