Immediately following an accident, there are a few things you can do to help preserve evidence and make it easier for you to receive maximum compensation in the future. Try to photograph the scene including the street you're on, damage to vehicles, damage to property, and any injuries on your body. If you have suffered any physical injury, make sure to seek medical attention as soon as possible! This is not only for your own health and safety, but it will also help your claim. Make sure you continue to seek treatment and go your medical appointments until you feel like your injuries have fully healed. If you don't receive treatment, the defending counsel can use this against you.
Payment for your medical bills following an automobile accident will depend on whether you have health insurance, medical payment insurance, or no insurance.
If you are injured in a car accident, your life can be altered in many ways. These alterations often make you eligible to receive compensation. You can receive reimbursement for a number of things, including:
This includes such things as accumulated medical bills, medication expenses, costs of needed medical equipment, and other accident-related expenses you aren’t able to afford and aren’t covered by any insurance you have.
Some symptoms to look out for after a car accident that may not appear immediately are swelling, neck pain, back pain, nausea, dizziness, headaches, confusion, mental fogginess, sensitivity to light and/or sound, and numbness and tingling in your arms and/or legs. All these symptoms could be signs that you sustained severe injuries in the accident. If you have visible injuries at the scene of the crash, attempt to take pictures to document your injuries for your doctor and the insurance company. This could include cuts, scrapes, and facial injuries. Please also ensure you obtain medical treatment early, as that will help maximize your chances of making a full and timely recovery.
Although it is impossible to provide a complete list of injuries that can result from a car accident, some common conditions caused by car accidents are as follows.
Regrettably, it is common that people miss work after an automobile accident. Some people have personal time off (PTO) they can use while they are off work to ensure they don’t miss out on wage payment. Others, however, have no personal time off. For those individuals, they simply don’t get paid for the days they can’t work due to the accident. Regardless of whether you had to use personal time off or simply were paid for the time you missed from work following an accident, you’re entitled to compensation equal to the amount of time you missed work. An experienced personal injury attorney can help ensure you maximize the amount of compensation you receive for any time you had to miss work following an accident.
It is standard practice that the insurance company for the person who caused the accident will not admit fault. Under Ohio law, the injured party is responsible for proving who caused the accident as well as the damages resulting from that accident. Consequently, the insurance companies see no reason or benefit to admitting fault unless forced to. An experienced personal injury attorney can help cut through the red tape on this issue and get the insurance companies to admit fault earlier so the injured person’s claim can be resolved as quickly as possible.
Who pays your medical bills following the accident depends on whether you have insurance and, if you do, what type of insurance you have. If you have medical insurance, your medical insurance company will typically pay your medical bills following an automobile accident. Sometimes people have a special type of automobile insurance called medical payment insurance (a.k.a. “med pay”). Regardless of whether the injured person has medical insurance or med pay, whatever insurance company pays for the medical bills following the accident will have a “subrogation lien” for which they will seek reimbursement when the injured party receives a settlement payment.
Before you hire an attorney to help you receive compensation for automobile accident injuries make sure to ask them these questions:
In order to ensure that you will receive the full compensation in which you are entitled to, make sure you hire an attorney that specializes in, and has plenty of experience in, automobile accident cases.
The simple answer to this question is “no”. For people injured in automobile accidents, the attorney will typically work on what is known as a “contingency fee” basis. That means the attorney’s fee will be based on the amount of money obtained for the injured party. Specifically, the attorney will receive a certain percentage of the amount of money received by the injured party. Typically, that percentage is 33.33%.
Although it is frustrating and seems unfair, the person who didn’t cause the accident, but sustained injuries, is responsible for proving that those injuries and damages exist and are a result of the accident. There are many different ways you can prove this, and depending on the type of claim you are making, you will need to present different types of evidence as proof of your damages. . Although everyone’s case is different, the following documents are commonly used to prove auto accident-related injuries and damages:
After you have supplied the insurance company with all the necessary evidence and documentation, negotiations can begin. Typically, this starts with you and your attorney drafting and submitting a demand asking the liable party and their insurance company for a specific amount of money as compensation for your injuries and damages. When this initial demand has been made, the insurance adjuster or defense attorney will review the evidence and decide as to how much they believe you should receive. Don’t be alarmed if the initial offer is shockingly low. It is common for insurance companies to offer as little as possible to settle a claim. In fact, an insurance adjuster’s goal is to get your claim closed as quickly and cheaply as possible. An experienced personal injury attorney will know
the insurance industry’s tactics, and plan for them, so you receive the full amount of money you are entitled to.
After receiving the offer of settlement from the insurance adjuster or defense attorney, you will need to respond to it. If they haven’t offered you the amount you originally requested, the demand will need to be lowered in order to keep negotiations going. This process of going back and forth with various demands and offers can take a while. Usually, a settlement is typically reached. Sometimes, an agreement cannot be made, and a settlement cannot be obtained. Under those circumstances, your case will need to be presented to a jury to receive compensation. The jury will decide how much compensation you should receive.
In this instance, an experienced personal injury attorney will be essential to your case. At DuPont & Blumenstiel, our attorneys have decades of experience in presenting our clients’ stories to juries in a way that is easy to understand and appreciate. We are confident we can present your case in the best way possible. Give us a call at 614-408-0529.