A personal injury claim can be made for a range of different situations and incidents – there is not just one thing that personal injury law covers. For instance, you might be injured from falling over in a shop, being involved in a car crash, or even being bitten by a friend’s dog. Each of these different scenarios are considered to be a personal injury and how much harm is sustained from them has a significant impact on any claim that you make off because of them. Let’s see about hiring a personal injury lawyer.
In certain situations, you can handle the claim that you make yourself through either your insurance company or through the small claims court. In more serious incidents and where it is legally complex, it can be beneficial to get the assistance and advice of a Houston Personal Injury Lawyer.
Hiring a personal injury lawyer
When you make a claim against another party, it is highly unlikely that they will simply accept it and instead will have a team of lawyers working for them to either stop you from getting any compensation or, at least, keep the amount to a minimum. A personal injury lawyer has spent many years reading the law to become experts in it and so they can do a really good job of representing you and handling your case in an effective way to ensure that you get the full amount of compensation that you are entitled to.
Some examples of the types of cases where you might want to hire a personal injury lawyer to represent you are listed below.
You are badly injured
Where the injuries that you have sustained are serious then it is worthwhile hiring a personal injury lawyer to handle your case. They will use their many years of knowledge and expertise to wait until they know the full seriousness of all of your injuries before settling for a compensation amount. If your case goes to court then things like the suffering and pain that you have gone through as a result of the incident will be included in any compensation that you receive but this is not the case if it does not get that far. A personal injury lawyer will be able to have these things in any settlement that is offered to you by the insurance company of the guilty party. Using their knowledge and expertise, they will be able to negotiate and fully maximize your recovery.
Doing it yourself
If you try handling a claim against another party yourself and then end up having to hire a personal injury lawyer further down the line, it may actually have the result of making the process more complicated. This is why, from the off, it is important to know exactly what is at stake and what you are capable of doing as you do not want to run the risk of mishandling your case. It is important to hire a personal injury lawyer if you do not know how to make a claim or are unsure about any aspects of it. The best time to get in contact with a personal injury lawyer is straight after you have been involved in an accident so that you can find out if it is worth getting one involved.
Some examples of the types of cases where you might be able to handle it yourself and not need a lawyer are listed below.
You have an accident in a no fault state
There are some states in America where you are not allowed to make a personal injury claim unless the injuries that you experience as a result of it are of a certain level of seriousness. The seriousness of your injuries is determined by the financial cost of treating them is. Because you are limited as to the number of damages that you can claim, it may not be worth hiring a personal injury lawyer if your injuries are not significant enough. Only where your injuries take you out of the system for no-fault, should you hire a lawyer?
You have the confidence to negotiate with an adjuster
If you possess the confidence and are comfortable enough with the process to handle your one claim and negotiate directly with the insurance company of the guilty party in order to reach a fair settlement amount, then there is no need for you to hire a personal injury lawyer to do all of this for you. If your case goes to the small claims court, then there is nothing stopping you from representing yourself and gathering up your own evidence.
You have reached the maximum settlement amount
An insurance company will only pay compensation out to the policy limit maximum. Therefore, if the guilty party has a maximum coverage of $100,000 and you have already been offered this amount, there is no way of getting even more compensation and so it is not worthwhile hiring a personal injury lawyer, as there is nothing more than that they can do for you. Any further money that comes in the way of the compensation would have to come directly from the personal finances of the guilty party; but if they do not have any assets, then it is not worthwhile to pursue this route. Only if that person has lots of high-value liquid assets is it then worth hiring a personal injury lawyer to pursue your case for you.
You have researched the process
There are lots of online resources out there that people are able to use in order to research the law so that they are able to pursue the settlement process themselves. Some of the most important areas to learn about include state laws, compensation for various types of damages, legal and fault liability pertaining to your own personal case. This process takes lots of time and effort, and although it can be done by someone with no legal training, many people forgo having to do all of this by, instead, hiring a personal injury lawyer.
