A car accident usually leads to injury, hospital bills, medications, and damage repairs. That’s why many victims of car accidents seek to recover financial damages from the responsible party. Getting better after a personal injury accident comprises a multitude of aspects that are all necessary for helping you get back to your everyday life. Though car accidents seem like they’re pretty simple in terms of settlements, they’re really not. They involve complex factors, laws, and other things that go into determining a fair amount of financial compensation for the plaintiff. Here are all the settlement factors that are involved in car accident cases.
Your Injuries
The major deciding factor in how much compensation you’ll be able to receive for your car accident case depends on the injuries you sustained as a result of the accident.
Car accident injuries can range from fatal, such as brain damage, to minor, such as scratches and scars. The severity of your accident has an impact on the value of your personal injury claim for the incident. The value of your claim increases by the type of injury you’ve sustained. For example, if you’ve suffered a brain injury, spinal cord injury, or any other type of injury that affects your ability to move or work, then you’ll be liable to more damages compared to if you just sustained a whiplash.
An experienced personal injury lawyer will be able to help you sustain economic and non-economic damages with regard to your case. This means that you’ll be liable to receive financial compensation for all your future medical expenses and treatments, time lost at work, loss of future wages, property damage, and more. The non-economic damages that you can claim are the cost of physical and mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of lifestyle, and mental injuries.
Timing of Seeking Medical Assistance
If you delay seeking medical treatment, the insurance company or jury can question the seriousness of your injuries. Your health should be your main priority when you’ve been in an accident, and you should seek prompt medical assistance. This is because some injuries, such as soft tissue injuries, can take some time to show up. It’s advised to visit a medical professional as soon as possible to ensure you get the appropriate medical care and treatment for your injuries. Keep the medical receipts, bills, and medications with you as evidence to provide to the jury.
Additionally, your personal injury lawyer will look at your medical bills to determine the total claim of damages that you can make. If you’re unable to provide records of your medical bills, you may lose out on fair compensation for the costs that you endured as a result of the accident.
Whose Fault Was It?
Comparative fault laws in Alabama dictate that the percentage of the compensation you receive in terms of a car accident case depends on how much of the accident was your responsibility. Therefore, if you were partially responsible or at fault in the accident, then you may be held liable for the resulting damages.
For example, if another car ran a yellow light and crashed into your car while you were speeding, the jury may hold you responsible for disobeying the law as well.
However, as long as your responsibility in contributing toward the accident is below fifty one percent, you can still claim financial compensation for the accident. If the jury finds your responsibility in the accident to be higher than fifty one percent, then it’s likely you will not be recovering any damages, economic or non-economic, for your case. If you’re at thirty percent fault for the accident, you’ll recover only seventy percent of the compensation, according to the proportionate responsibility statute of Alabama.
Witnesses
Generally, witnesses strengthen claims in terms of personal injury cases. If any witnesses other than the two drivers were present at the scene of the accident, it can help with determining the liability of the accident and damages.
However, if witnesses provide conflicting statements and the jury is unable to or has a tough time figuring out who is at fault, it could directly affect how much compensation you receive for your personal injury claim.
Hiring Personal Injury Lawyers
Hiring an experienced personal injury lawyer improves your chances of getting the fair compensation you deserve. Usually, insurance companies seek to settle outside of court, providing plaintiffs with a lump-sum payment. Though this payment may seem like a lot at first, it’s usually not enough to cover the full cost of economic and non-economic damages that the plaintiff sustained.
A professional personal injury lawyer will be able to negotiate a fair settlement for your car accident claim. They’ll work together with actuaries, financial experts, medical professionals, law enforcement bodies, witnesses, and more to be able to strengthen your case. They’ll gather evidence in support of your claim, train witnesses to provide an accurate testimony, and prove to the jury that you deserve the claim that you’re making in court.
Your personal injury lawyer will help you send a demand letter, submit documents and claims on time, prepare pleadings, and much more. They’ll represent you in court, and a professional personal injury lawyer will try their hardest to fight your case and get you the compensation that you deserve.
Expert Personal Injury Lawyers in Alabama
Hare | Wynn, Newell & Newton is a law firm based in Birmingham, Alabama. With a team of highly experienced expert lawyers, they deal with many personal injury cases such as birth injuries, catastrophic injuries, medical malpractice, medication error, and more.
Get in touch with them for more info.
