Should You Get a Personal Injury Lawyer After an Accident?

It’s quite difficult to determine whether you need a lawyer after an injury or not. One of the reasons is the misleading misconceptions about lawsuits involving personal injury. However, there are various scenarios where it might be best to get a local personal injury lawyer.

Immediately after an accident, it’s crucial for you to contact your lawyer, especially if you find yourself in any of the following situations:

The Accident Involved Serious Injuries and Requires Hospital Admission
 
With a serious injury, you may have to commit to extended medical care or even life-long care. The costs involved in this type of care is high.

To add salt to injury, your insurance company may decline or avoid paying for medical care since it’s expensive. Hiring a lawyer to represent you will increase the probability of you getting your compensation as well as other medical costs in the future.

The Injuries Might Have a Long-Term Effect on Your Health
 
Long-term effects due to an injury include changes to your lifestyle such as the inability to go back to your day job and special changes to your car and house not to mention the loss of your primary income for the remainder of your life.

These scenarios must be incorporated by the insurance company when determining a settlement offer.

You Have Missed a Number of Days of School, Work and Other Activities

If you miss school, lose your income due to the inability to go to work or are unable to engage in other activities you’d otherwise do often are some of the side-effects you may encounter after an accident.

The law allows you to seek compensation for any financial losses you might have incurred due to the accident.

You’re Facing Pain and Suffering, Emotional Trauma or Companionship Loss

Most of the injuries lead to emotional trauma, especially in children or in accidents that led to life-changing injuries.

A number of states allow victims of various injuries to seek compensation for emotional trauma. In other states, you can get the services of a lawyer to help you determine whether you can seek compensation for pain and suffering.

Your Insurance Company Isn’t Complying with their Own Terms

A number of insurance companies have been known to use underhanded tactics when issuing medical treatments, offering compensation and paying for damages.

They tend to “forget” select terms within their own policies with the aim of shortchanging the victim. Some companies outright decline to cater for the medical expenses simply because they want to save money.

You can get help from a lawyer to push the insurance company into state law and policy compliance.

Loss of a Family Member
 
Under the law, you seek compensation for wrongful death if an accident claimed the life of your family member. However, you might want to speak to your lawyer to know whether you qualify for this type of compensation.

Dependent children, spouse or direct family members can qualify for wrongful death. Nevertheless, there are other situations where the parents of the children who perished in an accident died as a result of an injury can claim wrongful death.

Confusion in the Medical Records, Police Report or Accident Report
 
If there’s any conflicting information in the insurance reports, medical reports or police reports, then you might lose out on a significant portion of your compensation.

If you learn of any conflicting information in any of the reports, it’ll be in your best interest to speak to a lawyer to guide you through the process.

In an accident, the first course of action is to take care of the injuries by seeking medical attention as soon as possible. It doesn’t matter if it’s a slight fall or a car accident, your life and health come first. After your situation is stable, you can talk to your lawyer.

Some of the insurance companies will try and evade paying for your medical costs or compensation for that matter. With a lawyer on your side, you can avoid these bottlenecks.

This is a guest blog entry.