When should i hire a lawyer?
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| when should i hire a lawyer |
Cases of hiring a lawyer
When deciding whether or not to hire a lawyer after a car accident, you should consider whether or not you will receive higher compensation after the attorney pays.
When deciding to hire a lawyer, ask yourself the following questions:
1-Did I only suffer property damage to my vehicle?
If yes, then the answer is probably no. For repairs, simply get quotes from reputable repair shops and compare them to the amount offered by the adjuster. If the vehicle is totaled be sure that the insurance company is paying a fair value for the vehicle prior to the collision.
2-Did I suffer very “minor” injury cases?
The answer in this situation is ‘maybe’. It is important to always carefully consider your options. If your case involves personal injuries, a more detailed analysis is required. If the injuries are minor and you fully recover from the injuries in a few days, you probably do not need an attorney. Minor injuries are ones that result in less than a $1,000.00 in medical bills. To obtain a fair settlement for your minor injury claim, educate yourself sufficiently to negotiate with the insurance adjuster. To educate yourself, go online or to the bookstore and obtain one of the many self help guides for car accident victims. These guides are excellent resources for dealing with the minor injury claims. Like the property damage only type cases, minor injury cases usually do not justify the use of hiring lawyer. In such cases, the attorney’s fee generally results in a lower net settlement to the claimant because the value of the claim is low and cannot be appreciably increased.
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| When to Hire a Lawyer |
3-Was I or a loved one severely injured or killed?
If your case involves anything more than property damage and minor injuries, it is likely that you will benefit by hiring lawyer. Most people do not typically have the necessary negotiation skills, knowledge of the law and experience in evaluating damages to obtain a fair settlement value for major injury cases. As such, when negotiating with an insurance adjuster, non-lawyers are at a distinct disadvantage. Do not be misled by the adjuster's statements that hiring lawyer will reduce your net settlement or delay payment for your claim. The insurance industries own statistics do not support these statements. In 2004, the Insurance Resource Council completed a study that found that people who used an attorney received an average of 3½ times more money in settlement than those individuals who settled on their own. Thus, if you seek to obtain a fair settlement for your injuries, the use of an experienced personal injury lawyer is vitally required.