Accidents occur as a driver or as a passenger. They’re not always your fault, but if you feel another driver was negligent, then it’s something to be aware of.
What should you expect to happen after a collision? Is it necessary to have lawyers get involved or can you represent yourself? Or for that matter, should you do so?
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Life Just Hit a Bumpy Road
Even if your life was previously all hunky-dory and you were seemingly breezing through it, that all comes to a halt when you’re involved in an accident.
If there are several parties involved, including two or more vehicles, then it can quickly turn into a confusing mess. As a result, it’s best to dig in and prepare for a few months of tougher times.
For one thing, you may have sustained injuries that will require medical treatment. You’ll be in discomfort once the pain medication wears off. It may also impinge on what work you can still do if it’s limiting your mobility or hindering you due to the pain levels.
How Can an Accident Attorney Help You?
Reporting the accident and making a claim on your insurance is only the beginning. While you could let the insurance companies argue it out, in less than clear-cut cases, it can become a sticky situation.
Without sharp legal minds that can use evidence from the scene like dashcams, photos, and witness statements to confirm what occurred that dark night, opposing parties can still make untrue claims to escape responsibility.
Other parties may make misleading statements because they know that their insurance premiums will rise if they’re found liable. To avoid that happening to you and your premiums permanently rising, you need good people on your side.
What Information Will an Attorney Require?
Bear in mind that they’re coming into the case fresh. But they also have no information on what happened. So, they must necessarily get up to speed.
Information like your insurance auto policy, what was declared in your policy, garage estimates on repair costs, healthcare expenses and expected medical outcome (future treatment), the forms if driving or in a rental car, and any report supplied could be requested.
A Michigan car accident attorney will also ask to see footage of the incident from a dashcam and images taken by anyone at the scene if there are any. These can go a long way to confirm who was negligent and is extremely helpful in negotiations too.
Should You Try to Go It Alone?
It is always an option to represent yourself and see how you do. However, it’s not recommended.
Many accident attorneys work on a no-win, no-fee basis. This means, they don’t charge you upfront and bear the costs of the case themselves. Later, they receive a percentage of any negotiated settlement. The details are different depending on the attorney, but there’s often little to lose.
Also, unless you’ve done battle with insurance companies and other lawyers before, you’ll be in a weaker position. They can make no offer or a low-ball one, and you won’t even know what’s fair under the circumstances. That’s a bad position to put yourself in.
Follow the above advice on what to do following an accident. At such a confusing time, assistance from people who’ve been through this sort of thing before is invaluable.