If someone else’s negligence caused you to experience injury, it may be beneficial to speak with a personal injury attorney. It’s important to better understand your case, your rights, and your next steps.
Personal injuries can range from temporarily painful to permanently damaging or life-altering, depending on the severity of the injury.
As we mentioned in last month’s article, personal injury is any form of physical injury, mental distress, or damage to personal property brought on as a result of someone else’s negligence.
What Are the Signs That I Need a Personal Injury Attorney?
If you experience an accident or a traumatic event that caused injury, mental distress, or damage to your personal property or belongings, you may wonder if there are justifiable reasons to speak with a personal injury lawyer and file a personal injury claim.
To help you navigate your choices, here are a few signs that may indicate you should contact an accident attorney:
You Sustained Significant Injuries
When you experience an accident, you assess yourself as soon as you’re able for any physical damage. If you are in a car wreck, you probably check your arms and legs for broken bones, test your neck and spine to see if any movements hurt, or examine your body for cuts or bruises. In some cases, it’s possible to experience a car accident but walk away without injury or only receive minor injuries. In other cases, you may sustain major injuries that can temporarily or permanently impact your life.
Severe injuries, such as broken bones, deep cuts, spinal injuries, head trauma, and others, not only require more extensive medical care, but they can also lead to loss of income or decrease your quality of life, all of which can result in financial losses.
If someone else’s negligence has caused you to suffer severe injuries, long-term injury, or permanent impairment, a personal injury attorney will advocate for you, helping you fight for compensation.
You Do Not Know How Devastating Your Situation Is or Can Become
Depending on the injury sustained, you could suffer for only a temporary time, or the injury could leave you with lasting, permanent damage. Understanding the long-term effects of your injury or calculating any current and future financial losses due to your injury can be challenging to do accurately on your own.
Some of the financial losses you could experience after sustaining an injury include:
- Numerous medical payments
- Loss of income due to inability to work
- Travel expenses to hospitals, physical rehabilitation centers, or other facilities necessary for recovery or management
- Payments to hired aides if you require in-home healthcare, home cleaning services, personal care services, and others
Understanding the total value of your injury and related damages is crucial if you want fair compensation. A personal injury lawyer can help you with calculations as they fight on your behalf for optimal financial outcomes.
You Are Having a Hard Time With the Other Party’s Insurance Company
If the other party’s insurance company is not cooperating, communicating effectively, or helping resolve your personal injury claim as best they can, a personal injury attorney can intervene.
Some ways insurance companies may work to minimize their responsibility in a personal injury claim can include:
- Avoiding investigation of a claim
- Delaying the claim process
- Denying a claim without adequate information or evidence
- Offering confusing or misleading information throughout the process
- Revising policy terms
- Using aggressive measures so that a victim is pressured to accept an unfair or inadequate settlement
Having a dispute with an insurance company is bad enough. However, uncooperative insurers can make the task even more painful. With an accident attorney on your side, you can trust that they will work to get answers and optimal results out of companies.
The Other Party Has Filed a Counter Claim Against You
The at-fault party can point the finger back at a victim to minimize or avoid accountability.
It’s also possible, in some cases, for both parties to be partially at fault for an accident or injury. For example, let’s say a car accident occurs because driver #1 sped through a red light. However, driver #2 was also texting while driving and could not react appropriately to avoid collision. Driver #2 could also be considered partially at fault for the accident.
Georgia’s comparative faults laws allow victims to receive reduced compensation for their injuries, even if they are partly to blame for the accident. If a jury finds the injured party 49% responsible for an accident and any related injuries, the injured can still receive up to 51% of the owed damages.
Whether you are partially responsible for the accident that led to your injuries or are being accused of contributing to the accident, it’s essential to speak to an attorney who can evaluate the situation and advocate for your side appropriately.
Personal injury cases can be complicated and challenging to pursue without proper representation. Fight for fair and optimal compensation with the personal injury attorneys at Clark, Smith & Sizemore on your side.
Sustaining a personal injury can be devastating to your physical, mental, and financial well-being. Representing yourself in your personal injury claim is tricky, but the attorneys at Clark, Smith & Sizemore are ready to take charge of your case, advocate for you, and fight for your best outcomes.
Call us today for a free consultation: 478-254-5040.
Thanks for checking out part 2 in our 6-part series about personal injury. Stay tuned for all of our personal injury articles, which include:
- What Is Considered a Personal Injury?
- Do I Need a Personal Injury Attorney? And Other FAQs
- What Is a Catastrophic Injury?
- Personal Injury vs. Workplace Accident
- Should I Hire a Car Accident Attorney After a Bad Wreck?
- Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney