Car accidents can range from minor fender benders at low speed to catastrophic, fatal crashes with multiple people injured or killed. No two car accidents are alike, which means that there are no two legal procedures following the accident that are alike, even if the insurance companies prefer to treat your situation like just another standard claims investigation. The reality is that when you are dealing with a major insurance company to get money for your injuries and personal damages, the company isn’t focused on you as a person; they are focused on you as an expense that they want to reduce as much as possible.
When you work with an experienced attorney after a Pensacola car accident, you can be represented by someone who forces the insurance company to look at your case in greater detail, pay you the money that you rightfully deserve, and help you move forward with your life with the financial security that you are rightfully entitled to. The insurance company’s policyholder caused the accident with their reckless or negligent behavior, and there is no reason that you should be financially burdened by their actions.
Contact 1-800-Injured Today To Hire a Pensacola Personal Injury Attorney
Even though it is highly likely that most people who are injured in accidents will end up with a better settlement if they worked with a lawyer, many people avoid this important step as they scramble to get their lives back on track. In the days and weeks after an accident, especially one with serious injuries, trying to find a lawyer while trying to take on the rest of the stressful administrative necessities—all at the same time as recovering from life-altering damages—can seem like too much work, and for good reason.
Fortunately, 1-800-injured is here to help personal injury victims of all types connect with an attorney in their area who can help them build a comprehensive case and fight for the money that they rightfully deserve. 1-800-Injured is an attorney and medical referral service. The sooner you contact us for a free initial consultation, the sooner you can be partnered with experienced and diligent legal representation who will not let the insurance company settle your claim without a fight.
Read more below about car accident claims and how important a personal injury attorney will be to your case, and contact us now to be connected with an attorney as soon as possible.
Who Is At Fault For Your Car Accident?
Determining who is at fault for your accident is an essential step to begin the process of getting compensation for your injuries and your damages. Florida uses a rule known as pure comparative negligence in order to assign fault, which allows for a victim to accept partial fault for an accident and still have a right to compensation. If this was not the case, even 1% of fault would invalidate a victim’s claim, leaving them with little to no recourse to compensate for the financial impacts that this accident has caused them.
While this rule is an extremely helpful way to ensure that a victim gets compensated for an accident that they are not the primary cause of, the insurance company will use the rule as a way to shave off the amount of money that they are ultimately on the hook for, which is why your attorney will need to go through every piece of evidence to make sure that if you accept any fault at all, that it is no more than you are actually responsible for.
Here’s how it works: pure comparative negligence allows for a victim to accept fault for an accident, and then reduces their final settlement by the percentage that they are responsible for. For example, if you accept 10% of the fault for your accident, and your settlement is $100,000, then you will ultimately receive $90,000 as a reward accounting for the 10% reduction. For an insurance company managing countless claims on a daily basis, every percentage point counts—and can ultimately have a significant impact on your life.
How Much Is Your Accident Settlement Worth?
Once the fault is determined (or while the fault is being examined), your attorney and the insurance company will each perform their own investigation into your situation in order to calculate the amount of money that you should receive as a settlement. Personal injury settlements are based on actual damages, which are further divided into both economic and non-economic damages. While they are very different, they are both equally important.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are the foundation of your case and seek compensation for the measurable financial impacts of your accident such as your medical bills and any impacts on your income or earning. The insurance company is more likely to accept these damages as they are since there is irrefutable proof that they occurred as long as you can prove to them that they are directly related to your accident.
Your medical bills go beyond your hospital visit and include things like copayments, medication costs, assistive devices, physical therapy, and any other medical-related expense that you can connect to your accident. This is why it is so important that you see your primary care doctor as soon as possible after your accident, regardless of whether or not you received emergency care.
In addition, your attorney will use your income history to determine the amount of money that you have lost due to missed work, diminished earning capacity, disability, and more.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are more complicated to calculate because they seek compensation for damages that do not have measurable dollar values. These include the actual pain and suffering that you have endured following your accident, the emotional impacts that the accident has had on your life, depression, anxiety, trauma, and more.
As you can imagine, putting a value on “trauma” is a difficult process, but an experienced attorney will be able to calculate a fair and reasonable amount for these damages with clear evidence to negotiate with. It is important that these damages are laid out clearly so there is no way to accuse you of simply trying to get more money out of your claim without having substantial proof, which would have a serious negative impact on your negotiations or your court case if you must file a lawsuit.
Common Causes of Car Accidents in Pensacola
The most common causes of car accidents in Pensacola come from: