How To Evaluate Your Own Personal Injury Case

What happened? That is often the first question you will ask yourself after a car accident. Next, you may want to find out whether or not you have a good case and can be paid for your damages. You will need to get some expert legal advice to be compensated but you also might want to do some amateur case evaluating by asking yourself a few key questions. Doing so will not only give you a better idea of what to expect but will also clue you in to what is important for your personal injury lawyer to know.

What type of vehicles were involved?

Commonly, it's 2 small vehicles or SUVs. However, certain types of vehicles can mean the case is special. If you were a pedestrian, on a bicycle, or riding a motorcycle, you may be facing more serious injuries.

How did the wreck occur?

In many cases, cars crash due to running traffic signals, drifting to the wrong lane, rear-end collisions, left turns in front of oncoming traffic, and cross-over wrecks on freeways. The way the accident happened is connected to fault. You can only be paid if you were not at fault. That doesn't only mean that the other driver hit you but they did so while breaking a law, including negligence laws.

What about the other driver?

If you were hit by a commercial vehicle, you may be suing a large company. Also, your compensation can depend on how much insurance the other driver has. In some cases, you might have to sue the other driver personally if they were uninsured. That means they need to have assets that can be seized or a bank account to freeze.

What type of injuries did you suffer?

You might consider this a hidden issue and think that your medical bills are just another form of damage. Your lawyer and the other driver's insurer, though, know that medical treatment costs will determine your pain and suffering award.

Have you spoken to a lawyer?

This is a big indicator of how much compensation you can expect. Lawyers, when you contact them early enough, can help victims avoid making expensive mistakes with their cases. They will gather evidence to support both liability and your damages ensuring that you are paid the maximum available. Then, they will negotiate with the legal representatives of the other driver's insurance agency to obtain a fair settlement for you.