Evaluate Your Damages
The first thing you should do is to understand and evaluate your damages. Damages that you should calculate are property damage (damage to your vehicle), medical bills, current inability to work and lost wages. These are all just current damages. It is also possible to recuperate FUTURE losses as well. Future losses can be future surgeries and treatment that your doctor may recommend. Future losses can also include your ability to work. If your injuries forced you out of work and continue to force you out of work, you can get financially compensated for that as well.
After getting a rough estimate of your damages, the next step is to speak to an insurance adjuster so that you know what you can get for your damages.
Speak To An Insurance Adjuster
Some insurance companies will not cover everything, so speak to your insurance adjuster to get an accurate count of what you can get. An insurance adjuster is basically an investigator for the insurance company that will evaluate the damages that you claim. Property damage, medical bills, current and future wage losses, these are all losses that will be investigated so that the insurance company can come up with a settlement amount for your losses.
The settlement amount won’t always be right on the first time, which is why you negotiate the settlement amount to get an amount that will satisfy you. It will be frustrating to hear that the insurance will be giving you less than what you think you deserve. Remember that the adjuster isn’t on your side. The insurance adjuster is on the side of the insurance company. The insurance companies are supposed to cover you out of good faith, but it is not often that you get the full settlement amount without a fight. Make sure that you stay calm and collected throughout the entire process. Your proof such as medical bills will prove that your injuries were real.
Writing A Demand Letter
When you have an idea of what the insurance company will pay you, the next step is to write the demand letter. In the demand letter, you will be looking to ask the insurance company for more money because the settlement offer is too low. During this phase, you should use your medical bills, property damage, and current/future lost wages to negotiate a higher settlement offer than what the insurance company is offering.
It is pretty unlikely that the insurance will always match the demand letter and actually give you what you asked for, so prepare for that. If you are willing to accept the lower offer and move on with your life, you are more than welcome to. But if you feel like the offer is way too low and you won’t be able to continue your life with the offer they give you, you should also prepare to keep negotiating and even continuing the case in court.
The Cost Of Going To Court
Going to court costs a lot. That is a known fact. It is not free to take your case to court. There are court fees, administrative fees, lawyer fees, etc. In fact, you may potentially lose even MORE earning capability because of the costs and time spent on being in court. So what should you do?
Well, ideally the best way to solve this problem is to settle the amount outside court.
However, if you are already in court, you will be negotiating with the other driver’s car accident lawyer to discuss settlement. Make sure to do your due diligence and do research on what other cases have won in the past. Having an idea of how to settle in court is crucial. If you end up losing, you may have to not only pay all those court fees and administrative fees, but also the lawyer fees of the other party.
Accepting the Settlement Amount
Once the case is settled, you will have to accept the amount that the court assigns you. If you did well, then you will get the settlement offer that you asked for, which will almost always be higher than the original amount that is offered by the insurance company. If you didn’t do so well, the judge may go with the settlement offer that was given by the insurance company instead. Regardless, after this phase of the process, you will have to accept whatever is given to you and move on.
Representing Yourself Isn’t Always The Best Idea
Although it sounds good on paper to represent yourself because you will be in full control of the case, it is not always the best course of action. A car accident lawyer in Miami probably has more experience and can help you in a better and more professional fashion. Although it seems like most lawyers are to just get your money, if you pick the right lawyer, they will represent you and look out for you. A car accident lawyer will have decades of experience and probably represented countless amounts of people.
Contact a Car Accident Lawyer From Accident Lawyers MIA
Although it may sound like an exaggeration, car accidents in Miami almost always end up becoming a serious one with extended medical treatment (such as therapy, injections, and surgery) which result in hefty medical bills.
If the case seems to get too complicated for you to handle, contacting a personal injury lawyer in Miami is recommended.
With decades of expertise and hundreds of cases won, personal injury lawyers in Miami can help you get the first step in financial compensation for your car accident injuries.
Starting with a free consultation, we want to hear out what happened to you and how we can provide value. Once we determine that we can help you, our team will immediately go and start gathering evidence such as medical bills and receipts and photos to make sure that there is a strong case for you.
Remember, we don’t win until YOU win.
