Read on for more details on the multitude of factors that influence a car accident settlement and how a reputable car accident lawyer can help you make a full recovery.
Before moving ahead with your case, your lawyer will seek to determine liability to establish you bear no fault and are thus entitled to compensation. Liability can be complicated to prove, relying on assessing an array of factors that may contribute to road traffic accidents, such as negligent driving, alcohol consumption, and cellphone use. Road traffic laws exist to highlight these dangers and deter road users from breaking them and potentially putting themselves and others at risk.
If your lawyer believes another party is liable for your accident, they’ll rely on the gathering of evidence to further prove support your claim. A high volume of information gathered in the initial investigation is of great help towards seeking the compensation you’re owed. CCTV footage, witness statements, or dashcam footage can all aid your case and help build an accurate picture of the events that occurred.
All car accident cases are unique, and your lawyer will consider this when assessing the severity of your losses. They’ll determine both short-term and long-term complications of your accident and the implications these have had on you as an individual, physically, emotionally, and financially. You may be required to fill out an ‘Alabama state board of adjustment claim for personal injury’ as part of this process.
Settlements in car accident settlements can range from anywhere between $2,000 and $2,000,000. It’s difficult to accurately quantify an individual’s financial loss and their pain and suffering. For this reason, claims are considered on their own merits, taking into account all aspects of the victim’s life to reach a representative figure. Your lawyer will use all relevant factors to approach the opposing party, or their insurer, with a settlement they feel represents the suffering you’ve endured and attempt to negotiate an agreement.
How long this process takes is dependent on how willing the opposing party is to agree to the terms offered. More complicated cases, in which the compensation sought is higher, may result in a more extended negotiation period or may end up being heard in court instead. Though this may seem intimidating, a protracted case may allow the court to take long-term damages into greater account, and you may therefore receive a higher sum of compensation. Your lawyer will provide guidance and advice throughout the process, allowing you to make informed decisions on how you’d like to proceed.
If you’ve been the victim of a car accident through no fault of your own, contact Henry Dailey Law Firm for advice on how to proceed and representation in your upcoming case. You can reach us via our contact form or call us at 205-995-2412 to schedule your free consultation today. We’re always happy to help victims in our community seek the justice they deserve. For more quick answers, check out our car accident FAQ page.
]]>Alabama’s Statute of Limitations requires those filing a claim following a car accident to do so within two years, as specified in Alabama Code Section 6-2-38. With that said, it’s always advisable to file your claim sooner rather than later, as evidence can deteriorate or disappear as time passes, severely hampering your case.
Alabama law requires the claimant must establish contributory negligence as a primary factor in the accident suffered. This essentially requires you or your legal representative to prove you carry zero fault for the accident itself and the blame is solely on the other party. Contributory negligence means if your actions were determined to be 10% of the reason the accident occurred, you would only be able to pursue 90% of your compensation, despite the other party bearing a much more significant proportion of fault. Speaking to a lawyer can be invaluable in establishing you were blameless and thus entitled to full compensation.
Alabama is a fault-based compensation state, which opens up more options to establish fault when pursuing your claim. Alabama law makes liability insurance mandatory to operate a motor vehicle. If the other party in your accident is found not to have taken out said insurance, their negligence in following the laws governing drivers gives you an immediate basis to file for compensation.
A driver involved in a car accident while uninsured or underinsured can find themselves on the receiving end of hefty fines. If you’re able to further prove other forms of negligence contributed to the accident, such as mobile phone usage or alcohol impairment, for example, then you may be entitled to a more significant sum of compensation.
If you’ve been involved in a car accident due to the negligent actions of another party, you must pursue your case as quickly as possible. You’ll have access to guidance and information on what you may be entitled to by hiring a lawyer. Factors you may not have considered, such as medical expenses and loss of earnings, are compensable losses. Your lawyer can handle the insurance process and help to ensure your compensation accurately reflects the caliber of your injuries, loss, and hardships caused by pursuing both economic and non-economic damages.
If you’d like to speak to someone regarding your accident, whether you’re looking for representation or simply some advice, then contact a member of our team at Henry Dailey Law Firm. We’re always happy to help, so leave us a message on our contact form above, or call 205-995-2412 to schedule your free case review today. You can also visit our FAQ page for more quick answers.
]]>Car insurance claims can be a confusing task in complex claims that involve injury and multiple forms of compensable loss. Every insurance company’s process will vary slightly, but there are some general guidelines you can follow. Read on to learn about insurance claims and how a local car accident lawyer can help yours succeed.
The easiest way to get a car insurance claim started is with the help of a trusted injury lawyer. They can make sure your paperwork is all together and ensure you meet filing deadlines so you don’t risk the claim being rejected or delayed.
Together, you’ll need to submit the following:
A copy of the accident report can be retrieved at the police station and in some cities online by request. You will also need to ensure you have the full names of all the police officers that came to the scene of the accident.
Injuries claims need to observe the state’s statute of limitations, which is the deadline individuals have to pursue compensation after a loss. In Alabama, it is two years from the date of the incident or loss. If you don’t file the claim in time, you’ll likely be barred from any opportunity for compensation.
If you’re unsure about your deadline to file, reach out to a reputable car accident lawyer today.
Once you have submitted the claim, you’re assigned an insurance adjuster who usually makes first contact within seventy-two hours to schedule an in-person visit to evaluate the damage to the vehicle. This will help the insurance company to determine who is liable for the accident.
Some insurance companies will make you get your own repair estimate though at a repair shop. The repair shop can inspect the damage and then send a report to the insurance company. You always have the right to choose which repair shop you want to use.
If the adjuster and your repair shop agree to the repairs and their cost, that’s one element of your claim you can be checked off your to-do list.
You shouldn’t have to pay out of pocket for any of the losses you’ve suffered when another party is liable for your injuries. Car accidents are dangerous and can be deadly. They frequently result in severe injuries, such as brain damage, spinal cord injury, and severe burns.
Receiving funds for medical care and lost wages still needs to be addressed. You can send all medical records and bills directly to the insurance adjuster along with paystub information documenting your lost wages.
This form of compensable loss can be trickier to calculate because it also includes your intangible loss, such as pain, emotional anguish, and post-traumatic stress disorder. You don’t want to leave money on the table when it comes to funding your recovery. Your car accident lawyer has the tools and experience to quantify the value of all your losses. That means your compensation should reflect the caliber of injury, loss, and hardship caused by the accident.
When you need compensation to fund your recovery after a car accident and you’re ready to take back control of your life, contact the Henry Dailey Law Firm to have a top-rated lawyer pursuing justice in your name while you focus on your health and returning to normal life as best you can.
Start today by scheduling your free consultation by calling 205-995-2412 to speak with a member of our team. You can also fill out the contact form on this page and we’ll get back to you. For more online answers, check out our car accident FAQ.
]]>If you have been hit by a car on your bike, you can sue the other person by filing a personal injury lawsuit.
Getting hit by a car while riding your bike is a form of negligence that will allow you to file a personal injury lawsuit. Any type of car or bike accident will be a personal injury case that can be brought to a lawyer. Keep in mind that any kind of lawsuit is costly and will take a lot of time before you see any compensation or real results.
Just because you are in a lawsuit and filing a claim doesn’t mean you will have to spend time in court or have a trial. This usually only happens in complicated cases where the companies fail to negotiate or give you the payout you deserve.
Sometimes you don’t even need to hire a lawyer or go to court. You can go straight to the driver’s insurance company. This is called a third-party claim. In most states, you can seek compensation from a third party for a number of causes including medical treatment, lost income, repair and replacement of your bike, and any pain or suffering in connection to the car accident and your injuries.
You will need to have all your medical records and have photos of the injuries. The insurance company will always ask for proof of everything. You might also need to have your doctor fill out extra forms or provide more information.
Partnering with a lawyer can still be very beneficial even if you aren’t going to court. Lawyers are often able to get more from insurance companies because they are more skilled in negotiating and they know the questions to ask to reach settlements quicker.
Make sure you have all the information you need from the other driver’s insurance company so you can submit it all to the lawyer.
For suing the person who hit you while you were riding your bike, you should consider partnering with a personal injury lawyer. They will be able to better navigate the court and insurance companies to get you a higher settlement than you could get on your own. Henry Dailey Law Firm is here for you.
Fill out the contact form on this page to get started. You can also call us at 205-995-2412. We are always happy to talk with you.
]]>Luckily, a car accident lawyer near you is here to help. If you’re struggling to get a copy of an accident report, talk to an attorney about acting now and getting your copy as soon as possible.
When you’re hurt in a car accident, one of your first steps is to report your accident. Any accidents involving an injury or death must be reported as soon as possible to the police.
But even if your car accident only involved minor property damage, you may want to report your accident to the police. You may not know the extent of the damage, and the police report can show you weren’t at fault for the accident.
Once you notify the police of the accident, you need to file a written report of the accident as soon as possible. You can submit this report to the Alabama Department of Public Safety.
Once you file your crash report, you may then get a copy of that report to use for your car accident claim. Alabama car accident victims can seek out a copy of their accident report from the police department that investigated the accident for a fee.
Happily, you don’t have to travel to get your report. You may instead request your report online, or you can request a copy be mailed to you. Your lawyer can help you choose the most convenient option for you and your claim.
Once you have a copy of your accident report, you have a tool you can use to prove you weren’t at fault for the accident. For Alabama car crash victims, this is a key part of their claim.
That’s because accepting any fault for your accident can lead to your claim being dismissed. To protect the compensation you’re due, you may need as much evidence as possible to prove you weren’t at fault for the accident. Fortunately, your lawyer can use this valuable piece of evidence to support your claim.
More evidence that you’re due compensation after an accident can be useful when proving your claim. But how do you file your report, and how do you use it in the courtroom?
The lawyers at Henry Dailey Law Firm can answer these questions and more, providing detailed information about your report and how they’ll use it in the courtroom. If you’re concerned about your claim and how your report can impact the outcome, reach out for a free consultation. We can discuss your next steps and how a lawyer can help your claim succeed. Give us a call at 205-995-2412, or fill out the following online contact form.
]]>After an injury, you need to know what your claim is worth before make a claim. If you’re not sure, your dedicated personal injury lawyer can help you get answers and recover compensation. Below are some of the steps to your personal injury settlement.
If you’ve been hurt in an accident, your first concern may be the financial losses you’ve suffered because of your accident. The economic impacts of your injury, can be complex and cover a long period of time.
For example, you suffered a spinal cord injury. You may have accounted for the costs of your initial medical care. But your medical needs wont stop there. You may need medical care for years following a spinal cord injury. Because of this, you may need a personal injury lawyer to help you calculate the value of your claim.
Your losses may go beyond the financial costs of your injuries. For example, you may have experienced intangible losses like pain and suffering or emotional trauma. These losses are intangible, which makes it difficult to quantity their resulting compensation.
The good news is, your lawyer can help you calculate the value of your claim reflective of all the ways your life was negatively affected by the accident.
When someone else is responsible for your suffering, they may have done so with intenion. In these cases, you may be due punitive damages.
Punitive damages are offered when the at-fault party does something especially reckless or intentionally harmful. But these damages aren’t meant to cover the losses you’ve suffered. These damages are meant to punish the wrongdoer. The theory is, if the at-fault party has to face penalties for their carelessness, they’re less likely to act so dangerously.
But punitive damages aren’t easy to calculate. If you think you have a chance to get punitive damages, talk to your lawyer about your claim.
When you’re hurt in a serious accident, compensation may be vital for your recovery. The problem is, it can be difficult to quantify what your claim is worth and to receive the full amount.
If you’ve been injured in a personal injury lawsuit, your lawyer at the Henry Dailey Law Firm can help you get the maximum compensation you’re due for your claim. They will handle the details, while you focus on your recovery. Your lawyer can even begin with a free consultation, so you know what to expect before you file. Give us a call at 205-995-2412 or complete the online contact form below to learn more.
]]>You may have grounds for a lawsuit, but don’t hesitate to seek answers for your claim from a personal injury lawyer and get a strong defense grounded in the Alabama state laws that will impact your claim.
When you’re hurt by a defective product, one of your first steps is to determine fault. The at-fault party may not take credit for their actions, making it more difficult for you to determine who’s at fault. That can lead to delays in your case and difficulties in your claim.
So who’s liable for your injuries? In many cases, you’ll need to file a claim against the manufacturer that made the defective product. They failed to ensure their product was safe for all users, leaving you seriously injured because of this mistake.
But they’re not the only party that may have made choices that led to your serious injuries. Other parts of the manufacturing and selling process can lead to serious injuries. Talk to your lawyer to determine who’s at fault for your injuries.
You can’t wait too long to file a lawsuit. If your Alabama product liability claim isn’t filed within two years of the injury, your compensation may be denied. That leaves you without compensation for the suffering and damages you experienced because of the accident.
Luckily, your lawyer can make this work in your favor. Evidence can be lost or destroyed over time, making it difficult to prove the at-fault party hurt you. If you move quickly on your claim, you have a stronger opportunity to get compensated fairly, with your lawyer’s guidance.
Alabama also has a specific doctrine about product liability called the Alabama Extended Manufacturer’s Liability Doctrine (AEMLD). The AEMLD outlines what you need to prove to get compensated. For example, you’ll need to prove the product wasn’t altered substantially before it reached you. You’ll also need to prove that it was unnecessarily dangerous and caused you harm.
These laws don’t just limit your options to prove you were injured. They can even limit your compensation. Talk to your lawyer about the compensation you’re due and how to maximize your compensation under these laws.
When you’re hurt by a dangerous product, you need to know that you have a chance to fight back and get compensated fairly for the suffering you experienced. Unfortunately, you may find state laws may make getting compensated difficult.
It may not be easy to sue in Alabama, but your lawyer at Henry Dailey Law Firm can help. Your lawyer has the tools you need to gather information and defend your claim when you’re hurt and suffering. If you’re struggling to get compensated after a serious accident, take advantage of our free consultations. Call 205-995-2412, or complete the online contact form below.
]]>If your insurance company has already denied your auto accident claim, you may be unsure of what to do next. It’s normal to be stressed and even angry when insurance has denied your accident claim, but there’s hope.
Contact our firm to discuss your unique case, and read on for more information on what to do after an auto insurance claim denial.
Auto insurance companies may claim your accident wasn’t serious enough to warrant a settlement. Or they might have offered you a tiny, offensively low settlement.
Whether you were denied or your claim was undervalued, you first need to know what your claim is truly worth. That way, you can prove to the insurance companies that you know what you’re owed and they won’t get away with lowballing you.
That means digging into your economic and non-economic damages. Your economic damages should cover all your expenses. Your car may be damaged, for example, and you need either expensive repairs or a brand new car.
But it’s not just about your car—you may have serious injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder, and plenty of missed days at work because of the accident. A lawyer can help you assign each damage a fair value and push for the maximum available compensation.
One of the most common problems you may face while trying to get an insurance settlement is shared fault. The insurance company may have already tried to pin part of the blame on you. Unfortunately, that can leave you without compensation for your injuries.
In Alabama, any portion of shared fault may leave you with a dismissed claim. If you accept any percentage of the blame for the accident, it won’t matter how much blame the other driver has. Alabama law says you can’t recover compensation if you’re even 1 percent at fault.
Insurers lean on that little fact to deny claims from deserving claimants. Fortunately, a good lawyer can help you avoid unfair blame and force the insurance company to hold up their end of the bargain.
When you’re hurt in a car accident, you may hope for an insurance settlement—only to be denied the help you need. When this happens, a lawyer may be your best bet for getting the compensation you know you deserve.
At the Henry Dailey Law Firm, we understand how difficult it can be to overcome an auto insurance claim denial. But we are here to give you the help you need for your lawsuit. To schedule a free consultation with a lawyer on our team, reach out by calling 205-995-2412 or by filling out the online contact form at the bottom of this page.
]]>Before you call the insurance company, talk to your lawyer. While you need to give the insurer notice that the accident happened, discussing your accident may hurt your claim. Check out the following reasons you may need to wait before you say more to your insurance company.
When you’ve just been seriously injured, you may not be thinking clearly about the details of your accident. You may have suffered a brain injury that impacts your memory, for example, or you may misremember things after some time has passed.
The insurance company may not be so forgiving of mistakes like this. Because the insurance company is a for-profit business, its focus is on its profits, not on your health. Because of this, any inconsistent parts of your story may be treated as a lie, which can lead to your claim being denied.
Saying the wrong thing to the insurance adjuster can already go badly. But what if you tried to take your claim to court because you were denied? If you spoke directly to the insurance company, you may find your own words being used against you.
Anything you say to the insurance company may be recorded and used against you. That may be key evidence to prevent you from getting the full settlement you need to recover from your injuries, repair your car or other property, and get treatment for your accident-related trauma. Because of this, you may need to speak with your lawyer before you ever speak with the insurance company.
One of the biggest problems you may face while dealing with the insurance company is bad-faith actions. When you sign a contract for an insurance policy, that policy should cover the costs of your accident when you’re hurt. But because that hurts the insurance company’s profits, the insurance adjuster may act in bad faith. That includes the following tactics:
If you believe your insurance company is acting in bad faith, talking to them may not help you get the compensation you’re due after an accident. You may instead need to take your claim to a lawyer, who can communicate with the insurance company for you and take your claim to court.
Here’s the good news—you don’t have to handle the insurance company alone. You may instead work with the lawyers at Henry Dailey Law Firm. They have the tools to fight for you when the insurance company is doing all it can to protect its profits.
Ready to get started on your claim? Reach out for a free consultation. Give us a call at 205-995-2412, or complete the following online contact form.
]]>But unless you’ve been involved in a car accident before, you may be unsure what to expect from the insurer, how the claims process works, or how much your injury settlement could be worth. Even if you have been in a car accident before, every case is different, and your experience with the auto insurer could be, too.
To give you a basic idea of how to deal with the insurance company, we have included information below about how the insurance claims process works and what you might expect from the insurance company. A Birmingham car accident lawyer from our firm can answer your questions in more depth.
Alabama is a fault state for car accidents and insurance. This means that after your accident, you’ll need to exchange insurance information with the liable party so that you can file a claim with their auto insurance provider. The insurance company will then be required to compensate you up to the limits of the insured’s policy.
This can be a difficult process, however, because many drivers only carry the state’s minimum auto insurance coverage, and many injury victims suffer far more than the minimum limits for medical expenses and property damage. This also does nothing to account for the various non-economic damages and other financial losses that you’ve endured as a result of the accident.
If the insurance company settles at the maximum limit of the policy and you still haven’t been fairly compensated for what you’ve been through, your next step may be to bring your case to court.
If only dealing with the insurance company were an easy process for the claimant. Sadly, some insurance companies make the process more challenging and confusing than it needs to be in the hopes of reducing their profit loss.
After filing your insurance claim, you can expect the insurer to try to obtain a statement from you about how the accident occurred. From there, they may attempt to make you a very low offer or refuse to settle reasonably. If this is the case, your lawyer will be able to handle them so you get the most out of your settlement.
Not every insurance company is out to make your life difficult, but they are all profit-driven, which sets them up to care more about their own financial gains than about you, your family, or what you’ve been through.
If you want to take steps now to protect your injury settlement from the insurance company, call a reputable car accident lawyer at Henry Dailey Law Firm for help. Schedule your free consultation when you fill out the quick contact form below or call our office at 205-995-2412 so we can get started on your case.
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