When discussing a car accident case with an insurance company, you are not likely to get everything you’ve asked for in their first settlement offer. In fact, many settlement offers come up short in part because insurance companies know you might not have the legal knowledge or resources to appeal the settlement offer or fight for a better settlement.
That’s where we come in. Our Texas car accident attorneys can take your case on a contingency fee – which means you pay nothing up front – and challenge the insurance company. Ultimately, we may need to take your case to have a neutral judge and jury decide what your claim is truly worth, all in pursuit of fair compensation for your injuries.
For help with your car accident case, call The Queenan Law Firm’s Arlington car accident lawyers for a free case review today at (817) 476-1797.
Hiring a Lawyer to Deal with Insurance After a Texas Car Crash
When you are injured in a car accident, an insurance claim might be the simplest and quickest way to get compensation. However, insurance claims are rarely as simple as they should be, and without the help of an experienced Texas car accident attorney, you may be left with a low-dollar settlement. Hiring a lawyer can help you improve your settlement in a few simple ways.
Full and Accurate Damage Calculations
First, your Texas car accident lawyer will know what your settlement should be worth. One of the many services a personal injury lawyer does is calculate damages in your case. Without examining all of your medical bills, financial statements, pay stubs, and other receipts for services related to your car accident injuries, it is hard to know what your case is truly worth. In many insurance settlements, the insurance company fails to take all of these costs into account and will never end up paying you a fair amount for your case.
Negotiations and Insurance Appeals
Second, your lawyer will be able to take the legal steps necessary to improve your settlement. This can begin with simple negotiations with the insurance company to try to get a better settlement. If we take our damage calculation and bring it to the insurance company, that might be enough for them to realize you’re serious about getting what they owe you, and they might pay in full. If not, negotiations back and forth about the cost of your injuries and damages can often result in a more agreeable settlement without going to court. We can also appeal settlements to the insurance company through their more official processes.
Fighting Your Case in Court
Third, if the insurance company refuses to settle for a fair value, we can take your case to trial. When you file your insurance claim, it is often a good idea to file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver as well. Then, if the insurance claim is not going your way or the insurance company refuses to admit fault or pay full damages, we can fight the case at trial. A court, through a neutral judge and jury, is often more willing than an insurance company to order full damages when the facts support them. So even if the insurance company is reluctant to pay, the court can order them to do so.
What Information to Give the Insurance Company to Improve Your Claim in Texas
Making sure that your claim is as strong as it can be is important. Even during your initial claim, you should be including some important details and pieces of information that can help improve your claim and get you a higher settlement. If the first offer is low, it is often because the insurance company is missing some of this information. Your Houston car accident lawyer can supply missing information to the insurance company to help correct the record and improve future settlement offers.
Facts that Prove Fault
One reason an insurance settlement might be low is that the insurance company doesn’t believe their driver was fully at fault. Courts and insurance companies are allowed to reduce damages paid to victims who share fault in causing the accident or victims who make damages worse. For example, a court or insurance company could find that a driver who wasn’t wearing their seatbelt properly was 10% responsible for the damages they suffered. In that case, the court or insurance company could have the defendant pay only 90% of your damages, resulting in a lower settlement than if they were 100% at fault.
In many cases, insurance companies are missing all of the facts and they’re only assuming you were partly at fault. Supplemental statements and additional evidence can help lock down issues of fault and improve your settlement. Talk to a Dallas car accident attorney about how to present this evidence without opening yourself up to accusations of inconsistent stories. Your lawyers can also collect additional evidence to help support your claim.
Information About Your Injury Severity
Insurance companies will not pay full damages for your injuries if they simply don’t know how bad your injuries are. Sometimes, medical bills tell less than half of the story about what your accident case is worth. In addition to medical bills, you can also claim damages for lost wages caused by your injuries and other expenses related to your accident. For example, if you need help with transportation to medical appointments, childcare during treatment, physical or occupational therapy, or other expenses stemming from your injury, you should be able to claim those damages, too. Presenting them with full information can help them provide full damages.
Additionally, damages for pain and suffering come on top of these economic damages. Proof of how the injury affected you emotionally, how much pain you suffered, and how your injuries limit day-to-day life can help support a higher settlement value.
Call Our Texas Car Accident Lawyers Today
If you were injured in an accident, don’t fight the insurance companies alone. Call our Fort Worth car accident attorneys today for a free case review. Contact The Queenan Law Firm at (817) 476-1797.