Car accident victims sometimes think that their financial damages are too small or unimportant to require legal representation and compensation. So instead, they try to handle the case themselves. The result is often that the insurance adjuster talks them out of the compensation they deserve.
What car accident injuries warrant legal representation? Here’s a look at Florida’s laws around when you can seek compensation for car accident injuries:
- Permanent injury
- Disfigurement
- Scarring
- Death
- Medical bills, missed work, pain and suffering, and other losses directly resulting from an accident
Why You Need a Car Accident Lawyer
Sadly, car insurance companies do not have your best interests at heart. An insurance adjuster’s job is to minimize the financial impacts your accident has on their business.
To try and avoid paying out what you really deserve, the insurance adjuster will try to negotiate with you before you retain legal counsel. That way, you won’t have the expertise and backing to know how much you should really be asking for.
Cases where victims negotiate before retaining legal counsel often see low compensation rates. These victims might also settle before they know the extent of their injuries, which means they don’t realize the long-term bills that could come with such injuries.
Once a lawyer gets involved in the case, the settlement numbers can increase by five times and more. The impact on the victim’s finances can be enormous.
Can I Negotiate With the Insurance Company Before Hiring a Lawyer?
Individuals with car accident injuries often want to negotiate with the insurance company before seeking a lawyer. This gives the victim an idea of how much they can get in a settlement before they ask an attorney the same question about compensation.
The insurance company will try to do two things.
- Pay you as little as possible.
- Come up with defenses for their insured.
Negotiating with an insurance company without legal representation can be risky. During these negotiations, the insurance company might ask leading questions or try to trap you into saying the wrong things on the record. Once you bring in an attorney, it can be tough for the attorney to undo anything that you’ve said up to that point.
Having an attorney with you throughout all conversations with the insurance company is extremely wise and protects your right to file a lawsuit if negotiations fail.
Additionally, during those early conversations where you try to go it alone, the insurance company might try to strong-arm you into accepting a specific settlement. They might use scare tactics like telling you the offer is only good for a certain time or that it’s time to just put the situation behind you.
So even though you went into the negotiations with the intention of just learning a settlement amount, you might find yourself accepting an unfair settlement, that closes your case and prohibits you from filing a lawsuit.
Seeking Compensation for Car Accident Injuries
Goldman & Daszkal offers a team of experienced lawyers prepared to guide you in settlement negotiations. We’ll protect you throughout conversations with the insurance company to ensure you don’t say or do the wrong thing.
Our free consultation helps you decide if you want to retain our services or use the information we provide to handle the situation with the insurance company yourself.
There are no obligations to scheduling a consultation to talk to one of our team members. After that, you can choose to talk to other attorneys, negotiate with the insurance company independently, or avoid settlement negotiations entirely. It’s up to you.
Allow our team to evaluate your case and provide insights by scheduling your free consultation today.