Car accidents are common in Norcross. The state of Georgia reported nearly 400,000 car accidents in 2015, and more than 19,000 people were seriously injured. Serious injuries are more likely to require hospitalization, surgery and other expensive procedures. They may develop complications, and it may be months before you know the full effect of the accident or your prospects for recovery. Our Norcross car accident lawyers understand the uncertainty you are facing, and we know how to get you money to pay for your injuries and ease your financial worries.
Out attorneys have a long history of successfully helping accident victims. And we make our services risk-free—by not charging you anything unless we get you money. Let us give you a FREE consultation. Call us at (404) 341-6555 or fill out the form to the right to get your free consultation today.
Is whiplash covered by a car accident claim? What about other injuries?
Whiplash has a terrible reputation as a “made up” ailment, thanks to movies and TV. But whiplash is a legitimate injury, and it can be very painful. If you have been diagnosed with whiplash and the accident wasn’t your fault, the “at fault” driver’s insurance should pay for your injury.
The reason for this is that Georgia law is on the side of car accident victims. It allows you to recover ALL of the costs of your physical injuries, including doctor bills and the pay you lost if the accident caused you to miss days of work. It does not matter what kind of injuries you have, as long as the accident caused them. So you may recover money for:
- Broken bones
- Muscle, tendon and “soft tissue” injuries, including whiplash
- Head injuries such as concussions
- Cuts and burns
- Spinal cord injuries
- Emotional trauma, but only if you were also physically hurt
One key to getting the full cost of your car accident injuries covered is to see a doctor as soon as you can. Insurance companies love to cook up reasons to deny a claim, and one of their favorites is to say that you weren’t really injured in the accident, or that the injury isn’t as bad as you say it is. It’s harder for them to do this if you went to the doctor or emergency room and were diagnosed right away.
I was severely injured. What if my costs were more than insurance will pay?
Every car insurance policy has limits on its coverage. In general, the less coverage you buy, the lower your premium will be. To make sure that everyone has enough insurance to cover a minor or moderate car accident, Georgia has established certain minimum amounts of coverage that everyone must buy:
- Bodily injury coverage—at least $25,000 per person, or $50,000 per accident
- Property damage coverage—at least $25,000 per accident
These minimum insurance amounts work just fine if you aren’t all that badly hurt. They’ll pay for the emergency room, simple injuries like bone fractures, and physical therapy. But if you have the kind of injuries that leave you in the hospital or a rehabilitation facility for weeks, or require multiple surgeries, these insurance limits won’t come close to paying your costs.
The technical term for this is being “under-insured.” In Georgia, you have the option of buying car insurance coverage that will pay your costs if you are in an accident with a driver who is under-insured, or who doesn’t have any insurance at all. If you have uninsured or under-insured driver coverage on your policy, that coverage may pay for your injuries.
However, many people don’t have this coverage, and car accident attorneys near Atlanta Georgia know how to find other ways to get you paid. For example, a lawyer may be able to identify another factor, like a defective part or poorly maintained road, that also helped cause your accident. There may be insurance to cover these types of hazards. Or, a lawyer can look for ways to recover money from the other driver directly. These strategies can be complicated, and it’s hard to get money from an uninsured or underinsured driver without legal help.
What is “pain and suffering”? Do I qualify?
“Pain and suffering” is exactly what it sounds like: it is money that is awarded for physical pain and the ways the accident has affected you and deprived you of the life you had before it happened. Pain and suffering damages are most commonly awarded in serious accident cases, and they are separate from your the money you recover for such things as medical bills, lost pay and car repairs. Pain and suffering might include:
- Loss of the ability to do things you used to like, such as hobbies, sports and everyday activities
- The effect on your relationships, especially with your spouse and children
- Major changes to your lifestyle because you had an accident
- The impact on your career, such as if you have to start a new career because you physically can’t do the work of the old one
- Chronic physical pain
- Post traumatic stress disorder, depression, and other emotional conditions
Pain and suffering damages can be much larger than the amount you receive for your other costs, though the insurance company will probably try to limit what it pays you. The best way to find out if you qualify for pain and suffering is to talk to a good car accident lawyer. A car accident lawyer will help you understand how much you should receive for pain and suffering, and can take up your case with the insurance company and negotiate to get you the largest amount of money possible.
Talk to a Norcross Car Accident Lawyer for Free
Our lawyers have years of experience helping car accident victims. Our payment policy is simple: you don’t pay us unless we get money for you. Set up a free consultation with us and we will explain what we can do for you. Call us at (404) 341-6555 or fill out the form to the right to get your free consultation today.
