After a car accident, your friends and family may expect you to bounce back quickly, but you might not feel much like your old self. You may have mysterious pains and other symptoms, or you may be facing weeks in the hospital. You may be sleepless and anxious and wonder whether life will ever feel the same again. Our attorneys understand. Car accidents are traumatic, and they can cause serious injuries that are hard to diagnose and take a long time to heal.
Our mission is to help accident victims get the money they need to treat their injuries, stay financially stable, and make the best recovery possible. Our legal team has been in business for decades, and we’ve assembled an impressive track record. We’d like to offer you a FREE consultation to explain our services and how we can help you get money for your injuries. Call us at (404) 341-6555 or fill out the form to the right to get your free consultation today.
What kinds of injuries will be covered by my insurance claim?
Someone is at fault in your car accident, and that person’s car insurance company must pay for the consequences, including your injuries. The rule in Georgia is that all kinds of injuries are covered, as long as they happened because of the car accident. We have helped many accident victims get money for these types of injuries:
- Head injuries
- Whiplash
- Broken bones
- Injuries that result from being crushed against the steering wheel or another part of the car
- Muscle, tendon and “soft tissue” injuries
- Emotional distress that accompanies a physical injury
Some these injuries are relatively minor and others can change your life forever. It doesn’t matter – you are still entitled to a full recovery from whoever was at fault.
Is whiplash a real injury?
Almost everyone has heard of whiplash, but that’s mostly because it’s a common gag on TV and in movies. A man hobbles in with a neck brace and cries that he has whiplash. Moments later we see him tossing the brace in the trash and skipping down the street. According to the gag, whiplash is a made-up injury.
But nothing could be further from the truth. Whiplash is real and can cause extreme pain over a long period of time. When you are in a car accident – especially if you are rear ended – the impact sends your body forward, but your seat belt keeps your torso safely restrained. Your head and neck don’t have that protection, and so they whip backward and forward. The violent motion causes muscle tears which develop into whiplash.
Whiplash is one of the most common car accident injuries, but you probably won’t realize you have it until the next day, or even several days or weeks after the accident. If you don’t know you’re hurt, you aren’t likely to go to the doctor, and when you finally do develop symptoms and see someone, enough time has passed that the car insurance company can accuse you of making up an injury just to get an insurance settlement. This is how whiplash gets its bad reputation.
Is there a limit on how much I can recover?
The law gives you the right to recover the full cost of your injury – no matter how much it is. As a practical matter, there are a few factors that may limit the amount you receive. These include:
- Insurance limits. All car insurance policies have a limit on how much they will pay out. If you have the minimum insurance coverage in Georgia, your insurance will pay a maximum of $25,000 for one person’s injuries. But some people have policies with limits of more than $1 million. Once you reach the limit, the other driver’s insurance will not pay you any more, no matter how badly you were hurt.
- Your own actions. If the insurance company or a jury decides that you are partly to blame for your accident, they will also decide what percentage of the fault is yours. You can still recover money as long as you were 49 percent or less at fault, but your fault will limit the amount you receive. Your recovery will be reduced by the percentage of your fault.
- The other driver’s financial situation. If the driver who is at fault did not have enough insurance to pay for all your losses – or did not have insurance at all, the driver will be personally responsible for anything insurance didn’t cover. But it may be difficult to get the driver to pay you the full value of your claim. For this reason, we work hard in uninsured and underinsured motorist cases to find other insurance policies or parties who might be held responsible.
Recovering money after a car accident injury is your right, but it isn’t always easy to handle the process on your own. The insurance companies are busy trying to find ways to pay you the smallest amount possible. They may blame you, question whether you are really hurt, or pressure you to take a quick settlement even though it doesn’t feel like enough money. It can seem like no one is on your side or looking out for your interests.
That’s where a lawyer comes in. A skilled Atlanta car accident lawyer can take the reins and deal with the insurance company. A lawyer knows what it takes to force the insurance company to stop playing games and offer you a fair deal. Many of our clients tell us they received significantly higher offers just because they had a lawyer in their corner.
Talk to a Snellville Car Accident Lawyer for Free
Our law group has one of the best reputations in Georgia for getting money for car accident victims. Our policy is not to charge a fee unless we get you a financial recovery. Let us give you a free consultation to learn more about your accident and explain how we can assist you. Call us at (404) 341-6555 or fill out the form to the right to get your free consultation today.
