Car accidents happen all too often in Suwanee, and if you have been involved in one, you may find yourself overwhelmed. It may take all your energy just to deal with your injuries and get through the day. If you can’t go to work because of the accident, you may worry about money and whether you’ll be able to hang on to your job. Our lawyers are here for you. We can’t cure your injuries, but we can help you get money in an insurance claim or lawsuit.
We have been aiding people who have survived car accidents for many years, and we know how to get results for you. We will consult with you for free, to learn about what happened to you and answer your questions. And we will never charge you a fee unless we get money for you. Call us at (404) 341-6555 or fill out the form to the right to get your free consultation today.
What will an insurance claim pay for?
Georgia’s car insurance system is based on fault. This means that if a driver is found “at fault” in an accident, the driver’s insurance company must pay for all the resulting injuries and the damage to other cars. If you are injured and the accident wasn’t your fault, you are entitled to recover money for all the effects of the accident. This might include:
- Your past and present financial costs such as medical and physical therapy bills, car repairs, and the money you lost because you missed days of work.
- Your expected future financial costs, including future medical care and the loss of earnings in the months or years to come. Experts may need to be called in to accurately estimate these expenses.
- “Pain and suffering,” which includes all the non-financial ways the accident has affected you. For example, after a serious injury, you might have to give up working or find a new occupation, might have to deal with being unable to walk, or might have difficulty coping emotionally.
- Punitive damages. Punitive damages are uncommon unless you were injured in a DUI accident. Punitive damages are additional money that is awarded as a punishment to someone who has been drinking and driving or has been unusually reckless.
In addition, if your spouse, child or parent died in a car accident, you may be able to recover money through a wrongful death claim.
My injuries were minor. Should I still file a claim?
It’s a good idea to file an insurance claim, even if you don’t think your injuries were serious. Car accident injuries can be complicated, and some people find out that they have been hurt more severely than they originally thought.
In some injuries, especially muscle injuries like whiplash, it’s common to have no symptoms at first. Other injuries, like head injuries, are not always well understood, and it may take awhile to assess their full effect. And even minor injuries can develop complications.
Suppose you decide not to file an insurance claim for your minor injuries. Then, in a couple of months you go to the doctor because your neck hurts, and the pain keeps getting worse. The doctor orders expensive tests, diagnoses you with whiplash, and orders you to stay home from your construction job for several weeks. Now you have a more serious and costly injury, so you file an insurance claim. But the insurance company isn’t likely to take you seriously. Because you waited so long to file a claim, they’ll say you are making up an injury so you can get a little quick cash.
Who is at fault in a large, multi-car accident?
Fault in a car accident almost always depends on who was negligent. A negligent driver is essentially careless – tailgating, speeding, driving while texting, driving drunk, or any other kind of illegal or irresponsible driving behavior. In a two-car crash, it can be fairly easy to tell which driver was at fault.
But fault is harder to determine when multiple vehicles are involved. While one driver’s negligence may have initially caused the accident, another driver’s negligence may have made it worse. For example, suppose Car A is aggressively weaving in and out of traffic on the highway. Car A cuts car B off. Car B’s driver doesn’t have time to react before hitting Car A. Now car C approaches in the lane where the accident just happened. But car C’s driver is reading a text and doesn’t notice the accident in time to stop. Car C crashes into the two other cars, making the accident even worse.
In the example above, the drivers of Car A and Car C are both negligent, and the insurance company or a jury will have to assign a percentage of fault to each one. If you are involved in a car accident like this, you can expect the investigation and the calculations about fault to become complicated. If you are found partly at fault, you will not be able to recover as much money as you otherwise would have, and you won’t recover any money at all if the fault is 50 percent or more yours.
No matter how simple or complicated your accident was, it is important that you are not blamed for an accident that happened through no fault of your own. An Atlanta, Georgia car accident lawyer can get to the bottom of your accident and your injuries, building a case to show the full extent of your injuries and that you are not at fault. When you are represented by a lawyer, you stand to recover much more money with much less hassle than if you tried to handle everything on your own.
Talk to a Suwanee Car Accident Lawyer for Free
Our lawyers have decades of experience helping accident victims get back on their feet – in fact, it’s all we do. You won’t have to pay us a thing if we don’t get money for you. Let us give you a FREE consultation to discuss your accident, your injuries, and what you should do next. Call us at (404) 341-6555 or fill out the form to the right to get your free consultation today.
