There is nothing more jarring than experiencing a car slamming into your vehicle’s side while driving down the road. Car accidents happen within seconds and can turn your life upside down. Some accidents cause only minor property damage, while others cause personal injuries that are devastating, catastrophic, or even fatal.
Over the last two years, traffic-related fatalities have risen steadily in Indiana, with over 870 people killed in fatal collisions. The number of non-fatal injuries has also increased, with about 47,000 people impacted.
If you are injured in a car accident, hire an Indiana personal injury attorney to protect you from forces that hurt your case. Professionals manage your case while you focus on getting the right medical treatment and receive the full settlement money.
How a Personal Injury Lawyer Can Serve Your Case
An Indiana personal injury attorney reviews your car accident case’s specifics, offers legal opinions, and improves your chances of maximizing the claim. A skilled lawyer can do many more on your behalf:
Inspect All Factors Contributing to the Accident
Hiring an experienced attorney will help you consider all factors that resulted in the accident. The driver’s perspective of the accident’s cause may not always be correct, so you need an expert opinion. Several factors like alcohol consumption, poor road conditions, driver distraction, or vehicle malfunction may have triggered the crash.
In recent years, 6,470 people were reported colliding with drivers under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Similarly, speed is also a contributing factor, which has resulted in 28,929 collisions. Another five percent of crashes are reported to have occurred due to distracted driving.
Appoint a personal injury attorney who can work with specialists and understand how the accident truly unfolded.
To Help You Understand Your Rights
Most often, drivers are not fully aware of their rights when it comes to handling car accidents. With Indiana being an at-fault state, you are entitled to receive compensation from a liable driver’s insurance policy. This can be based on car damages, personal injury, lost wages due to the accident, etc.
Once the limits of other insurance policies are exhausted, you can seek your policy’s remaining compensation under the uninsured motorist/underinsured motorist benefits.
Many factors go into your settlement amount – extent of the injuries, financial costs incurred due to the accident, type of damages that you may receive compensation for, and others. Experts can help you understand the unique circumstances and facts that dictate the amount you receive as compensation.
With decades of legal expertise, Indiana personal injury attorneys will not hesitate to fight aggressively. Your lawyer is well-versed with laws about your case and have you legally covered. With professional help, you will undoubtedly realize your power over the insurance companies as well.
Seamlessly Deal With Insurance Companies
Car insurance plays a crucial role in any claim made after a car accident in Indiana. The state mandates drivers to have the following minimums on liability car insurance coverage:
- $25,000 for death caused by the driver of an insured vehicle and for bodily injuries
- $50,000 for death liability in an accident caused by a driver of the insured vehicle and for total physical injuries
- $25,000 for property damage, per accident, caused by the insured driver
You are certainly at a disadvantage when you try to negotiate with an insurance company on your own. Only a lawyer can understand that its initial offering may be far less than your claim’s worth. Knowledge of laws relating to car accident claims will aid your lawyer in negotiating with the insurance company and fetching you a fair settlement amount.
Personal injury lawyers in Indiana can also deal with insurance company adjusters and give you peaceful recovery time. At-fault driver’s insurance company adjusters may not be kind to your claim and try to minimize or invalidate it. Hire an attorney to reduce the risk of an adjuster misinterpreting your statement.
Estimate the Future Medical and Accident-Related Expenses
The healthcare costs of Indiana residents have continued to rise over 20 years. Residents are now paying $819 higher than the national average and are known to exceed $7,900 a year. A typical Hoosier is expected to spend 4.4% or more of their annual income on healthcare bills.
A personal injury lawyer can help estimate future medical costs by consulting with doctors and other medical professionals in such an environment. This projection is necessary to gain compensation that enables you to recover from injuries and offer rehabilitation expenses.
An Indiana personal injury attorney can be your pillar during the most stressful and vulnerable moment. Their assistance in building a car accident claim helps you overcome the proceedings’ physical and mental trauma. Hire one now to see how they can help your case.