Unfortunately, injuries from a motor vehicle accident can be catastrophic. Serious and disabling injuries affect not only the injured person but also their family members. If you have been in a car accident and were injured, you likely have questions or concerns about making sure you do the right things to preserve the value of your injury claim. The legal team at Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers can assist you by providing a free consultation, assessing the strength of your case and advising you of your legal options.

Our California car accident attorneys handle all types of car accident cases, including diffuse axonal injury, hit-and-run accidents, backovers, rollovers, trucking accidents, golf cart accidents and more.

What Should You Do After a Car Accident?

If you are injured in a car accident or truck accident, you can easily be overwhelmed by everything that you will have to deal with. The California law firm of Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers has successfully represented thousands of auto accident victims throughout the state.

Keep in mind a few basic steps as you move forward through the aftermath of the auto accident. Always take care of yourself first. Make sure and take the following steps, listed below:

Get medical attention
Take pictures of your injuries
Make sure pictures are taken of the vehicle damage
Contact an experienced car accident lawyer

You need to keep these points in mind. There are very good reasons for each one of them. The reasons for these steps lie in the fact that the consequences of accidents can lead to adversarial proceedings: matters become divided between “your side” and “their side“. Anyone from “their side” is not your friend, whether it is the other driver, their lawyers, or the insurance company representing the other driver.

Medical Attention

When you have been the victim of an accident involving a car or truck, the most important thing to do is to take care of your physical injuries. It is also important that you always follow the directions of your doctor from that point. Do not try to “rush” your recovery. If the doctor tells you to refrain from certain types of activity, do not attempt them. In addition to making your injury worse, this may harm the lawyer’s ability to assist you.

Document Your Injuries

If you have the opportunity, take photographs of your injuries resulting from your auto accident or truck accident. Use the camera on your cell phone or tablet or any other means, if you can. Equally important for you is that you keep track of all documents for your treatment. The reports of emergency personnel and doctors will be an important component of your case. Be sure to have all continuing instructions from your doctor at hand. If there are any changes in your treatment, add those documents to your file and also be sure to inform your attorney of these facts.

Document Vehicle Damage

If possible, take photographs of your auto or truck at the site of the accident. Take multiple photos, from several different angles, so the full nature of the vehicle damage can be seen. If it is not possible to do this at the scene of the accident, do it as soon as possible afterward, and before any work is done on the vehicle. Keep all the documents for the repairs together: estimates, invoices, service orders, any paperwork connected with the incident. These also are documents that you should copy and give to your personal injury attorney.

Contact a Car Accident Attorney

After you’ve completed the above items, now it’s time to contact an injury attorney. An experienced car accident injury attorney can advise you of your next steps, and will be able to handle all communication with the opposing insurance companies and attorneys

Do I Need to Hire a Lawyer to Handle My Auto Accident Claim?

In the case of any serious auto accident or truck accident that involves personal injury, your wisest course of action is to seek the help of personal injury lawyers. These professionals will keep a clear head in dealing with all aspects of the aftermath of the accident. The service the lawyers provide protects you from mistakes that can be made because you are dealing with the stresses of the event. Your attorney will advise you of the specific steps you will need to take in dealing with an accident and insurance claim.

Let an Auto Accident Attorney Deal with the Case

The most important thing for you to remember when pursuing a personal injury claim is that anything you say in public can become a “matter of record.” Comments you make on social media sites (such as Facebook) can be used against you. Talking to your friends about matters can be used against you. Even though it is part of human nature to want to talk about things that happen to you, remember that discussing such matters can negatively impact your injury claim. If any insurance company attempts to speak with you about the accident, tell them to speak to your lawyer. If the insurance company representing the other party contacts you with an offer, do not comment on it one way or another, but rather tell them to approach your attorney.

When injured in an auto accident or truck accident, securing the services of a good California accident attorney will provide you with peace of mind in a time of trouble. Your lawyer will work to get the best results for you. Don’t hesitate to get an advocate who will fight for you, as any delay can also compromise the value of your injury case.

Should I Get an Attorney for a Car Accident?

It depends. If you have not been injured in an accident, you should be able to settle the property damage claim on your own. However, if you are injured in an accident it’s a good idea to speak with a personal injury lawyer to learn more about your legal options. Studies have shown that injury victims receive on average a car accident settlement amount that is 3x – 5x larger if they are represented by a lawyer.

Injury victims receive more if they’re represented by a lawyer because insurance companies don’t have a reason to pay them what they deserve if they don’t have a lawyer. An injury victim’s only recourse when an insurance company refuses to pay them what they deserve is to file a lawsuit over it. Insurance companies know you can’t win a lawsuit against them if you don’t have a lawyer, so they won’t offer you what you deserve for your injuries if you don’t have a lawyer.

The best car accident attorney will be one with a lot of experience and a reputation for success. It is common for insurance companies to suddenly offer fair compensation to injury victims as soon as they hire experienced auto accident attorneys with a track record of success like Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers. This is because the insurance companies know that if they don’t, they’ll be forced to pay out that money in court anyways, in addition to expensive legal fees.

What Are the Fees for a Lawyer?

First, there is no upfront fee for our injury lawyers to represent you. Our attorneys don’t collect a fee until and unless a recovery is made. If a recovery is made, our fee is a percentage of the personal injury settlement amount.

What Is Included in a Free Legal Consultation?

During a free legal consultation, one of our personal injury attorneys will ask you questions about your car accident and your injuries. They will evaluate your case to determine if we can assist you and to advise you of your legal options.

How Much Is My Car Accident Case Worth?

What Type of Compensation Am I Entitled to Receive?

An individual injured in an automobile accident may bring a car accident claim or lawsuit to recover the actual expenses associated with property damage and medical costs, economic damages, and emotional and physical pain and suffering. Litigation involving motor vehicle accidents can sometimes be extremely complicated. Retaining a car accident injury lawyer at Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers will ensure that you receive the best possible recovery for your car accident injuries and damages.

Don’t settle for less than you deserve, contact us first for a free consultation by texting us from this page or calling us today.

Damages

In cases involving car accidents, as in all negligence cases, the injured party may recover damages for physical pain and suffering, mental pain and suffering, medical and rehabilitative expenses, past and future lost income, permanent impairment, and permanent disfigurement. Typical damages include future medical bills that are reasonably certain, loss of enjoyment of life, and physical property damage. A previous injury does not necessarily affect the right to recover compensation. The injured party may still recover damages for re-injuring or aggravating the earlier injury. In order to document the damages, a person injured in an accident should keep a daily diary describing how the injury affects him or her and if appropriate, his or her immediate family.

Family Members’ Damages

The spouse of the accident victim may also be able to recover compensation for damage to or loss of the marital relationship. Both the husband and wife usually bring the claim, which is known as “loss of consortium.” Loss of consortium refers to any negative effect on the marital relationship caused by an accident, and includes loss of the spouse’s love, companionship, comfort, affection, solace, moral support, sexual relations, ability to have children, and physical assistance in the operating and maintaining a home. Loss of consortium can be either temporary or permanent.

Dealing with the Insurance Company After Car Accidents

Typically, the insurance company will compensate car accident victims for their damages. If the other driver has insufficient insurance or is not insured at all, the victim may be entitled to compensation from their own insurance company under an uninsured or underinsured motorist provision. Also, other insurance policies, such as the policies of other family members or employers, may provide benefits to the injured person. We have obtained insurance coverage for many clients in these circumstances. Even if the injured person was partially at fault, the law might permit recovery.

Different insurance coverage is frequently required and available for rideshare drivers for Uber or Lyft. Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers also handles Uber & Lyft accident claims on behalf of drivers and passengers.

Contact our team of experienced California car accident lawyers today by calling us today.

Additional Factors Affecting Accident Claim Value

Who is at fault
How easily the other party’s fault can be established
Type and seriousness of the injuries
Amount of insurance coverage available
How the car crash happened
Extent of vehicle damage
Whether the injuries are permanent or involve significant scarring
Amount of your past and expected future medical bills
Effect of the accident on your income

Remember, every personal injury case is different.

The Car Accident Claim Process

While every case is different, most cases will follow a general process.

1. Getting Treatment and Finding an Attorney

After your accident, the most important thing to do is to immediately seek medical treatment. This will not only lead to you promptly getting your injuries diagnosed and treated, but will also make sure how and when your injuries happened is documented. This can be vital in the future in terms of pursing a claim for compensation.

While getting your injuries treated, you can start looking for a lawyer. A lawyer can make sure your rights are protected and advised you regarding options you have in terms of filing a claim.

It’s important to seek out a lawyer as quickly as you can after an accident because there is a time limit to file claims in California.

Make sure you keep track of medical expenses. Your attorney will utilize them as part of a demand letter seeking compensation, in addition to other evidence like your lost wages or any info about any reduction in earning capacity.

2. Investigation

After hiring an attorney, your lawyer will start investigating your claim. Depending upon your case’s facts, this could involve collection and analysis of evidence such as medical records, witness statements and police reports. Your lawyer could even hire an investigator to seek additional evidence or witnesses, including surveillance video.

While doing this, your attorney will start to research your case. This helps them build the most convincing argument possible as to the other driver’s fault – as well as why you deserve full compensation for your injuries.

3. Demand Letters and Settlements

Utilizing info collected during investigation, your lawyer will write up a demand letter that will be sent to the insurance company representing the at-fault driver. This letter sets out your case’s facts, their insured’s legal liability, and demands compensation. The negotiation process is started by the sending of this letter, and the insurance company typically counters the letter with a settlement offer.

Most accident cases end up settling out of court. You have a better chance of having your case settle out of court if you work with a lawyer with trial experience and a strong reputation like the lawyers at Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers. When insurers know that your lawyer is ready and able to litigate your case in court should they fail to present a fair settlement offer, they will have additional motivation to settle your claim for a fair amount.

4. Filing a Lawsuit

While most cases settle out of court, sometimes insurance companies refuse to settle out of court for a fair amount. This happens sometimes in cases of disputed liability, or when insurers challenge injuries’ severity. If this happens, your lawyer might advise you that filing a lawsuit is appropriate.

Once the defendant is served with a lawsuit, they have 30 days in order to answer it.

Once a lawsuit gets filed, the lawsuit timeline gets governed partly by deadlines which are set by the relevant court. Your attorney will explain these deadlines to you as well as how they might impact how long it takes for your lawsuit to be resolved.

5. Discovery

This is the part of the process where plaintiffs and defendants seek information regarding your case. This can involve:

Interrogatories: questions which need to be answered.
Depositions: Oral questions for witnesses
Admission requests: statements which must be denied or admitted to
Medical examination: the insurance company might request for you to be examined by a doctor they choose

During discovery, your lawyer may consult with experts in order to make your case stronger. As an example, when liability gets disputed, your lawyer might consult with an expert in accident reconstruction to prove the other driver was at fault. Each side needs to disclose their expert witnesses and be given opportunities to depose the other side’s expert witnesses.

6. Mediation

Negotiations for a settlement typically continue between the time a lawsuit is filed and the time a case reaches court. Mediation may be ordered by a judge if an agreement can’t be reached.

Mediation involves the case being reviewed by a neutral third party, who hears both parties’ arguments. The mediator will then attempt to help both parties reach a settlement.

7. Trial

The case goes to trial if an agreement can’t be reached. The amount of time the trial will take will depend upon how many witnesses there are and how complex the relevant issues are. It can take a couple of days or it can take months.

Your lawyer will represent you in court, and if you win your trial, you will receive a financial recovery.

How Long Do I Have to File a Claim?

A personal injury claim filed with an insurance company is toothless unless the threat of filing a personal injury lawsuit over a lowball offer from the insurance company still exists.

Personal injury victims have two years to file a lawsuit from the date of their injury in California. This time limit is known as a statute of limitations.

Failure to file a lawsuit within this time frame bars injury victims from filing a lawsuit in order to recover compensation for their injuries. Insurance companies won’t offer injury victims who are unable to file a lawsuit what they deserve for their injuries.

Personal injury claims can be very complex and it can take quite a while to gather the evidence necessary to build a convincing case. Thus, it’s important that you contact Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers today if you’ve been injured in an accident so we have as much as possible to build a convincing case and, if necessary, file a lawsuit on your behalf before the statute of limitations expires.