Auto Accidents – Your Rights When You Are Injured

YOUR RIGHTS WHEN YOU ARE INJURED:

• FACT #1: When you are injured and miss time from work, you can collect money for the time you missed from work, even if your employer paid you while you were off. The law does not allow the person who caused your injury to be able to take advantage of the fact that your employer paid you while you missed work, and so you are entitled to the full value of the time you miss from work, whether you were actually paid for the time off or not.
• FACT #2: When you are injured in an accident, the insurance company for the party that injured you is not likely to be looking out for your best interests. Insurance companies, like all businesses, are interested in making a profit. Many insurance companies are publicly traded corporations, and so they actually have a duty to their shareholders to make as much profit as possible. Their interest in talking to you after an accident is usually to want to settle with you for as little money as possible. Your case may be worth many thousands of dollars more than an insurance company offers you before you get a lawyer. Only a lawyer experienced with personal injury claims can properly evaluate the money value of your injury. You will almost always wind up with a better settlement for yourself, even after your lawyer is paid a fee. That, after all, is part of what you are paying your lawyer for.
• FACT #3: When you are injured in an accident, there are many expenses you are entitled to be compensated for, not just your medical bills and your time off of work. For example, you may be compensated for the cost of hiring extra household help, whether for cooking, cleaning, or child care. You may be compensated for extra transportation expenses you have for traveling to and from your doctor, your physical therapist, or your other care givers. You may even be compensated for the cost of job retraining and rehabilitation if you cannot go back to the kind of work you used to do before the accident. And, of course, you may be reimbursed for the pain and suffering you go through because of your injuries. These additional items can often be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Pain and suffering alone can be worth millions of dollars for very serious injuries.
• FACT #4: Auto accident cases can often be complicated, and many times important legal work and investigation need to be started right away. Finding an experienced personal injury lawyer is important. At , we have the experience you need and we treat every case with the importance and attention it deserves. We know what your case needs, and we know what has to be done to fight hard against the insurance companies.