Why Do I Need a Car Accident Lawyer?

“My insurance adjuster seems nice enough…

…why do I need a car accident lawyer?”

For many people, hiring a car accident lawyer can seem like overkill. After all, you can easily make some phone calls without legal assistance, right??

Here at Beers & Gordon, we’ve had hundreds of clients come through our doors who originally thought the same thing. Each of these clients eventually realized an experienced Geneva car accident lawyer makes a huge difference in realizing a satisfactory outcome in your case.

Without a Car Accident Lawyer, You’re On Your Own

One of the main reasons that people retain a car accident attorney is the difficulty in dealing with the insurance representatives after a crash.

Insurance representatives are not your friends. Despite all their claims that they will take care of everything for you, their job is to act in their employers’ best interests, not yours.

More than one person has come into our office after handling the case on their own for a long time. These people are frustrated at the treatment they have received at the hands of the insurance company.

In many cases, the insurance rep told them that all medical expenses would be taken care of, only to change their tune when presented with the expenses later. We’ve seen the frustration in our clients’ faces as they describe how the insurance rep offered only half of the total expenses as a “fair” amount.

One such client was offered less than half of her out-of-pocket expenses to resolve the case. She came to us two years after the crash, frustrated by the insurance company’s unfair tactics. Although the case did not appear to be one where we could accomplish much for her, we took the case anyway because we wanted to help her out of her difficult situation.

In the end, we were able to resolve the case for many multiplies of what was originally offered. Had the insurance company treated her fairly and offered to resolve the case for her out of pocket medical expenses, she would have settled before coming to us.

The days following a crash can be confusing, with multiple insurance policies and—in some cases—disputes over who will be paying medical expenses. As the crash victim, you should have one sole focus: recovering from the crash. Hiring an attorney allows you to focus on your physical and mental health while the insurance issues are handled by your legal team.

Get What Your Injuries Are Worth

If we’ve learned only one thing during our combined 18 years working for commercial insurance carriers, it’s that the claims representative’s job is to pay the least amount possible on your claim.

Remember, at the end of the day, their main incentive is to save the insurance company money.

If you don’t know how to negotiate with an insurance representative, you may end up taking far less than the claim is worth. The representative will probably tell you that the settlement offer is fair, but without decades of experience with car accident claims, how can you know for sure?

With nearly 70 years of combined experience, David Beers and Jim Gordon have negotiated and resolved thousands of cases. This experience has given us the ability to fairly determine the fairness of your settlement offer.

Without a lawyer involved, most insurance companies assume that you are not taking the case seriously. In their eyes, the threat of them being sued is minimal if there is no legal counsel. The claims representative will usually offer much less than the case is worth because they believe that without an attorney’s advice, you will take less than you can get.

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

Another reason to obtain a car accident attorney is the wealth of knowledge they can bring to your case.

For instance, you may have access to certain insurance coverage without knowing it. Your attorney can (and should) obtain a written insurance disclosure affidavit from the insurance company to discover all coverage available to you.

Understanding your insurance coverage is just as important. For example, there are certain statutory and contractual obligations you must meet before you can make a claim for Underinsured Motorist benefits. If you aren’t aware of these obligations, you will not be able to comply with them and you may lose this coverage.

Additionally, there may be issues with preservation of evidence that should be handled by an attorney. An example would be the download of a vehicle’s electronic data recorder that may provide information on speed, braking, and other important information. If this type of evidence is not preserved, it may be lost forever. Then, proving liability may become more difficult.

Your car accident lawyer will know the steps needed to preserve the evidence.

Conclusion

When you have an injury, you don’t do surgery on yourself. Instead, you rely upon the expert surgeon to do it for you so that you have the best possible outcome.

Hiring a car accident lawyer is no different.

The insurance company has a representative on their side, and you should, too. Working with a car accident attorney means having an expert in your corner to provide the guidance, advice, and assistance you need to get the best possible outcome for your case.

At Beers & Gordon, our experienced attorneys and dedicated staff are here to answer all your questions and expertly guide you through the claims process. If you are frustrated at the progress (or lack of progress) on your car accident case, schedule your free no-obligation consultation with Beers & Gordon. During your consultation, you will meet with an attorney to discuss the details of your case as well as how the legal system works.

As with most car accident attorneys, we work on a contingency fee basis, so you will have no additional financial obligation to incur if you decide to pursue the claim with counsel.