Times to Consider Hiring a Car Accident Attorney

Not every car accident requires the attention of a personal injury attorney. In fact, most auto collisions won’t warrant a substantial insurance claim. There are times, however, when insurance gobbledygook meshes with medical legal jargon to create an often-unintelligible heap of confusion. Those times are where retaining a car accident attorney make the most sense. How do you know when hiring a lawyer is good judgment? Here are five situations where speaking with a person injury attorney is in your best interest.

1. You are injured.

Medical research shows that even minor collisions at less than 5 MPH can produce injury – specifically at the soft tissue of your spinal column. With that in mind, even high-speed collisions may not produce long-lasting injury (or even any pain for that matter). If you are involved in a motor vehicle collision and begin suffering from pain, you may want to speak with an attorney.
Injury – especially if it considerable or chronic – is hard fought by the insurance industry. While they may allow for some small amount of conservative treatment, unless the collision was substantial, you will likely find yourself between a rock and a hard place dealing with the insurer. Attorneys know the best strategy for dealing with these situations to help maximize your results.

2. You are stressed and anxious.

Injury events after an auto accident may involve pain, but there is an emotional toll that is often forgotten. Missing work. Unable to take care of your children and chores. Going to doctor appointments. Fielding phone calls from police and insurance companies. There may seem no end to the work an accident causes. If you were injured and are having difficulty staying afloat, an attorney may be able to help relieve that stress by representing you in your insurance claim.

3. Your injuries are not improving.

Mild injuries may occur even after a small car accident. What happens if those mild injuries don’t improve – or even worsen over time? It’s more common than you might expect for injuries to linger more than just a few days or weeks. The body is unaccustomed to the trauma of a car accident. Even soft tissue injuries can stretch out for months as the body is restrengthened to reduce pain.

4. You are losing wages.

Complications of any kind create messy insurance claims. Insurance adjusters are trained to ignore and minimize damages wherever possible. That may include refusing to pay for wage loss they deem unreasonable. If you are injured in a motor vehicle accident and forced to miss work as a result, you may be entitled to compensation for your lost wages.

5. The insurance company is pressuring you to settle.

Most accident victims will either not seek settlement from the liability insurer or will settle out with the liability insurer within days or weeks of their accident. Even victims who are in considerable pain will seek the olive branch of the insurance company and take their settlement offer just to move on in their life.

These early settlement offers are usually traps. Insurance companies know that the longer you seek treatment, the more injured you are, the more wages you lose, the more they will have to pay. By offering a small gesture of kindness early on, they are hoping to trick car accident victims into resolving their case and preventing escalation of the injury claim.

At the law offices of Magnuson Lowell, PS, our experienced team is well versed in insurance trickery. We have spent decades helping car accident victims understand their rights and hold insurance companies accountable. Call today for a free case evaluation.

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