An experienced Indiana car accident lawyer can investigate the crash that injured you, establish who was at fault, and seek full compensation for you. While you focus on your health, your attorney can manage critical deadlines, calculate your losses, and handle back-and-forth negotiations with the other driver’s insurance company and any other liable parties.
As you move forward after a crash, you should understand the many ways an attorney can help protect your rights and skillfully handle your car accident lawsuit.
Why Is It Critical to Work with an Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer After a Car Crash?
After a car crash, your decisions can affect your physical and financial recovery. To pursue the compensation you deserve, you need to work with an experienced personal injury lawyer. The attorney can:
- Guide your decisions as you review the evidence and weigh settlement offers
- Know what evidence to collect to build a strong personal injury claim
- Carefully measure your losses and calculate the fair value of your claim
- Demand that the insurance company make an appropriate settlement offer.
Insurance companies want to protect their profits. A skilled lawyer will know how to push back against aggressive insurer tactics and fight for the compensation you deserve. You should focus on healing. Your attorney will focus on pursuing the funds you deserve.
How Can a Car Accident Attorney Help Prove Fault in an Accident?
An Indiana car accident lawyer can dig into the details of a collision to prove fault. They can review evidence such as:
- Crash report(s)
- Accident scene evidence
- Traffic tickets
- Damage to the vehicles
- Statements from people who saw what happened
- Photos or videos.
Your lawyer can use these details to show why the crash occurred and who caused it. When the facts support your car accident claim, an insurer will find it more difficult to deny or minimize a claim.
Can a Lawyer Help Negotiations with the Auto Insurance Company?
Your lawyer can negotiate directly with the insurer and protect your rights. For instance, if the insurance company wrongly blames you for the crash, your lawyer can respond with evidence that shows the actual cause of the accident and supports your claim.
Under Indiana law, which is a type of modified comparative negligence law, you can recover compensation for your injuries and losses after a car accident even though you were partly at fault. However, your share of responsibility for the crash must be less than 50 percent. If your share of fault exceeds that threshold, the law may bar you from recovering anything.
Your lawyer’s job is to negotiate the best settlement possible after a serious car accident. They will protect you from the insurance company pressuring you into an unfair deal. If the parties cannot reach a fair settlement, your lawyer can fight for you at trial.
Will My Lawyer Explain My Settlement Options for My Auto Accident Claim?
Your lawyer should fully advise you on your settlement options before you make any decisions to accept an insurance company settlement offer. After you accept a settlement offer and sign the settlement agreement, you cannot go back later to ask for additional money from the at-fault driver.
Your attorney should explain the risks of settling before you fully recover instead of waiting until you completely heal. Some injuries take time to show their long-term effects. Settling too soon could leave you underpaid.
Your lawyer should also review the different ways you could receive compensation. You could receive a lump sum or receive your compensation through a structured payment plan. Your lawyer can discuss how each works and what makes sense for your situation. They’ll make sure you clearly understand every option and feel confident in your decision.
Will I Get a Larger Car Accident Settlement If I Have a Lawyer?
In a personal injury lawsuit in Indiana, a car accident victim can seek compensation for economic and non-economic damages, such as the following:
- Past medical bills and future medical expenses
- Lost wages and reduced future earning ability
- Intangible losses such as pain, suffering, depression, or loss of enjoyment of life
- Property damage.
If you have no legal help, an insurer may offer a lower settlement amount, hoping you’re in a hurry and don’t know the value of your claim. They want to take advantage of your lack of experience to save themselves money.
However, when an experienced personal injury attorney takes your case, insurers will recognize they can’t push you around. A seasoned attorney will know how to gather evidence and calculate financial and personal losses that you may not realize have value.
Having a lawyer working on your case could mean the difference between getting the money you need to rebuild your life and walking away with pennies on the dollar.
How Much Does an Indiana Car Accident Attorney Charge?
Most personal lawyers in Indiana handle car accident cases on a contingency fee basis. In this type of agreement, you don’t pay anything up front for a lawyer to handle your car accident claim. Instead, your lawyer receives a percentage of the car accident compensation they secure for you, whether through a settlement or a verdict. If you don’t get paid, your lawyer doesn’t get paid, either.
Before you agree to anything, your lawyer should explain your fee arrangement as well as how you will handle case-related costs, such as expert fees or court filing costs. You should have a clear picture of what to expect before signing.
With no fees or costs up front, a contingency fee arrangement can provide a low-risk way to get the experienced legal help you need, even if you can’t afford it at the time.
Get Help from an Experienced Indiana Car Accident Lawyer Today
At Truitt Law Offices, we’ve spent over 40 years standing up for injured people across Indiana. Our firm handles only personal injury cases. We know how to challenge insurance companies that try to limit compensation. Our experienced car accident lawyers know how to handle settlement negotiations. With our inside knowledge of their defense strategies, we fight smart—and we fight hard.
With 100+ five-star Google reviews and a history of securing top-dollar outcomes for accident victims, we believe our results speak for themselves. If you suffered injuries in a car crash in Indiana, contact Truitt Law Offices for a free consultation.
