No matter how careful of a driver you are, there’s always someone else on the road who isn’t.
If a reckless driver causes an accident, you might find yourself with medical bills, lost income, and months of recovery—but getting the other driver’s insurance company to pay for your damages can be challenging. They might blame you for the accident or decide your claim is worth much less than it is.
How Can a Gwinnett County Car Accident Attorney Help?
An experienced car accident attorney can help by investigating your accident, compiling evidence to strengthen your case, and negotiating with the insurance company to secure the settlement you deserve. We know all the tricks insurance companies use to save themselves money—at your expense—and we’ll fight for your right to compensation.
How Is Fault Determined in a Car Accident?
In most cases, the two drivers’ insurance companies will decide who was at fault based on the available evidence.
Some people believe the police report on the accident determines fault, and this report is an essential piece of evidence, but it’s not the final say on the subject. The report contains facts about the accident, including both drivers’ statements of what happened and a section where the officer gives their opinion on who was at fault.
Since the officer usually doesn’t witness the accident, their opinion is just that—an opinion based on what is often limited information. For this reason, a police report can be challenged if we find additional evidence to show that you were not at fault.
The other driver’s insurance company may also claim that you were at fault, regardless of the police report. Under Georgia law, both parties can be partially at fault in an accident or personal injury situation, and the party who is less than 50 percent responsible can seek damages from the more responsible party.
If you were, for example, 10 percent at fault, you could still recover, but you would lose 10 percent from your final award.
Keeping this in mind, you can see why the other driver’s insurance company might be invested in claiming that you were at fault. They don’t have to prove the accident was wholly your responsibility.
If they can make a case that you were at least 50 percent to blame, they’re off the hook for paying your claim. If they can only show that you have a smaller percentage of responsibility, they could still reduce how much they have to pay you based on your percentage of fault.
Either way, the insurance company saves money—and you lose.
How Can Your Gwinnett County Car Accident Attorney Protect You When the Insurance Company Blames You?
Your lawyer will immediately investigate the accident and collect as much evidence in your favor as possible. We’ll build a solid case to show that you were not at fault or that your percentage of fault was very low so you can recover a fair settlement.
Here are some of the types of evidence we will look for:
- Witness testimony: We’ll go to the accident site and canvas the area, talking to local residents or workers. In some cases, we find additional witnesses who weren’t interviewed before.
- Photo or video evidence: A site visit also allows us to look for area cameras, such as doorbell cams, CCTVs, or traffic cameras. We can then speak with the owners and inquire if a video is available from the time of the accident. Because video footage is erased often, we’ll have a better chance of finding it if you call us sooner rather than later.
- Electronic data: The majority of vehicles on the road today contain a device called an event data recorder, or EDR. These devices were invented to help car manufacturers learn how accidents happen so they can make safer vehicles. However, EDRs also provide a wealth of information in many car accident cases—for instance, we can find out how fast each vehicle was moving in what direction and what actions the driver took just before and during the crash.
- Smartphone data: Distracted driving is a real problem, causing about 3,000 deaths per year and even more injuries. If we think the other driver was distracted by their phone, we can ask the court for access to their phone records to find out what they were doing during the crash.
- Physical evidence: We may also examine your car, debris from the crash scene, or any photos you took of the damage to your vehicle. (We recommend taking pictures of your car and the crash scene after an accident, if possible.)
What if You Think You Were at Fault?
We recommend you don’t speculate about fault after the accident. Answer the responding officer’s questions honestly but briefly—you don’t need to volunteer information they didn’t ask for or tell them whose fault you think it was.
After you’ve given a statement and received medical care for your injuries, please contact a car accident lawyer right away.
As we discussed earlier, the fact that you made a mistake does not necessarily mean you were entirely at fault or can’t collect damages. It’s possible you made only a small contribution to the collision and could still be eligible to recover most of your damages. It’s also possible that your mistake had nothing to do with the accident, and the other party is still entirely at fault. Your lawyer can help you determine what happened and your options for obtaining compensation.
If you are entirely or mainly at fault, your car insurance should cover your liability to the other driver. As for your own injuries, these may be covered if you have Medical Payments or MedPay coverage, which pays for your medical costs in an accident regardless of who was at fault.
MedPay is optional in Georgia but is well worth it if you’re ever in an accident where you can’t prove the other driver was at fault. It’s also helpful in many single-vehicle crashes, where you may not have done anything wrong, but neither did anyone else—for example, sometimes unavoidable hazards like weather or road conditions can cause an accident.
Like MedPay for your car, Collision coverage will pay for damage to your vehicle regardless of fault.
What Damages Are Available in Your Car Accident Case?
This is an important question to ask. Frequently, car accident victims are only aware of some of their damages and may not know how much their total claim is worth. Unfortunately, the insurance company will take advantage of the fact that adequately valuing a car accident claim is a complicated process.
This is especially true when there is overwhelming evidence that the other driver was at fault and you were blameless. If the insurance adjuster realizes they can’t transfer the blame to you, they might focus on undervaluing your claim instead.
In many cases, the insurance company’s initial offer is well below the total value of the claim. They could potentially overlook some of your damages or fail to consider future expenses for medical care.
We never want to see our clients lose the compensation they’re entitled to, so we’ll help you determine your damages and their value. Here are some of the categories we will discuss:
- Medical bills: Doctor’s bills, hospital bills, physical therapy, mobility aids, items you need to do physical therapy exercises at home—car accident injuries can leave you with a pile of invoices. We’ll add up your current costs, and if you’re still in treatment, we may wait to settle the case until your treatment is finished. That way, we can be sure no costs are missed. However, if your injuries are severe and it appears that you will need long-term care, we can estimate your future costs and seek to recover them as well.
- Lost income: No one wants to use up all their vacation time or sick days recovering from an injury, but that can happen after a serious car accident. Often, we meet people who were forced to use all their paid time off and then had to take unpaid time. You have a right to compensation for both paid and unpaid leave due to your accident.
- Lost earning potential: Unfortunately, in some cases, the injured person may not recover fully from their injuries. If you develop a permanent disability that prevents you from working or doing the same type of work you did before, we can seek damages for your lost earning potential.
- Permanent disability or disfigurement: Outside the possibility of reduced earning potential, a permanent disability or disfigurement can have other consequences, including reduced enjoyment or quality of life.
- Pain and suffering: While this damage doesn’t come with a price tag the way a medical bill might, it’s still a valid loss. Many people experience weeks or months of physical pain, in addition to mental or emotional suffering, including anxiety, depression, insomnia, or PTSD.
- Property damage: You can seek repair or replacement costs for your damaged vehicle, including depreciation due to the accident.
- Wrongful death: If you’ve lost a loved one in a car accident, you may be dealing with your grief while trying to keep up with household expenses, medical bills, and funeral costs. We can pursue damages for all of these losses so you have the resources you need to move forward.
What if an Uninsured Driver Hit You?
Your car accident lawyer will look for other options to help you recover damages, including:
- Suing the driver. This isn’t always a viable option. If the other driver has no significant assets we can seize, it may not be worth the time and stress to pursue a claim we can’t collect. However, if the driver does have assets, it may be a good solution.
- Using your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UI). We hope that you have UM/UI insurance because, in some cases, it’s the only way to recover damages. UM/UI covers situations where the other driver is uninsured and cases where the other driver is insured, but your damages exceed their coverage.
- Suing a third party. This is only sometimes a possibility, but in certain situations, there may be another liable party we can sue. For example, in specific circumstances, we could sue a bar that overserved a customer who was already noticeably intoxicated. In a few cases, we may find grounds for a claim against a manufacturer of safety equipment that failed or a vehicle component that somehow caused or worsened the accident.
What Can You Do About a Hit-and-Run Accident?
Assuming you filed a police report, the authorities will do their best to find the hit-and-run driver. If you’re able to give them the license plate number or at least a good description of the vehicle, this will improve their odds of finding the driver.
Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to get the license plate number of the car that hit you. Accidents happen suddenly and quickly, and you may be focused on your injuries immediately afterward.
The reality is that many hit-and-run cases go unsolved.
We will review the police report and conduct our own investigation in the hopes of uncovering new evidence that can help the authorities make an arrest. If the case is still cold, we can file a claim on your UM/UI policy, which typically covers hit-and-run accidents.
UM/UI coverage usually includes bodily injury and property damage up to your policy limit.
How Can You Get Help From a Gwinnett County Car Accident Law Firm?
Please contact the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm for a free consultation about your case. Our team will review the details of your accident, answer your questions, and explain your options for pursuing compensation.
Your consultation is confidential, and if we take your case, we don’t charge any fees until we win or settle it.
Attorney Ali Awad founded the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm just a few short years ago and rapidly turned it into one of the fastest-growing law firms in the country. He and his team have over twenty years of combined experience and have recovered millions of dollars for injured people and their families.
When he’s not busy working on a case, Mr. Awad can be found on social media, dispensing no-nonsense legal advice to more than a million followers. Work with the CEO Lawyer by calling (470) 323-8779.
