How Does the Car Accident Settlement Process Work in Georgia?

Car accidents can leave you with painful injuries and a pile of bills for everything from medical treatment to car repairs. It’s natural to want to get started seeking compensation from the other driver’s insurance. In some cases, this can be a simple, straightforward process that takes a few weeks or months. But for many people, complications arise that cause it to take much longer – the insurance company may dispute their client was at fault, deny your claim for some other reason, or you may need ongoing care for your injuries, etc. It may take a while to negotiate a fair settlement with the insurer. In a few situations, filing a lawsuit against the insurer, the driver who hit you, or other third parties is necessary.

Navigating the insurance claims process requires legal skills and experience, and people who have an attorney are more likely to receive a payout for their claim. Attorney Ali Award knows all the ways big insurance companies try to escape paying your damages, and he has the knowledge and expertise to fight for your legal rights to compensation. In only a few short years, he grew the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm into one of the fastest-growing firms in the country. If you or a loved one have been hurt in an accident, don’t wait to call the injury and accident attorneys at the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm for a free consultation. There is no obligation; if we take your case, you won’t owe us anything until we win.

Typical Car Accident Settlement Amounts

We frequently hear questions about the average settlement for a car accident in Georgia. The average personal injury settlement varies widely depending on a range of factors.  We always stress that every car accident is different, and using an average is not a good metric for how much your particular case is worth. Some car accidents are straightforward and may amount to no more than a few hundred dollars in bodywork on one or both cars. On the other hand, some accidents may result in serious injuries or even death for one or more people in one or both (or multiple) cars. More serious claims can be worth tens of thousands to six figures. More basic claims may only be worth a few thousand. If you want to know what your case is worth, speaking with a car accident attorney is a much better way to find out than searching for average settlements and trying to apply them to what may be a very different situation.

Sometimes people start researching average settlement amounts because they’ve received an offer from an insurance company and want to know if it’s fair. They have the right idea – insurance companies are notorious for making lowball offers that won’t cover all the injured person’s damages. This is done in the hopes that the injured party will accept less than their claim is worth, potentially saving the insurance carrier a lot of money. But again, knowing an average settlement amount – which varies greatly depending on the type of claim and damages – is not the ideal way to determine if you’ve received a good offer. Instead, take the offer letter to a car accident lawyer to find out if it’s adequate. If not, your lawyer can help you negotiate for a better resolution to your claim.

Car Accident Damages

Your attorney will review various potential damages with you to determine what your claim is worth. Here are some possible damages you may have:

• Medical costs. If you were hurt and had to see a healthcare professional, even if you just needed X-rays or other tests to rule out a broken bone or serious injury, the at-fault driver’s insurance should cover your costs. This includes doctor bills, hospital bills, prescription drug copays, and ongoing care like physical therapy, occupational therapy, or home health services. You may also qualify to get your travel costs reimbursed if you have to go to a specialist who isn’t nearby.
• Future healthcare expenses. If you’re still getting treatment, it’s important to figure out how long you will need treatment and what it’s likely to cost. This is especially crucial if your injuries result in a long-term, permanent, or chronic problem.
• Repair or replacement costs for damage to your vehicle or other property.
• Pain and suffering. These damages are meant to compensate you for physical pain, suffering, and emotional or mental distress. Many injuries suffered in a car accident can be extremely painful – broken bones, internal injuries, head injuries, anything that requires surgery, etc. But being involved in an accident can also be traumatic and stressful, and many people experience anxiety, depression, trouble sleeping, or even PTSD afterward.
• Loss of income. When you get hurt in an accident, you may miss work for a few days to weeks or even months. In the best case scenario, you use up all your carefully-earned paid time off, which you may have been saving for happier occasions, like a vacation. Worst case scenario, you have no income while you recover, and your healthcare providers still expect to be paid. Not to mention those car repair bills! In either situation, you’ve suffered financially, and you deserve to be compensated for those losses.
• Lost earning potential. As with medical costs, you have to consider future income loss as well. If your injuries are permanent or result in a disability that prevents you from returning to work or from returning to work full time or in the same position, then you can seek damages for that as well.
• Loss of consortium or companionship if a loved one has died in the accident.
• Punitive damages. These aren’t awarded often, but in some cases, the jury may find the defendant’s conduct so horrifying that they award extra damages not as compensation for the victim but as a punishment for the other driver’s actions. This occasionally happens in drunk driving cases where several people were killed or severely hurt or situations where the other driver was extremely reckless, regardless of their sobriety.

Getting Started on the Auto Accident Settlement Process

If you are struggling with the next steps after a car accident, contact one of our experienced injury and accident attorneys at CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm. Once your attorney has explained your options, if you decide to move forward with a claim, we will take care of the next steps with as little inconvenience to you as possible. Our team will file a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance if you haven’t done so already, or follow up with the insurer if you have. If you’ve already received an unsatisfactory offer, we’ll negotiate with the insurance company for an amount that covers your damages. It will be up to you if you want to accept or reject any offer the insurance carrier makes or continue negotiating. In most cases, we eventually reach a settlement that satisfies both parties. Occasionally, the other side simply won’t agree to a reasonable settlement, and when that happens, we are prepared to fight for what you deserve in court.

The CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm is always available for a free consultation if you have questions about your car accident or a potential claim. Please contact us to learn more about how we can help you get the compensation you need to move on with your life.