When a person is involved in a car accident, there will undoubtedly be resulting medical bills, expenses, lost wages, or other losses resulting from the crash. Each car accident is different, and therefore, each car accident claim will also be different and based on the merits of the claim.
What Medical Expenses Can I Claim for My Car Accident?
There will be a list of expenses that can be claimed for the car accident. This list of expenses that are related to the loss will depend on the specific losses that you experienced. A list of potential expenses could include:
- Hospital bills
- Medical bills
- Prescriptions
- Expenses related to your long-term health
- Ongoing medical treatments
- Lost time from work
- Lost time from normal activities
- Emotional trauma
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium or loss of companionship
- Attorney fees
- Medical equipment needed after the loss
- Physical therapy
- Time off for additional surgeries if needed
You will need an attorney to help you negotiate all of these losses with the parties responsible for your loss if the expenses are starting to add up to many thousands of dollars lost due to the car accident.
When Do I Not Need an Attorney’s Help After a Car Accident?
If you have a car accident and have few expenses or losses associated with the crash, you may not need the help of an attorney to settle the claim with the other parties. For example, if you have a car accident and do not have any injuries, but have only damage to your vehicle, you may be able to settle with the insurance companies to manage the resolution of the losses. If there is only a small amount of damages due to you in a car accident claim, you can settle with the other party’s insurance company on your own. If the other party does not have insurance, you can settle with the at-fault party in small claims court for any money due back to you due to the loss.
How Much Will I Get for My Car Accident Claim?
It will be difficult to determine ahead of time how much money you will recover for your losses after a car accident. If you have a serious injury, you will potentially receive more money than if you had no injury or a minor injury. But your recovery for compensation may be reduced if you were also at fault for the loss. Some injuries do bring more money in recovery than others, especially with serious or debilitating injuries such as a spinal injury.
What Types of Spinal Injuries Are the Most Serious?
If you are in a car accident and injure your lumbar spinal column, you may have permanent injuries that could affect your quality of life going forward. You may even have problems for years after the car accident, all because of sustaining a back or spinal injury because of the car crash. Lumbar spine injuries can be serious to anyone who is injured in a car accident and can include:
- Back and lumbar issues
- Osteoarthritis in the joints
- Sacroiliac joint problems
- Lumbar stenosis
- Continued degeneration of the discs
- Prolonged damage to facet joints
- Spondylolisthesis
- Paralysis
What Other Factors Come Into Play to Determine the Recovery for a Car Accident?
Many other factors will come into play to determine whether you will recover any compensation at all for a car accident. What will matter will be the following factors, which you can ask yourself and determine the answers to before submitting a claim for a loss after a car crash.
- Who is liable for the car accident?
- Did I participate in the liability for the loss?
- Are there damages to be recovered in relation to the loss?
- Does the other party have the resources to pay me for my damages and losses?
- Are there special damages related to this loss?
- Do I have the type of case the court will consider punitive or punishment damages for the case?
- Am I injured for the rest of my life due to this car crash?
- Will I need additional surgeries?
- Am I able to return to my old job, or am I not going to be able to return to work again due to this loss?
- Will I have future medical expenses that need to be considered now as I settle this case?
- Will I need vocational rehabilitation after this loss?
- Do I need to renovate my home to accommodate my new disability?
- Will I have a loss of household services due to this accident?
- Will other financial assistance kick in for this loss, such as Medicaid?
You might be wondering how to keep all of these factors straight, as there are so many, that might apply to one case over another. Well, in most situations, the factors that apply to your case will be specific to you, and your attorney will know how to argue for you and negotiate the best settlement possible with the at-fault parties. These are the times that you want to use an experienced attorney. It is not the time to leave any of these factors or issues up to chance. Your family and friends may be well-meaning, but they cannot negotiate these types of cases for you, especially where you have a serious or debilitating injury. These are the times to hire a highly qualified attorney to work with you to get the recovery and compensation that you need to pay your future medical bills going forward.
When you are suffering from a severe injury that has come as the result of a car accident, give us a call at the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm. We are here for you and will help you get the recovery you deserve. We will give you peace of mind to know that your concerns are being heard, and our Atlanta car accident attorneys will get you the compensation that you should have as a result of being injured from the wrongful actions of other parties. Just give us a call today at (470) 323-8779 right now.
