The person that has been injured in a car accident should expect to seek help with addressing certain significant concerns.
Where did the accident take place?
Whenever accidents take place in a “fault” state, it becomes necessary to identify the at-fault driver. Sometimes the evidence indicates shared fault. Whenever accidents take place in a no-fault state, each driver must submit a claim with his or her own insurance company.
What is the deadline for filing a lawsuit?
That deadline would be stated in the state’s statute of limitations. Personal injury lawyers in Scarborough are familiar with the statute for their state. Most lawyers do not like to accept a new case on date that falls close to the deadline for filing a lawsuit.
That is why a smart victim makes a point of getting seen by a doctor or other medical specialist as soon as possible, following occurrence of the accident. Otherwise, there might not be time to sue for any slow-to-appear injuries, or to fight questions about the seriousness of any specific injury.
Is there a cap on the size of the compensation?
Some jurisdictions do have a cap on the amount of money that an accident victim might receive for pain and suffering. A personal injury attorney should know about any caps in the jurisdiction where the client plans to file a personal injury lawsuit.
What legal claims should I pursue?
The victim of a car accident has the right to consider the pursuit of 2 different legal claims. One would be for the damaged property, the damaged vehicle. The other one would be for any injuries that were sustained by the driver, or by any of the occupants in the damaged vehicle.
Either claim could encounter a “roadblock.” Hence, a lawyer’s help should aid achievement of the desired outcome.
Can negligence on the part of either party be proven?
A proof of negligence requires presenting evidence that supports all 4 elements of negligence.
—Is there evidence that the allegedly negligent individual had duty of care towards the victim?
—Is there evidence that the allegedly negligent individual breached that duty of care?
—Is there evidence that the breach by the allegedly negligent person caused the injury to the victim/plaintiff?
—Does the evidence show that the victim/plaintiff suffered a measurable loss, as a result of the defendant’s negligent action?
If the insurance company were to claim shared fault, then the injured victim would need to seek a lawyer’s help, in order to question the existence of all 4 elements of negligence by the person that was supposed to share the fault. That would probably be the driver of the vehicle that was hit and damaged by the responsible driver.
