"Now that an Injury or Death Has Occurred,
Do You Need Legal Assistance?"
The answer is "YES". When a personal injury case occurs, only a trained professional in the area of personal injury and insurance law knows how to evaluate the case and handle the array of issues that will arise. Most non-lawyers are not equipped to deal with the sophisticated and well-trained insurance adjusters who may immediately contact the injured person or family to achieve a "fast and cheap" settlement.
These insurance company employees are also trained to find weaknesses in your case to reduce their company's financial liability.
Experienced personal injury attorneys listen to clients who frequently tell them about statements made by insurance adjusters that are false, half-truths, or who often omit important information in order to get a "fast and cheap" settlement from the victim or the victim's family.
Charles B. Roberts, Attorney at Law, is a personal injury attorney who hears such statements from clients and insurance adjusters everyday. He is an "aggressive champion" for the rights of victims and their families.
In his 19 years practicing as a personal injury attorney, Mr. Roberts has heard insurance companies try to reduce the amount of money they must pay to victims by making misleading or inaccurate statements to his clients or their families. Some examples are:
Dune buggies are not "motor vehicles" and therefore the motor vehicle insurance policy does not cover the victim's hand that was crushed in a rollover wreck. Charles B. Roberts & Associates was retained by the victim and he filed suit against the dune buggy driver. Two months before trial, the insurance company changed its position and paid full compensation for our client.
The death of a motorcyclist was caused by the motorcycle operator's excessive speed, not by the automobile driver who made a u-turn in front of the motorcyclist. The insurance company paid for the 21 year old motorcyclist's death after Mr. Roberts sued the driver of the automobile.
A medical patient's death was caused by a viral infection and not the misdiagnosed drug reaction. After Mr. Roberts filed suit and the case went to trial, the jury deliberated only 17 minutes and then awarded the patient's family $675,000 in compensation.
Insurance company representatives pride themselves in how quickly they settle claims for personal injury cases. There is a good reason for contacting victims and their families and being nice by offering fast settlements. They know that if they can obtain a "fast settlement", the victim will not have time to learn the truth about the legal amount of compensation to which they are entitled because they will not have time to consult with a personal injury attorney.
In cases where a victim takes the quick settlement, many times the victim loses more than the contingent fee the attorney charges to handle the case. This occurs because the insurance company does not inform the victim of all his or her rights or denies it is legally required to pay full compensation for the claim.
Some examples of legal rights that the insurance companies typically fail to tell victims about are:
The right to recover money (compensatory damages) for permanent injuries, future lost earning capacity, inconvenience, future medical expenses, and for vocational rehabilitation.
The right of the victim to collect money for "punitive damages" if the case involves intentional, willful, reckless or grossly negligent conduct by the person who caused the injuries.
The right to have original parts installed on the victim's damaged car and to select his or her own body shop.
The legal right to submit the same medical bills to victim's own insurance company, the negligent driver's insurance company and to the victim's health insurance company, thus collecting three times for these bills in most cases.
Most people would not attempt to diagnose and treat a serious medical condition without the assistance of a trained medical physician because too much is at stake. Why attempt to handle a serious personal injury case without a legal specialist to assist you?
