Once you have reported your accident to the police and gotten medical care, it may start to sink in that you have no idea what to do next. Do you report your accident to your insurance? Do you make a claim with the other driver’s insurance? Our attorneys are here to answer your questions and fight to get you compensation after an injury.
We can help you file claims – whether through insurance or in court – and we can work to get you the damages you need for your accident. Never accept the valuation the insurance company gives you, as they might be intentionally downplaying your injuries to try to save themselves money.
Instead, work with our car accident attorneys at The Reiff Law Firm by calling (215) 709-6940 today for a free case review.
What to Do After a Car Accident
In the time immediately after a crash, you should call 911 and get medical attention. If you can collect evidence, like the driver’s contact info, please do so. However, your focus should be on getting to safety and getting care.
In the following days after an accident, you should contact a lawyer. When you call us as soon as you can, our car accident attorneys can begin collecting evidence, getting copies of police reports, tracking down any footage of the accident, and building your case.
If you wait to contact us, evidence may be lost. For example, if your crash happened in front of a rental property with security cameras outside, they might have caught the crash on video. But if we wait even a couple of weeks, it might be overwritten.
How Do I Deal with Insurance After a Crash in Tobyhanna Township?
You do not have to talk to insurance alone. We can field any issues with insurance companies, exchange evidence with them, and demand fair values for your damages. If they refuse to pay, we can take the driver directly to court.
Many insurance companies will try to downplay injuries and reduce their payout. This often results in low-dollar initial settlement offers.
If you do not have a lawyer on your side to let you know what’s missing from those offers, you might unknowingly settle the case and lock yourself into those damages. We can go back and forth with insurance, demand higher settlement values, and take the case to court when they do not comply.
Do Car Accident Cases Have to Go to Court in Tobyhanna Township?
Generally, lawsuits are available for any car accident case with serious injuries. Depending on whether you have a limited tort or full tort auto insurance policy, there may be some hurdles to jump before you can file, but cases that are worth going to court often can.
In general, lawsuits are there to have a neutral judge and jury hear your case instead of relying on biased insurance adjusters. Even when the insurance company is the same company you use, they might refuse to pay the full amount. Our attorneys may even need to take your own insurance to court if they fail to pay you for first-party benefits.
If the insurance companies will not settle your case, then court is likely the best option. While you can settle at any point – avoiding the need for trial – this should only be done with your lawyer’s advice to see that you understand what you might give up by settling.
How Much is My Case Worth?
One of the top questions we get from car accident victims is about how much their case is worth. While we cannot know the value of your case without doing a deep dive into your damages and expenses, we can review your case in a free case assessment to give you a general idea.
Cases are worth more when you suffer more serious injuries. These result in higher medical expenses, greater impact on your ability to work, and higher pain and suffering. Pain and suffering damages are based quite generally on how severe the injuries were, so this will always go up for more serious cases.
Your damages must also be assessed in the context of your case and your life. For example, whiplash and a concussion could keep you out of work for months if you have a physically demanding job. Conversely, someone with a desk job might return to full wages sooner. You both might have equal pain and suffering, but your lost wages would be higher.
There is no one-size-fits-all cost for any injury case, and we will need bills, statements, medical records, and more to determine a fair value.
How is Fault Determined in a Car Accident Case?
Pennsylvania law allows courts to assign fault to any driver who contributed to the accident. This can mean each driver in a multi-car crash gets a percentage of the blame, then pays that share of the total damages.
If you are found partially at fault as the victim, your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault under our “comparative negligence” rules. This blocks recovery entirely if your blame is over 50%.
As a threshold matter, no one can be held responsible unless they did something wrong. This usually involves a traffic violation, but unreasonable or careless actions that do not break the law are also grounds for fault.
For example, most crashes will involve one of these violations:
- Tailgating
- Speeding
- Running a stop sign/red light
- Drunk driving
- Texting while driving
- Reckless driving
- Failing to yield
Otherwise, something like failing to check your blind spot or slamming on the brakes too quickly to avoid missing a turn might also be unreasonable in the given context.
Outside parties can also be liable in some cases, e.g., a truck driver’s employer, the vehicle owner, or a negligent auto manufacturer.
Call Our Lawyers for a Car Accident in Tobyhanna Township, PA Today
Call The Reiff Law Firm’s car accident lawyers at (215) 709-6940 for a free case evaluation.
