Everyone has the legal right to seek compensation for injuries resulting from negligent actions or omissions of a third party. For instance, if you get in an accident in your workplace due to faulty machinery, your employer should compensate you for medical bills incurred, loss of income, and general damages such as shock and trauma. In most instances, they do that through their insurance provider. However, pursuing compensation for personal injury claims is not always a clear-cut procedure. Insurance companies often seek to pay the lowest possible settlement amount. Hiring an experienced personal injury attorney is the best way to ensure you negotiate a higher settlement with an insurance company. Below is an overview of ways they ensure that.
Prove Liability
Insurance companies often employ tactics to avoid paying the required amount in a settlement; these include denying full liability and placing part of the blame on the victim. In legal terms, that's referred to as contributory negligence, i.e., your actions or omissions also played a role in the occurrence of the accidents, and it's not entirely the defendants' fault. Personal injury attorneys are experts in contributory negligence laws and do independent investigations of the facts leading to the injury to determine whether there's contributory negligence. They protect you from attempts to undervalue your claim.
Conduct an Accurate Assessment of the Impact of Damage
You should only accept the settlement amount an insurance company offers after you accurately assess the extent of the damage caused by the injury. Besides compensation for medical bills, you have to factor in issues such as possible loss of income and post-traumatic effects. Personal injury attorneys work with experts to provide an accurate overview of the extent of the damage. For instance, they use medical professionals to provide documents with information on the type of injury sustained, the cost of treatment, and a prognosis of future problems that may occur. They also consult experts to approximate the amount of money you would have made in income were it not for the injury.
Investigate Policy Limits
Some insurance providers have policy limits, i.e., the maximum amount they can pay in compensation. In pursuing personal injury claims, knowing the at-fault party's insurance policy limit is crucial to approximate the amount of money you can get in compensation. Personal injury attorneys analyze the insurer's policy provisions before negotiating. In most instances, they demand the maximum amount the policy provides to negotiate the highest possible settlement. They may also advise on other ways of pursuing fair compensation if the policy limits provision is lower than the severity of the injury.
For more information, contact a personal injury lawyer.
Share17 February 2023
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