Nobody ever wants to be in a situation where they were involved in some kind of accident and have to fight to cover the various costs involved, but life being as it means that we will never get the luxury of choosing what happens to us. If you find yourself in this situation where you’ve been injured through no fault of yours, your main priority, after ensuring that you fully recover, ought to be recouping all the money you have spent and lost from medical bills, earnings, and legal expenses. But the reality is that figuring out a fair settlement isn’t always as straightforward as you might hope. In this post, we’re looking at a few tips that you can use to ensure that you will receive an amount conducive to the damage you received so that you can put all of your focus on recovering and come out on the other side with as minor a hit to your bank balance as possible.
The First Step Is To Hire A Legal Expert
If you are serious about regaining as much of your life back as possible and recovering as much money from the ordeal as possible, then you will never be able to achieve this task without the help of a personal injury attorney. When you surround yourself with the right people, you are massively improving your odds of coming away from the situation as near as possible to your life before the incident occurred. According to this caring St. Louis injury lawyer, this can mean helping you figure out a settlement offer that covers both your current outgoings and any potential future costs (which we will cover a bit later in the post) so that you can recover some semblance of normality. Your initial consultation with them will cover various aspects of the circumstances surrounding the accident and give you a clear indication of the amounts you might be able to recover from the negligent party or their insurer. After this, you will work together with your allocated lawyer to gather as much evidence as possible to prove how much money you’ve lost so that when you present the offer to the other side, they will have a number to get the ball rolling. The evidence collected will also help should the case go to court as it enables a presiding judge to come to a conclusion based on the cold hard facts rather than speculation that might result in a lower figure than you require.
Understand The Actual Value Of Your Claim
To really make sure that any figure you arrive at meets your expectations, you will have to spend some time with your attorney to understand what you’re actually owed. It’s easy to let your emotions get the better of you and believe you’re entitled to some multimillion-dollar figure that you have seen others receive in the news, but doing so will only prolong the case and leave you dissatisfied. The reality is that you will only be paid for costs accrued, loss of earnings, and the cost of any potential future issues that could arise from your injury. In some situations, you might be able to claim emotional distress, but this is a whole other kettle of fish and not something quickly arrived at. In order to gain a better understanding of the number (which will also be a running theme throughout this post), you ought to spend time discussing your expectations with your lawyer and be open to their thoughts.
Gather Comprehensive Evidence To Support Your Case
Evidence, evidence, evidence. Without enough of the right kind of evidence, your case will fall flat before it’s even begun. While some cases are clear enough that a lack of evidence might still swing the pendulum in your favor, you will still need to prove somehow how much the accident has cost you personally. This can be anything from your wage slips that document your average salary to receipts and bills for medical treatments and anything else you have had to pay using your money. This can extend to things like taxis and Uber if you can’t drive yourself to the hospital for follow-up care, but you will have to prove that you had no other option. Ultimately, without enough of the right kind of evidence, you will never reach the full potential of what you’re owed.
Remain Calm And Composed During Negotiations
While you ought to have your lawyer conduct negotiations on your behalf, it pays to remain calm and collected throughout, even if you’re only interacting with your attorney. They are acting for you to gain as much money as possible, and screaming and shouting at them will do nothing except cause you to lose rapport and make the entire environment miserable for all involved. If you do happen to sit in on negotiations, you must take all precautions to remain polite, as this can dramatically expedite the process and, in some cases, might convince the other side that you aren’t playing hard and fast and do generally have a case.
Consider Future Expenses In Your Request
Coming up with an immediate number is challenging enough, but if you think that you are going to have lifelong issues as a result of your injuries, you will need to add this to the total amount. The only real way to prove this will be by hiring an expert witness who can vouch for your injuries and what they mean for you in the long run. You usually have to pay for this service, but you should also be able to claim this cost back if you win your case.
Responding To Any Settlement Offers
Regardless of fault, most insurers and opposing lawyers will usually try to lowball you at the first hurdle. This is not unusual, but you need to keep your head about you if you’re to get all that you deserve. As long as you have gained expert testimony and are able to prove the amount that you should receive (based on evidence and accurate record keeping), you can dismiss this offer safe in the knowledge that if you go to court, you will receive substantially more. However, it is worth mentioning that if the settlement offer is relatively close to your asking figure, as long as your lawyer agrees, it might be worthwhile accepting it rather than losing even more time of your life having to go to court.
Coming up with a number based on something serious that has happened in your life and caused you unimaginable distress isn’t a walk in the park. By using these tips, you should be best positioned to end up with a number that matches your needs and accounts for all costs related to the case.
