When you have an accident, you must contend with physical pain, time-consuming doctor’s appointments and hours missed off work. Dealing with an insurance company can be frustrating and time-consuming. Even if you provide an insurance company with all of the necessary paperwork, and do so in a timely fashion, your insurance company is likely to try and lowball you when they present you with a settlement offer. You will need the assistance of a good personal injury attorney like Hipskind and McAninch LLC.
What to do After an Accident
When you have a car accident, you should always remain at the scene until a police officer arrives and gather the names of any witnesses. Be sure to get the other driver’s contact and insurance information.
If you require medical treatment, save every medical bill that you have and save all the receipts you acquire for both prescription and nonprescription medication. If your injuries make housecleaning difficult or impossible, document any money that you paid for housekeeping. If you have missed work as a result of your injury, be sure to have the human resource department of your employer provide you with a letter documenting your time off of work.
You will want to call the insurance company as soon as you can to report your accident. Missouri is a pure contributory negligence state when it comes to auto insurance. This means that each driver’s insurance company is responsible for the portion of the accident they caused. If you are ten percent responsible for an accident and the other driver is 90 percent responsible, you may seek compensation of 90 percent from their insurance company and they may seek 10 percent of compensation from yours.
The statute of limitations in the state of Missouri gives you five years to sue after you have been injured in an accident. It is a good idea to wait until your injuries have healed as much as they are going to before asking for a set amount of money. Once your injuries have healed, your doctors can write a comprehensive report about the lasting effects of your accident.
How to Know if an Insurance Company’s Offer is Fair
When it comes to medical expenses related to your accident, your settlement offer should include both your current medical expenses and an estimated amount for future medical expenses. The settlement should take into account both money that you have lost and money that you are likely to lose in the future. It should also include an amount for non-medical expenses, such as pain and suffering. Insurance companies have a couple of different formulas for figuring out pain and suffering. Your attorney will be able to advise you as to whether or not the offer is fair.
If your car is totaled in an accident, a car insurance company is supposed to pay the actual cash value of the car. That means they should pay the depreciated amount of what the car is worth right before the accident. Unfortunately, Missouri is one of only a handful of states that does not require the insurance company to pay for the sales tax when you buy your new car.
The first offer an insurance company makes is almost sure to be unacceptable. Insurance companies have legal teams devoted to keeping their money in house. A Saint Louis personal injury attorney can negotiate with the insurance company on your behalf and get you the money you deserve.
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