A car accident resulting in an injury is never something you want to happen to you or someone you love. Car accidents frequently come up unexpectedly and instantly change the course of your life. While you might experience direct physical damage, the emotional and psychological effects of your injury can sometimes be much greater.
No amount of money can take away the emotional trauma you’ve endured, and excessive medical bills won’t make your situation any better. However, California law allows you to recover compensation in a settlement with the at-fault driver’s insurance company. Doing so can be challenging, but with the right team on your side, it can help you maximize your settlement amount.
Consult With Experienced California Car Accident Lawyers
Getting the maximum amount out of a settlement offer after a car accident in California can indeed be challenging, but working with the experienced team of California car accident lawyers at Maison Law can make sure your claim is as strong as possible. Through our experience, we have developed a proven system of success in dealing with insurance companies and getting the maximum amount of compensation for our clients.
If you or a loved one were involved in a car accident in California, don’t hesitate to contact us to schedule a free consultation.
How Does An Insurance Company Determine a Settlement Amount?
Ultimately, determining just how much value there is in your car accident injury is highly dependent on the circumstances of the accident itself. Every car accident case is unique, but there are some common markers that insurance companies look at when trying to determine how much to offer you in a settlement:
- The extent and severity of your injuries.
- Which body parts or areas were damaged in the accident.
- Permanent disfigurement or scarring from injuries that could cause emotional distress.
- Whether you will ever fully recover from your injuries.
- If the injuries cause loss of enjoyment of life.
- Impact the injury will have on your loved ones.
- Your job and how the injury will affect your lost wages or future earning capacity.
More than anything else, insurance companies have a responsibility to protect their policyholders by covering the cost of any damages, which includes any injuries or property damage that resulted from a car accident that their insured caused. In order to do this, they typically have one goal: pay you as little money as possible.
In order to achieve this, insurance companies commonly utilize the “delay, deny, and defend” strategy. These tactics include them delaying your claim with administrative hangups, denying the validity of your claim any way they can, and ultimately defending their interests against your claim.
Ultimately, these tactics are only as effective as you allow them to be. Insurance companies have significant resources at their disposal, but you have the power of the law on your side.
How To Maximize Your Settlement Amount After a Car Accident
Maximizing the settlement amount that you get from the insurance company requires several steps right after the accident. Taking these steps will preserve your claim, making it more difficult for the insurance company to counter with evidence that will attempt to diminish the value of an eventual settlement offer. So, in the immediate aftermath of a car accident, take the following steps to have a chance at maximizing your settlement amount:
- Move to Safety and Seek Medical Care – This may seem like an obvious step, but the first thing you should do after an accident is move to safety and get medical care. Most likely, the adrenaline from the accident will still be present, so you may not notice injuries right away. That said, insurance companies frequently cite a refusal to seek medical care as evidence that you aren’t as injured as you say. Thus, it’s extremely important to seek medical treatment in the hours after the accident, both for insurance purposes and simply to make sure your injuries don’t go untreated.
- Contact Authorities – Depending on where the accident occurs, especially in a crowded area, you may not even have to worry about calling the police and 911. Still, reporting the accident to the police or other authorities is legally required in California. Not only will this create an accident report that you can use as evidence to show that you weren’t at fault, but it will also create an official record of the accident.
- Gather Information – Once you’re able to get to safety, contacted authorities, and received medical treatment, you’ll want to make sure to gather as much information as possible about the accident. At the scene, take pictures and video of any damage, including damage to your vehicle and any other property. You’ll also want to document injuries and make sure to get information from the other driver. If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, the police are required to get this information for their accident report.
- Make an Insurance Claim – Any claim for damages has to start with making an insurance claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company. Filing a claim initiates the process, but doing so also means the insurance adjuster will launch an investigation of their own into the accident. You are not required to speak to an adjuster, and in fact, it’s in your best interest not to do so. This is because adjusters are trained to ask questions and gather evidence in such a way that devalues your claim. Instead, working with our team of experienced car accident lawyers can handle negotiations for you.
Once these steps are taken, you can move on to uncover the extent of your damages. This includes all compensation that’s available to you under the law, including economic and non-economic damages.
How Can Maison Law Help Me?
At Maison Law, our team of experienced California car accident lawyers is committed to providing high-quality and client-centered legal services to car accident victims. We have a wealth of experience in dealing with insurance companies and their various tactics to devalue your claim and know how to counter them to put you in a position to maximize any settlement amount you get
If you would like to get started with a free consultation, contact us today.
