Simply put, getting in an automobile accident is a big hassle. Your car is your mode of transport. Now it’s in the shop and you are having to go deal with a rental. You have to take time off to deal with the repair shop and the adjuster. it never seems to end. Now add injuries and doctor visits. It is a major headache. Then you go to call the insurance adjuster thinking “Surely they will help me.” They don’t. Not only will the adjuster make you pay as you go and beg for reimbursement from them later when they have you stretched out and struggling to get by, but when they finally do make an offer, it may not even be enough to cover the full medical, much less give you consideration for your pain and suffering.
Then you ask yourself the question “Do I need to hire a lawyer for my car accident claim or can I file a car accident claim without a lawyer?” While we always recommend you get expert legal advice and representation, many people try to have a go on their own. Even though there are many tricks and traps that the adjuster will try to cause you to hurt your own claim. So, while this article is not intended to encourage people to try to bring a claim without a lawyer, it will attempt to answer the questions you may run into along the way.
How do I file a car accident claim without a lawyer?
The steps to file a car accident claim without a lawyer are:
- Contact the insurance company for the opposing party and open a claim.
- Submit documentation of your vehicle damage and injuries.
- Make a settlement demand.
If a settlement cannot be negotiated, file a lawsuit and take the case to court.
To file a car accident claim without a lawyer, first, you must contact the insurance company for the responsible party and open a claim. Call the insurance company will typically assign a property damage adjuster and a bodily injury adjuster. This is because property damage and bodily injury are covered under separate parts of the insurance policy. The insurance company owes you the repair cost or the fair market value if the repair cost exceeds the vehicle value. If the car is unrepairable, the property damage claim can be valued by looking at the NADA website.
Next, make a demand on the bodily injury claim once you are sure you have accounted for all bills and losses. Just because they settle the property damage claim promptly does not mean they will do the same with the bodily injury claim. There is much more room for argument and for different people to differ on the value of bodily injury claims. It is extremely common for the insurance company to settle your property damage claim and then lowball you or even deny the bodily injury claim.
How do I prove my pain and suffering without a lawyer?
In order to prove your pain and suffering, you will need to gather evidence that documents actual pain, inconvenience, and limitation upon your normal everyday routines and ability to enjoy life. Pain and suffering is a damage that is unique to the individual. We all experience pain and suffering differently and there is no easy pain and suffering calculator to do it. Here are some examples of ways to prove your pain and suffering to an insurance adjuster, defense lawyer, judge, or jury:
- Medical Records. Your doctors will ask for a history. If they keep good records, it will document many of the experiences and events leading up to you being in that office. Because you were making these claims in order to obtain care, it is more reliable than you stating the same things after you have opened an insurance claim and are asking for compensation. Find the records, highlight anything that demonstrates the limits, and bring those things to the adjuster’s attention.
- Keep a Diary of Your Pain. Insurance adjusters will often drag cases out. You will forget many of the things that you were unable to do or the things you felt over time. Document them so that if you can refresh your recollection later in depositions or trial testimony.
- Fact Witnesses. Anyone who was inconvenienced by your inability to carry on your normal routine is a witness to your pain and suffering. If your walking partners can testify you never missed a walk before but never did it again after the wreck, that is evidence of how this event caused you to suffer. Coworkers who had to pick up your slack, because you could no longer work, make good fact witnesses. Statements from these sorts of people can go a long way to proving your pain and suffering
- Tickets and receipts from travel and events that you had to cancel or miss because you were in too much pain to go.
- Counseling records or prescriptions. If you were treated for your mental anguish with a counselor or were prescribed medication, this is evidence that supports your pain and suffering claim. However, beware that specific treatment for mental anguish opens the door for the other side to review and evaluate any mental health treatment you received prior to the wreck to see if it changed or stayed the same. This opens the door to some private information being seen by others.
How do I settle my car accident injury claim without a lawyer?
In order to settle a car accident injury claim without a lawyer, you should verify that all medical bill balances, insurance liens, other unpaid liens, and any other amounts to be paid are accounted for, negotiate a settlement amount between you and the other side, reduce the terms to writing, then ensure that payment is made to you and any lien holders in accordance with the law and the agreement.
How do I verify my medical amounts to settle a car accident claim?
In order to verify your medical balance, the best practice is to call all of the medical providers who treated you and ask them for their total and their outstanding balance (if any). This will enable you to determine if there are any medical lien holders out there that you need to account for.
What is a medical lien holder?
A medical lien holder is someone who holds a lien against your case that is granted by operation of law, legal process, or by contract after they pay for your medical expenses that are rightly someone else’s legal obligation following an injury caused by their negligence. You must legally pay them back (or negotiate a settlement with them) if you make a recovery from a third party or they can sue you (and often the third party if they are on notice of the lien). The following parties will typically have a lien:
- Emergency medical providers and hospitals are covered under hospital liens and granted a right of first recovery by statute in Texas and most states.
- Medicare and Medicaid are granted medical liens against your case by federal law.
- Money paid by health insurance results in the creation of a health insurance lien against your case in most cases. It is created by language in your health insurance contract that is found in the majority of health insurance contracts. If the health insurance plan was provided by your employer, there is often a federally created ERISA lien that applies as well.
Other liens affecting a personal injury case.
- Past due child support gives rise to a child support lien which is legally enforceable against any personal injury settlement you receive.
- Federal tax liens for unpaid taxes can be enforced against the settlement.
- Any judgment lien you have against you for an unpaid judgment taken against you can be enforced against your settlement.
Advantages of Hiring a Car Accident Lawyer
Feeling overwhelmed? When you hire an experienced car accident lawyer, they take the burden of documenting and establishing your case, negotiating settlements, and settling liens off of your shoulders. A good personal injury attorney will help you document your injuries and find the right witnesses who can prove your case. Simmons and Fletcher, P.C., Injury and Accident Lawyers have been doing this since 1979. We work on a contingency fee basis so that you pay nothing upfront and no consultation fee. You also pay no attorney fees or litigation expenses unless we make a recovery for you. Before you try to file a car accident claim without a lawyer, call 800-298-0111 for your free consultation and learn how we can help you today!
For more information, please read: Tips for Filing Injury Claims Against Auto Insurance Companies.
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