A personal injury claim is referred to the legal process in which the injured person claims to recover compensation for his injury which is caused by someone’s negligence. There is a variety of situations and different types of accidents that can be termed as personal injury claims. For instance, the person may have been injured in a car accident, by slipping or falling on something or by someone’s irresponsibility. All these situations are considered as personal injury and the injured person can claim for his loss. Moreover, the level of injury determines the process of claim. If the injury is of the normal kind, then the injured person may decide to handle his claim on his own through insurance or small Court Claims. On the other hand, if the injury is of a serious kind then there would be a need for professional assistance and advice. In this case, the injured person will hire an attorney to precede his case. So, the decision of whether the injured person should handle his claim on his own or he should go for professional assistance, totally depends on the severity of the injury and the legal perspective of the accident.
Handling your claim on your own
You can handle a personal injury claim on your own only if you know that what you are capable of. Handling the claim includes having enough knowledge of the concerned legal process, being capable of clarifying the matter in front of the court, and having enough time to follow the whole legal process. It’s important to know about all these points because attempting to handle your claim on your own only to get professional assistance later may complicate the process. So, the kinds of personal injury cases that can be handled on your own are as follows
Minor accidents or damage to your property
One of the most common types of minor accidents is that someone might slowly hit your car which ends in minor injury to you or damage to your vehicle. As a result, there could be a need to go to a doctor and repair the damaged vehicle. In this case, filing the insurance claim and getting paid for your medical expenses and the repair to your vehicle would be enough compensation for your loss. In this way, when you are satisfied with the recovery then there could be no need of getting professional assistance or hiring a personal injury lawyer.
Maximum Available Amount
According to rules, the insurance companies only payout according to the limits of their policy. For instance, if the defendant has a $50,000 insurance policy and he is offering you a $50,000 settlement, it would be a good deal. In this case, getting a larger verdict as compensation for your injury may not be useful to you.
Enough knowledge of Law and settlement process
In the process of a personal injury claim, if you are confident that you are capable of negotiating with the insurance agent and can clearly state your case, then there would be no need to call a personal injury lawyer for legal assistance. In this situation, you must have enough knowledge of the concerned law and settlement process so that you can represent your case and evidence in a better way.
Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer
If you have suffered an injury due to another person’s negligence, you have the right to claim for recovery of your medical expenses and other losses. In this situation, you need to decide that whether you will hire a personal injury lawyer or would handle the case on your own. It is necessary to consider the fact that the other party you are claiming against might hire the personal injury lawyer to represent and fight for them. In this case, you would have to go for your legal representation to make your claim strengthen.
The case stands a Better Chance
A personal injury claim can be a complex process to understand for a common person as every state has its laws and standards of specifications for personal injury cases. Therefore, to give your case a better chance, you will need to hire an attorney for professional legal assistance. In this way, you would be in a better position to represent your case and evidence against the defendant’s party. Experienced personal injury lawyers have intimate knowledge of all court processes and the requirements. Moreover, they would deal with your case in the best possible way. So, it would be the best option to hire a personal injury lawyer.
Information about how much to claim
As is stated earlier that the personal injury claim is a complex area of law, so you must have information about how much you can claim for your loss. There are different types of injuries for which you can claim compensation. When you hire a personal injury lawyer, he will have the knowledge related to types of injuries and the amount you can claim defined by law. Otherwise, you could be in danger of over-claiming which can cause your case to the risk of dismissing.
Less Stressful Process
The process of handling any legal case can be stressful. The same is the case with a personal injury claim in which there is always an emotional component. In this situation, when you hire a personal injury lawyer, he will deal with all the proceedings professionally. As a result, the whole process would become less stressful for you and you will get time to recover from your injury.
Save Time
The process of handling a personal injury claim can be time-consuming if you handle it on your own. In case, if you have never handled any legal process before, then it could be a long stressful process to find how all the proceedings take place. So, hiring a personal injury lawyer would be a great option to save your time and claim your recovery for compensation. Moreover, the hiring of a professional to deal with your case on time would save you from delaying the process and getting the chance of late to claim your recovery.