Being in a car accident can put the brakes on your personal and professional life. However, if your injury was caused by someone else, call our skilled Duluth personal injury lawyers. You could be entitled to compensation.
To collect damages for your accident, you’ll need to gather evidence and submit a claim to the insurance company in the hopes that you receive a fair offer. Having a car accident lawyer on your side helps to even the playing field against the insurance company and protect your best interests.
Read on to learn if you have a case and how much you might be entitled to, then reach out to a Duluth car accident lawyer from Rafi, Brown, and Stokes.
Schedule a risk-free consultation or call (404) 948-3311 now.
Car Accidents in Duluth
The city of Duluth has experienced a drop in fatal accidents, dropping from 10 in 2018 to 2 in 2019, although the rate of nonfatal accidents is rising.
Large trucks are responsible for many of the motor vehicle accidents in the city, while drunk driving has remained an ongoing concern and danger on Duluth roads.
As with any city, whether Duluth, Gainesville, or elsewhere in Georgia, you could be entitled to damages when someone or something else caused your accident. Exploring your options with a Duluth car accident lawyer will help you collect the total amount you are entitled to.
What Should You Do After an Auto Accident in Duluth?
1. Move your vehicle to a safer location.
In the moments immediately after your accident, your initial concern will be for the safety and wellbeing of yourself and any passengers in your vehicle.
Still, see if it’s possible to move your vehicle out of an active roadway. This helps to prevent additional collisions and further injury or damage.
2. Check that you and your passenger(s) are okay.
Now that your vehicle is out of harm’s way, do a health check. Make sure that no one in your vehicle is seriously injured. Keep in mind that you are not a medical professional, and sometimes the adrenaline and excitement of an accident can cause injuries to be overlooked.
3. If you or any of your passenger(s) are injured, call an ambulance.
If someone was injured, call an ambulance. If someone in the vehicle struck their head, they might not yet realize the extent of their injuries, so it is important to have a professional assessment right away.
4. Call the police.
Calling the police after your accident serves a few purposes. First, the police can help you exchange information with the other parties involved in the accident.
The police will create an accident report that you or your attorney can obtain a copy of later. At the scene, they’ll also identify whether the driver who hit you was impaired.
5. Gather evidence (pictures, witness testimony).
Collecting compensation for your damages requires that someone or something else was at fault for the accident, and you experienced injuries and associated damages.
This begins by collecting evidence of the accident. Taking photos of the scene and collecting the contact information of any witnesses preserves evidence that will be important to your case.
6. Notify your insurance company.
Reach out to your own insurance company. They will generally help you cover the immediate costs associated with your accident such as vehicle repairs.
For your additional costs like short- and long-term medical expenses and lost work value, you’ll need to accurately calculate a claim, file it, then negotiate a settlement, which is where your Duluth car accident lawyer comes in.
7. Hire a car accident lawyer.
Hiring a car accident attorney as soon as possible begins the process of collecting the full compensation you are entitled to.
Your Duluth car accident attorney steps into your shoes and handles everything for you so that you can focus on recovering from your accident.
Be Wary of Latent Injuries From a Car Accident
After your injury, the insurance company of the driver who caused the accident will likely try to offer you a quick settlement. It is important to understand that when you accept a settlement, you are prevented from collecting anything further for your injuries and losses.
This means that if you have experienced something like a traumatic brain injury, where symptoms can worsen over time and impact your health and ability to work, you would be unable to collect more money to cover future costs and losses.
Accepting a settlement before the symptoms of a latent injury emerge can leave you and your family covering the associated costs out-of-pocket. The only way to collect complete damages for your car accident is by accurately calculating them and proving them with evidence.
This requires some work, knowledge of the law, and a network of local medical and occupational experts, all of which your experienced Duluth car accident lawyer from Rafi, Brown, and Stokes can provide.
How We Can Help with Your Duluth Car Accident
Having an attorney on your case as soon as possible will support the best possible outcome. Evidence begins to fade when an accident happens, so the sooner you contact your Duluth car accident lawyer from Rafi, Brown, and Stokes, the sooner we can get to work collecting the evidence.
Here are the three primary areas we advocate on your behalf:
Helping You Recover from Your Injuries and Financial Burdens
In the immediate aftermath of your accident, you might worry about medical bills, missed wages, and work benefits. If your injuries lead to permanent changes in your physical or mental health, you are also entitled to additional compensation.
The financial burdens of an accident do not always stop after the bruises heal and you repair your vehicle. If an injury changes your ability to earn, you are entitled to compensation from the time of your injury through your working life.
Calculating these amounts requires a thorough knowledge of similar case outcomes and how insurance companies and the courts value injuries. This is knowledge gained through the experience of your local Duluth car accident lawyer.
Protecting You from Predatory Insurance Tactics
Insurance companies profit like any other company by maximizing revenues and minimizing costs. For the insurance company, revenues are the premiums they collect from their customers, and their costs are the amount of employee time and compensation they pay to injured persons such as yourself.
To increase profits, insurance companies employ full-time teams of claim analysts and attorneys to deny whichever claims they can while paying as little as possible on those claims they determine must be approved.
Some insurance companies have even been known to wrongfully deny claims in the hopes that the claimant will not appeal, or to get them to accept a lesser amount in settlement just to end the process.
Filing your initial claim with a Duluth car accident attorney makes the insurance company take you more seriously, as they know that your rights will be enforced, which can lead to you receiving a complete settlement in less time.
Upholding Your Legal Rights
When the insurance company refuses to approve your rightful claim, we can help you collect the evidence you need to file a successful appeal.
If the insurance company refuses to offer a fair settlement, a well-constructed appeal can serve as the foundation of a lawsuit. We handle it every step of the way, from drafting to filing, through negotiation, and finally, to final settlement.
When Should I Hire a Duluth Car Accident Lawyer?
Accepting a settlement without speaking with an Duluth car accident lawyer puts you at risk of being taken advantage of by the insurance company. This can leave you and your family to cover future costs and lost earnings related to your injury out of your own pocket.
With a Duluth car accident lawyer on your side as soon as possible after your car accident, you will have an advocate handling all communications and negotiations on your behalf. Your attorney will schedule the follow-up appointments and professional opinions you’ll need to calculate the full damages associated with your injuries.
The process of hiring a lawyer should be approached like a doctor, as it is important to find an attorney who practices in the area of law of your case to ensure a proper outcome. In the same way you would not go to a foot doctor for a problem with your eye, you would not go to a corporate attorney for your car accident case.
The Duluth car accident attorneys at Rafi, Brown, and Stokes have extensive experience in car accidents, truck accidents, severe injury, and wrongful death. We have an in-depth understanding of the car accident settlement process to recover the full amount you are entitled to
Injured in a Crash? Our Duluth Car Accident Lawyers Can Help.
Case consultations are risk-free and no-cost, and our representation costs you nothing out of pocket. While you might worry that an attorney is expensive, Rafi, Brown, and Stokes only collects compensation if we win your case.
The more you earn, the more we earn, so you can rest assured that we will pursue the highest possible compensation that the law and case precedent allows.
To discuss options on your car accident, schedule a free consultation with one of the Duluth car accident lawyers from Rafi, Brown, and Stokes, or call (404) 800-9933 now.
