Do I Need a Car Accident Lawyer for a Minor Accident?

After a serious car accident resulting in injuries, high medical bills, and significant lost income, car accident victims in Baton Rouge understand they need an experienced Baton Rouge car accident lawyer to help.

But many people are unsure if they need to hire a lawyer to help them when the car accident is minor. This is especially true when the liable insurance company has already sent them a quick settlement offer to resolve the case.

Read on to learn what you should consider before deciding if you need to hire a lawyer after a minor car accident, and the difficulty with pursuing a minor car accident claim.

Factors To Consider Before Settling a Minor Car Accident Claim

Factors an auto accident victim should consider before agreeing to settle a minor car accident claim without a lawyer’s input include:

Were You Injured?

If you were injured, even if the injury appears minor or does not manifest until days or weeks after the accident, you should get an experienced car accident lawyer involved. This is especially true if you sustained a back, neck, or head injury or if your vehicle was totaled. 

A totaled vehicle often indicates that there was enough force or impact involved in the accident to render the vehicle completely undrivable and unrepairable. In many cases, a totaled vehicle also means the force or impact involved was strong enough to cause serious bodily injury. 

Was Anyone Else in Your Vehicle Injured?

If anyone else in your vehicle was injured in the accident, especially a child, you should consult with a New Orleans personal injury lawyer to ensure that their rights are well protected. You owe it to yourself and everyone else in your vehicle to have your claim properly evaluated. 

Did You Lose Wages and Income Due to the Accident?

If the car accident caused you to lose wages and income—for example, if your injuries required you to take any significant amount of time off work—you should consult with a lawyer like those at Dudley DeBosier. You may be entitled to reimbursement for your lost wages and income, including wages lost while recovering from your injuries and missed days of work to attend doctor appointments and receive medical treatment. 

Do You Have Considerable Medical Bills? 

If you are having trouble affording the medical treatment you need after a minor car accident, it might not be as minor as you think. Have a car accident lawyer review your claim and assist you with getting the compensation you need to pay for the medical care required to recover from your injuries. Never go without the medical care you need.

The Difficulty with Pursuing a Minor Car Accident Claim

Minor car accident cases are the most common car accident cases in Louisiana. These cases do not result in a tremendous amount of property damage, and the parties involved are often able to drive their vehicles away from the scene without needing immediate medical attention on the scene. 

Minor car accidents are often called minor impact soft tissue (MIST) cases because when they do result in bodily injury, it’s usually a soft tissue injury, like whiplash. Soft tissue injuries are hard to prove because they do not always appear on x-rays, MRIs, or CT scans. 

The problem with minor car accident claims is that to be able to obtain money for any pain and suffering and inconvenience, your lawyer must prove that you have sustained or received a permanent injury from the accident. To do that, in the absence of any fracture, surgery, or scars, your lawyer must rely on the testimony of medical experts who can explain to a jury how you sustained a permanent injury from the accident.

The liable insurance company will also employ very skilled and experienced medical experts who will examine you and try to tell the jury that you do not have a permanent injury. This battle of expert witnesses can be very costly and expensive, which is beneficial to the liable insurance company as they are better able to afford the cost of expert testimony and litigation.

How Our Car Accident Lawyers Can Help

If you have been injured in a minor car accident in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, or anywhere else in Louisiana, know that our law firm has skilled car accident lawyers who can remove the guesswork, review your claim, and let you know if you need a lawyer’s assistance or if you should be able to resolve the matter on your own.

If a minor car accident claim is not pursued in the right way, it can end up costing more than the case is worth. When our car accident lawyers handle these cases, we do our best to resolve the matter without spending an enormous amount of time, effort, and money going to trial. This way, we are able to maximize the results for you and put more money in your pockets much sooner. 

Call Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers Today

If you have been involved in a minor car accident in Baton Rouge and have questions, call our team at Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers to schedule a free consultation with an experienced lawyer auto accident victims can rely on. We love helping accident victims recover the compensation they deserve.  

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