Orlando Car Accident Lawyers

Common Car Accident Claim Mistakes

Knowing what many people get wrong in their car accident claims can help you build your strongest case. Check out the items below to find out how to build yours.

Not Going to the Hospital

After a car accident, you’ve got stress hormones racing through your bloodstream. This is the body’s natural attempt to get you away from danger. The adrenaline enhances your ability to run away, even if injured. It does this by giving you energy and suppressing pain.

This old biological protection often doesn’t help in the modern world. You’ve just been in an accident. There’s no saber-toothed tiger to run from. In fact, EMTs on the scene will be moving you very slowly and carefully, possibly telling you not to move at all until they decide the best way to go about it.

Keep the adrenaline factor in mind, because it can cause you to think mistakenly that you are not injured. It’s best to let the medical professionals determine that. Your health is far too important to take chances.

Going to the hospital serves a second purpose, too. It creates a record of the incident and a timeline of the accident. This will become evidence in your car accident claim. It’s important not to give the insurance provider of the liable party any way to claim you weren’t injured in the accident their client was involved in. Don’t skip the doctor.

Failing to Follow the Doctor’s Recovery Plan

Too many people forget about any aftercare instructions they may have received at the hospital. Like skipping the doctor’s checkup entirely, this can not only harm your recovery, but can also give the insurance company wiggle room. If your recovery is progressing slowly, or you are experiencing a much lower level of functioning than you enjoyed prior to the accident, the insurance company can claim you didn’t take an interest in your own welfare enough to complete the treatment, medication, etc., required for your recovery.

Dragging Your Feet About Calling a Lawyer

Many people wait too long to speak to an attorney. They think they have plenty of time to get around to a claim.

It’s critical to remember that the closer to the time of the accident you are, the more evidence you will be able to collect, and the better that evidence will be.

Witnesses can provide some of the strongest evidence for your case. The longer you wait to get in touch with them, the harder they’ll be to find, and the less they are likely to remember.

An experienced car accident lawyer will investigate the accident and gather as much evidence as possible. Don’t toss away your chance to build a strong case by waiting to call a lawyer.

Assuming a Lawyer is a Lawyer is a Lawyer

Not all lawyers are the same. There are many practice areas within the law, each with its own knowledge base and set of rules, regulations, and restrictions. Your Mom’s estate attorney is not the best choice to handle your car accident case. Neither is your brother-in-law’s property damage attorney. You need a personal injury attorney who has experience and skill handling car accident cases.

In addition, you need this attorney to have a successful trial background. Most cases get settled before they reach the courtroom. But if your case goes all the way to trial, you need a lawyer who has experience presenting before a jury.

The insurance company is quite aware of who the trial attorneys are. Just knowing who they will be up against if they refuse to settle can bring them to the bargaining table.

Hiring an experienced personal injury lawyer with experience taking car accident cases all the way to trial is the best way to build a strong case.

Giving a Statement to the Insurance Company

Soon after your accident, you can expect the insurance company to call, sounding very concerned. And they will be concerned— about how much you are about to cost them that is. When they call you, they will invariably get around to asking for a recorded statement.

The timing of this call is not an accident. The insurance company knows that the sooner they reach you after your accident, the more vulnerable you’ll be. They also know that this is when you are least likely to have hired a lawyer.

The insurance company is going to be very happy if you take that call and give that statement without a lawyer’s advice. Anything you tell them can be used to devalue your claim. Anything you tell them can jeopardize your case.

Making sure you hire an experienced car accident trial lawyer is one of the best ways to make sure that you don’t help the insurance company get your case tossed out.

Orlando Car Accident Client Story

The story that follows is meant to help give you an overview of car accident cases. Names and specifics have been changed to protect our clients. Be sure to read through to the end to get the most from this story.

A few years ago, Orlando college student Ana and her friend Mia took off on Spring Break to go camping at Lake Whippoorwill. The girls packed up Mia’s dented gold ’95 Jeep Cherokee and began the 15-mile drive south. They spent the next half hour laughing and singing along to Ana’s playlist.

As they turned east off Narcoossee Road into the campground entry, Mia put her foot on the gas. The Jeep lurched forward, tires spinning in the loose gravel strewn across the road.

“Mia! What are you doing? Slow down!” Ana cried, reaching up to catch the hand grip above the passenger door.

“WOOHOO, SPRING BREAK!” Mia sang out, taking the first curve on two wheels, spraying gravel from the shoulder of the road.

“Mia it’s not funny, SLOW DOWN!” Ana protested.

Mia rolled her eyes. “Don’t be such a ‘Goody Two-Shoes.’ This Jeep’s a tank, she can handle ANYTHING!” she yelled over the music.

“Mia, you’re running out of road!” Ana shrieked, instinctively stomping her left foot at an imaginary brake. Too late, Mia yanked the wheel hard right. The jeep spun off the road, shot down a short embankment, and rolled once before slamming up against an old cypress.

When Ana came to, she found herself suspended from her seatbelt. She could see the sky through the trees from the broken passenger window above her head. She tried to move, but pain wracked her body.

“Mia!” Ana called to her friend lying unconscious below her. The driver’s side window was broken, and Mia was slumped in her seat, head lolling out the window. “Mia!” Ana tried one more time.

This time Mia stirred. Dazed, she looked around the cab, then up at Ana. The Jeep had rolled up at almost a 90-degree angle against the tree. She thought it was odd that she could see the sky out the side window… then she panicked.

Suddenly frightened the Jeep might explode, Mia began to claw her way up to Ana’s window to get out.

“Mia, stop, stop!” Ana shouted, finally getting her friend to freeze, a wild look in her eyes. “Climb down, Mia, out the window. Get help.”

As if on autopilot, Mia scrambled out of the driver’s side window and stumbled up the road toward the campsite. She was met by a handful of campers who’d heard the crash and come running. Someone called 911.

EMTs and police showed up seven minutes later. Getting Ana safely out of the Jeep, however, took another 26 minutes. In the end, it would be almost an hour after the crash before the ambulance pulled up to the emergency room entrance.

Ana spent the next week in the hospital. She suffered from a broken leg, two fractured ribs, and a traumatic brain injury.

Ana’s parents found us online as they watched over her, asleep in her hospital bed. When they called our office, they wanted to be absolutely certain the free consultation came with no strings. They had questions, they said, but wanted to be able to make a decision about whether or not to hire us after they had more information.

We assured them that the consultation would indeed be free and without obligation. That afternoon, we drove out to speak to Ana and her parents in the hospital.

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How much will a car accident lawyer cost?

 Ana’s parents, Brenda and Randall, greeted us cordially, but Brenda’s smile didn’t reach her red, puffy eyes. Clearly, she’d been crying.

Randall spoke first, taking up a protective position behind his wife’s chair. “Before we get too far, we need to know how this works. How much will it cost us to hire you?” he asked.  

“There is no upfront cost. We work on a contingency basis, which means we fund the whole case, covering all expenses,” we explained, adding, “When the case is done, we only get paid if we’ve successfully brought your case to resolution.”

“Well, that’s a relief. We thought Ana’s tuition for next year just went up in smoke!” Brenda, said, tearfully.

How much is my case worth?

Ana, who was awake when we entered the room, but was growing groggy again, asked, “How much do you think my case is worth?”

“That’s a fair question, Ana,” we answered. “And to give you a fair answer, first we have to conduct an accident investigation and understand your damages.”

“If we hire you, how long would we have to wait for you to begin that investigation?” Brenda asked.

“We can start immediately. We’d gather information and evidence, including witness statements. We’d also get all the case paperwork rolling. In the meantime, Ana, your job is to rest and follow your doctor’s plan for your recovery.”

“Sounds good to me,” Ana said, as she drifted back to sleep. We then explained to Brenda and Randall that we needed Ana to reach maximum medical improvement.

Maximum medical improvement would be the point at which she was either fully recovered or had improved as much as she was going to.

This information would enable us to know she was done with surgeries, and what future medical treatment could be expected for her accident injuries.

“This is the point at which we’ll know all of Ana’s economic and non-economic damages, both now and in the future,” we told the couple, adding, “This is when we know what your car accident case is really worth.”

Randall nodded his head slowly as tears ran down Brenda’s cheeks. He squeezed her hand.

How long will my car accident claim take?

 “It’s okay, Mom, please don’t cry,” Ana soothed, having opened her eyes again. Taking a deep breath, she then swung her gaze over to us, asking, “So how long do you think my car accident case could take?”

We explained to the three of them that it’s difficult to know in the beginning.

“First, we need to be sure we’ve accounted for all of your damages, and second, it’ll depend on how agreeable the insurance company is.”

We went on to tell them that if the insurance provider worked with us, the case would move fairly quickly.

“If they refuse to be reasonable, though, we’ll have to take your case to trial.”

Ana’s eyes opened wide as she digested this. “Will I have to face Mia? I mean, I know this was an accident, but I’m not ready, I’m not…” she stammered, her own eyes welling with tears as she held her breath for the answer. Brenda took her daughter’s hand.

“Don’t worry, Ana, this case will be hashed out between lawyers and insurance adjusters. Most likely, you won’t need to see Mia again, unless you want to. And if she’s really your friend, she and her family will want you to get the compensation you need to recover and heal.”

We went on to assure the family that if the case did go to trial, we’d be ready.

“We’ve won many car accident cases in front of juries. Whether your case goes that far or is settled first, we want to help you.”

“That’s why your best case will be made when you hire an experienced lawyer who knows car accident cases and is comfortable in a courtroom.”

Everyone seemed satisfied with this answer. An hour after we left the hospital, Randall called to confirm that they wanted to hire us. We are happy to say that we were able to get Ana almost six times the insurance company’s initial offer.

Call Our Orlando Car Accident Lawyers Today

We hope this page has answered some of your questions about car accident cases. Keep in mind that each case is unique. You have enough to deal with right now— you don’t need to figure out a car accident claim all by yourself. Call us to learn about your specific case with a free consultation today.