Do I Need An Attorney?

The answer to whether you need legal representation is never a cut and dry answer. In some circumstances, you certainly should allow a legal expert to handle your claim. Legal claims can take on a life of their own and so as you work towards a full recovery, Tiffany Spann-Wilder and her team would be glad to do the “heavy lifting” of working with the insurance company. Let us do what we do best, fight for you.
Below are some instances where you should seriously consider taking on legal representation:
1. Liability Disputed – This is when the insurance carrier is refusing to accept responsibility for your claim. Most often the insurance company will claim that you were at fault in causing the accident, partially or completely. This accusation Comparative Negligence and your award can be reduced by the amount you are determined to have contributed. Many people get discouraged by this, but do not realize that they can fight the allegation and reduce their liability allocation with the right legal team addressing the matter.
2. Injury(ies) Disputed – This is when the insurance company does not believe you were injured as substantially as you assert. They will pick apart your medical records, dredge up information about your past health and look for any way to claim that you could not have possibly been injured in the accident. A popular claim by the insurance company is to say that based upon the amount of property damage to your vehicle, the force of the impact was insufficient to cause you injury. An assertion like this may require obtaining your medical history and establishing prior health conditions as not being related, speaking with your physicians and getting causation statements to support your claim.
3. Complex or Lengthy Medical Treatment – Usually, the higher your medical bills are, the more your claim is worth if you have had a serious accident. Thus, if you get any form of extended treatment past the emergency room, the insurance company will start looking for ways to discount your continued treatment. They may claim that you waited too long to seek medical attention after the accident, or that your treatment was excessive or not substantial because you had no broken bones or any surgical procedure.
4.Insurance Adjuster Fluster – Never forget, this is the person that has been hired by the insurance company to get your claim resolved as quickly and as CHEAPLY as possible. They are not your friend, no matter how concerned they may appear at the outset. They can be rude, dismissive, unreasonable, unresponsive and distrustful of everything you say. The insurance adjuster is NOT looking out for your best interest. They are looking out for their employer’s best interest and that interest is to close your file for a little as possible! It is never advisable to allow an insurance adjuster on a bodily injury claim to visit you at your home – they are merely sizing you up to gauge your living conditions and what amount of money they can offer up front to be done with your case. BOTTOM LINE – they are being a predator of your environment and will only offer what they think you should have by your environment, versus what you are really entitled to have.
5. Stress Removal – When you are injured, in pain, worried about paying your bills, worried about your transportation, the last thing you want is to be stressed out by an overbearing insurance adjuster pressuring you to make decisions. This is usually when mistakes happen which can cost you money. Once you sign the release of claims with the adjuster and cash the check, there is NO going back. The problems you have are yours forever and a day.
6. Protection – The best reason to hire an attorney is to make sure your rights are protected. The insurance company is looking out for you. The insurance adjuster is not going to give you the best advice, in fact they aren’t going to give you any advice at all. Even if you and the adverse driver have the same insurance company, you are still entitled to a fair settlement. You are not going to understand all of the compensation that is available to you without legal advice. The insurance company will never lay it all out for you. If you know to ask, you may get – if you don’t ask, you will never get.
7. Death – If a loved one has died as a result of a car accident, you need an attorney to do an in-depth review of all possible insurance coverages available to compensate for the loss you’ve experienced.
It is important that you know how to collect all of the proof and evidence that you need to make your claim solid. Many people want to try to handle their claim first and save an attorney fee. Then they get deep into the case and find that the adjuster is not playing fair. At that point, many people want to hire an attorney to get involved, but sometimes the damage done cannot be easily corrected. While we will evaluate your case for free, we may not be able to get involved if you have harmed your case by trying to handle it yourself. If you need surgery, you get a surgeon, likewise if you have a complex legal claim, you need a lawyer.