Can I Get a Settlement for a Car Accident Without a Lawyer?

Going it alone to get a settlement for your car accident, you’re likely to run into some problems. While you might get a settlement without a lawyer, you will probably get a lot less than what you wanted, and far less than what you need to cover your expenses and impacts.

And while determining how much you need to cover everything isn’t impossible without a lawyer, it can certainly make it easier to make that determination with the help of a lawyer. There is not really a typical amount for a car accident settlement; settlement amounts always vary depending upon the unique facts of the case and the law that may apply. You have to account for who was in the accident, why it happened, how much you suffered because of it, and what evidence you have to back up your account of the events.

It’s generally difficult to get insurance companies to agree to the settlement you deserve for your car accident case, even if you have an attorney. You give yourself a leg-up by having an attorney who knows how to push back and how to maximize the compensation you recover in a settlement.

What Steps Should You Take After a Car Accident?

A car accident is enough to shake anyone up. You may not know the best steps to take after you’ve been in one.

Here are the things you should do immediately following an accident to get started on the road to health and financial recovery.

1. Stop and get out of the way of any oncoming traffic.
2. Call an ambulance. The most important step after any accident is to ensure that you and all others are safe and get the medical attention necessary.
3. Call the police. It’s important to get law enforcement on the scene, partly so that you can get an official police report. This report can be valuable evidence later when you’re negotiating your settlement.
4. Get witness statements and contact information from anyone who saw the accident occur. Especially if you do not have police on the scene, get witness statements if you can. Witness statements are essential for determining fault.
5. Get contact and insurance information from the other driver(s) involved in the crash.
6. Take photos of the scene, if you are able and if it is safe to do so. Snap photos of any injuries or damage to vehicles.
7. Call a personal injury lawyer who can guide you through the next steps. They can help you with contacting the other driver’s insurance company and getting the claim process started.

Once you’ve taken these important steps, your lawyers can help you work toward a settlement. All along, you should keep track of any medical bills and records and bills spent on replacing or fixing property damaged in the accident. Keep a journal of any pain and other impacts you are experiencing after the accident. All of these records will be essential in proving how much you deserve from your settlement.

How Is a Car Accident Settlement Amount Determined?

Many factors go into determining the amount of a car accident settlement. It mostly comes down, however, to what expenses and impacts you can prove you experienced and may experience because of the car accident. You also must establish that the insurance company’s insured is at least partially at fault for the accident.

Why Does It Matter Who Is at Fault in an Accident?

In some states, the most at-fault person for a car accident will pay for the injuries and damages to the other injured people. However, some states, like Florida, are no-fault states.

This means that, at least initially, fault for an accident doesn’t matter in terms of your financial recovery. Drivers in no-fault states must carry personal injury protection (PIP) insurance, which provides the carrier health expense coverage. Some PIP policies may also cover up to a certain amount for wage loss. Thus, in most car accidents in a no-fault state, you will have to receive payment from your own insurance company before requesting a settlement from another driver, regardless of who was at fault.

Thus, in most cases in a no-fault state, anyone in a car accident should go to their own insurance first, which will cover up to a certain amount of medical and property damage expenses.

For example, Florida law requires that each driver carry insurance covering a minimum of:

• $10,000 in PIP coverage
• $10,000 in property damage liability coverage

If you carry this insurance, you should recover some compensation after your crash from your own insurance company. This coverage will take care of basic injuries and property damage. However, expenses from a car accident can easily exceed these minimums and cause other impacts on a victim’s life that PIP doesn’t cover. In such cases, you may recover the difference from at-fault parties.

How Can You Qualify to Recover a Settlement From Another Driver After An Accident in a No-Fault State?

In a no-fault state, you generally must have suffered in certain specific ways from your car accident to sue for damages or seek compensation beyond your personal insurance coverage.

Under Florida law, these include:

1. Significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function
2. Permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, other than scarring or disfigurement (for example, paralysis, which your doctor expects to last for your lifetime)
3. Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement (for example, burn marks, amputations, etc.)
4. Death

If you suffered any of the above effects because of a car accident you were involved in, which was another’s fault, you can sue the other party for a settlement.

What Damages Can I Sue For In a Car Accident Settlement?

Car accidents tend to cause severe injuries, many with life-long effects. The most important first step on the road to recovery is getting treatment for your injuries. But you also need to figure out how to pay the bills.

With every treatment of your accident-related injuries, you should keep records of the bills and any medical reports to which you have access. When it comes time to determine the amount of settlement you should ask for, you’ll need to account for the expenses that resulted from your accident. You may also want to take photos of your injuries, right after the accident and going forward as you monitor their healing. It can help immensely to have such photographic evidence for your lawyers to argue for the settlement amount you deserve.

Once you establish you have a right to sue for damages in your car accident case, you may sue for many categories of damages caused by the accident that you can account for in your settlement demand.

These damages may include:

• Pain and suffering – This blanket term refers to the mental and physical anguish you have to go through after an accident.
• Medical expenses – This can include surgeries, ongoing treatments and medications, and expected future surgeries and treatments.
• Loss of income – Serious car accident injuries often require long-recovery time, in which case victims are likely to lose a significant amount of wages while you can’t work.
• Loss of earning capacity – Serious injuries from car accidents can prevent a person from working in the position they held, or in work paying the same amount as they enjoyed before the accident. Some car accident victims never work again at all.
• Mental or emotional distress – Any crash can cause mental distress, from nightmares to PTSD and everything in between.
• Loss of consortium – Some car accident injuries and the process of recovery can lead to the loss or diminishment of important relationships, such as marriages.
• Loss of life enjoyment – After some car accident injuries, you can’t enjoy the activities you engaged in regularly as hobbies or entertainment.

Many types of damages may result from an accident. You should include the cost of each of these damages in a damages claim.

Seek an attorney to gather evidence to make sure you account for everything you can demand in a settlement amount. It can be hard to know what evidence to collect to gain leverage in a settlement. Your attorney can guide you so that you don’t miss anything important.

The Eight-Stage Process to Reach a Car Accident Settlement

The process of settling can be somewhat complicated and lengthy. If you’ve ever been concerned about working with lawyers because of the time commitment, you’re not alone. However, you should know that your lawyers do everything necessary to keep the process going as smoothly and quickly as possible.

While the stages may vary from case to case, and you may need to repeat them, these things commonly happen:

1. You contact a personal injury lawyer for a free consultation and discuss your case. The lawyer will advise you on whether you can file a claim against the other driver and whether your case is potentially worth enough to do so. In Florida, you have four years from the date of the car accident to file a lawsuit in court, which will be your only recourse if settling as an initial matter fails; so, it’s best to contact a lawyer as soon after your accident as possible.
2. If you determine in the consultation that your case is worth pursuing, your lawyer will typically have you enter into a retainer for them to represent you. Typically, the terms of their representation will ensure that you do not pay legal fees unless and until they secure a settlement or court award on your behalf.
3. Your lawyer will gather evidence to prove the other party’s fault and your damages, such as medical bills and records, witness statements, any photos and video footage of the accident scene, proof of lost income, etc.
4. Your lawyer will send a demand letter to the insurance company of the other driver, demanding compensation based on your expenses and impacts.
5. Your lawyer will negotiate with lawyers for the other driver’s insurer to reach an agreeable settlement amount that both parties can accept. In some cases, the parties may hire a mediator or an arbitrator (a neutral third party) to help in reaching an agreement.
6. If negotiations do not result in an agreeable settlement, your lawyer will file a complaint in civil court.
7. The court process will ensue, during which lawyers will continue gathering important evidence and preparing the parties’ cases to present in court.
8. A judge will schedule a trial for the case to determine who was at fault in the accident and how much compensation you are entitled to. Until a final ruling, the parties may still settle the case if they so choose.

Gathering evidence and dealing with negotiations can take several months. But patience is key, and waiting to gather sufficient evidence to build leverage, or filing a case in court to pressure a defendant to settle may mean thousands of dollars more for you.

Why Should I Hire a Lawyer to Negotiate a Settlement For Me?

You aren’t required to hire a lawyer to help you with negotiating a settlement. However, it is highly advisable for several reasons.

For one thing, a lawyer can significantly reduce the amount of stress you and your family are under due to the accident. After dealing with all the expenses, treatments, and repairs resulting from the crash, you will probably be under more than enough stress. Having to negotiate a settlement yourself will only compound your stress. Lawyers can take the burdens of pressing the insurance company for a settlement off your shoulders.

Lawyers are also much more experienced in dealing with insurance companies and other lawyers and with the claims process. They know when a settlement offer is too low and gauge how much a fair settlement is for a case like yours. Lawyers are adept at fighting for your rights with those who want to give you a smaller settlement to save money.

Because of their knowledge, training, and experience, lawyers can often negotiate much bigger settlements than their clients could do on their own. If you try to negotiate on your own, you’re more likely to be pressured to settle for a lower settlement than you actually deserve for all you’ve suffered. Lawyers can ensure that you get the most possible from your settlement.

Finally, personal injury lawyers by and large work on a contingency basis. This means that you will not pay your lawyers unless they succeed in getting you compensation. If you settle, they will take a percentage of your settlement as their fee, the percentage depending on what you agreed to at the signing of the retainer. This arrangement makes hiring a lawyer an affordable option for everyone.