There are several states in the U.S. with no-fault insurance laws. For instance, Florida requires car accident victims to file claims against their own insurance after an accident regardless of who caused the accident. However, in Georgia, it matters who causes a car accident. Georgia’s fault-based insurance laws hold each driver accountable for an accident by determining each party’s percentage of fault. In many cases, one driver is entirely at fault for an accident and their car insurance company must pay for any property damage and medical expenses of injury victims in the accident. But in many cases, a Georgia car accident claim becomes complicated when insurers dispute their client’s fault in an accident or try to assign an injury victim an undue percentage of fault to minimize a payout on their damages.
Many injury victims in Georgia find it takes an experienced Georgia car accident attorney to protect their rights and best interests through the following car accident claim process.
The first step in a car accident claim in Georgia is an investigation into the accident. The victim’s car accident attorney in Atlanta will do the following:
It’s essential to thoroughly investigate the accident to prove liability on the part of the at-fault driver because insurance companies hire adjusters to work on their side to deny their client’s liability or to assign an undue percentage of fault to the injury victim.
Georgia has a modified comparison fault insurance system that allows car accident victims to recover compensation for damages like property damage, medical expenses, and their pain and suffering even if they contributed to the cause of the accident as long as they are less than 50 percent at fault. A skilled attorney documents evidence of liability to meet the legal requirement which shows the following:
Damages in car accident claims are both tangible economic damages like medical bills and lost income, and non-economic damages like pain and suffering.
Once the attorney has documented evidence of liability, they’ll review your medical expenses, and consult with medical experts about the costs you can expect for future medical care related to the injury, and how long you’ll be out of work. In some cases, accidents leave victims with disabilities that impact their ability to return to work in their previous capacity or at all. A skilled Atlanta personal injury attorney carefully calculates a car accident victim’s damages to maximize the amount of compensation they seek in their claim. Then they send a demand package to the at-fault party’s insurance company seeking compensation for damages.
The majority of car accident cases are settled out of court through negotiations with the insurance adjuster assigned to the case. Sometimes this process requires several meetings and mediation before arriving at a mutually acceptable settlement amount. Less commonly, the insurance company persists in undervaluing a claim or wrongfully denies it, in which case the injury victim has the option to file a lawsuit as long as it’s still within Georgia’s two-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims.
Litigation in court takes longer than securing a settlement, but jury awards for damages are almost always higher than the amount the car accident victim would recover in a settlement.
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