If you have sustained a personal injury in a North Carolina automobile accident, you are entitled to file a third-party liability claim against the responsible driver’s automobile insurance company. The insurance company may then make a monetary settlement offer as compensation for your personal injuries. In many cases, the value of this opening settlement offer will be less than reasonable when compared with other automobile accident settlement offers. You are not required to accept it. You may make a counter with your own settlement offer or choose to pursue civil litigation. The Raleigh personal injury attorneys of Maginnis Howard can help both with negotiating and litigating your claim. We will evaluate the specific facts of your case and develop a strategy designed to maximize your personal injury compensation. Call one of our lawyers today at (919) 526-0450 or send a confidential email using our contact page.
In deciding whether to accept particular automobile accident settlement offers, it is important that you understand how personal injury cases are assessed by automobile insurance companies. An insurance adjuster makes a projection of the damages a jury would likely award if your case were to be tried. In North Carolina these damages typically include compensation for (1) medical expenses, (2) lost wages or loss of wage earning capacity, and (3) physical, mental, and emotional pain and suffering. A number of factors influence the adjuster’s projection of what a jury might award, including:
(1) The amount of property damage to the vehicles;
(2) The nature of your medical diagnosis, is it purely subjective or based upon objective evidence of injury shown on an MRI or X-Ray;
(3) Whether an air bag deployed;
(4) Whether an ambulance was called; and
(5) The amount of third-party liability insurance available under their insured’s policy.
This list is merely illustrative; there are countless other factors that may be relevant, including whether the claimant has retained an attorney. In many cases, the insurance adjuster’s settlement offer will not be reasonable. Their primary job is to pay as little on each personal injury claim as possible, and they will often attempt to settle your case for far less than fair compensation.
The benefit to retaining a knowledgeable car accident personal injury lawyer is that you get an advocate who is familiar with the system and can highlight the “good” facts of your case, whether to the insurance adjuster in settlement negotiations or to the jury at trial. If you would like representation to pursue a higher settlement offer or jury verdict, contact the Raleigh civil litigation attorneys of Maginnis Law.
As a small law firm, Maginnis Law does not retain a large team of “case managers” to correspond with our clients; we work with our clients directly to gain a thorough understanding of their case. Our clients know that they can contact us directly whenever they have a question or an issue arises. We offer free consultations for all new automobile accident matters and handle such cases solely on a contingency basis. You pay no attorneys’ fees unless we make a recovery for you.
If you have sustained personal injuries in a car accident in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Wake Forest, Apex, Morrisville, or anywhere else in the greater Triangle area, contact the personal injury litigation lawyers of Maginnis Howard at (919) 526-0450 to go over and help evaluate the automobile accident settlement offers that you have received. You may also use our contact page to submit a new case inquiry to our attorneys; you will typically receive a response within the day.
