- Car Accidents
After a crash in Fayetteville, you have all a variety of issues to handle, messes to clean up, and often the legal aspects of the wreck get left for last. But, is there really the best time to sue? Are you missing out on something by delaying your legal action? The answer is that the best time to sue is right away, and yes if you wait, you could be losing out on valuable compensation.
Should You Wait Until After Your First Settlement Offer?
You’ll receive a settlement offer from the involved insurance company after you make a statement, go through the appraisals and wait a few weeks. Usually, that first settlement offer is extremely low. You should not wait that long. Although it’s not the longest that you could wait, in theory, you’ve already delayed taking the matter seriously, and that can harm your case.
When you submit a case after you receive the first settlement, your new attorney will have to rely on the statements that you already provided to the insurance company. Unfortunately, many drivers feel too comfortable talking to an insurance representative. Because of that, they will say things that devalue their claim without even realizing it.
What you should do is to contact your attorney before you give a statement to your insurance. You can and always should contact them right away to inform them of the crash. Just be careful and avoid making any conversation with the rep. Saying things like, “oh yeah, we’re fine,” can cause a lot of trouble. Simply give them the where, when, and how it happened then get off the phone.
How Long Can You Wait to Sue?
In personal injury cases, including car accidents, you have four years, according to Georgia law, to file a case. However, you may have unknowingly cost yourself time, or a lawsuit altogether and not known it. For example, the four-year countdown begins the day of the crash, not when you discover your injuries or realize you need to file a claim.
Additionally, many people don’t realize that resolving a claim through insurance will remove their ability to seek legal action in the future. For example, if you just accepted a settlement check from the involved insurance provider, then you may not be able to start a lawsuit at all. What typically happens in a lawsuit is that the at-fault driver will be the person “sued,” but their insurance company will handle the case.
Waiting to sue is never a good idea, and the only time that you might have a lawsuit later than expected is if your injuries did not present themselves until later. Injuries that are exposed through personality changes, habit changes, and behaviors can often take months to diagnose. Those situations are very rare, and you shouldn’t count on it being the solution to you filing a claim late.
Contacting a Fayetteville Georgia Car Accident Lawyer.
Your personal injury case should start with an attorney. While you don’t have to necessarily involve an attorney because it is a civil case, you should have proper representation. You basically want someone who can negotiate with some history of success, and that understands how to work within the confines of insurance company coverage.
Often when working a suit that involves an insurance company, you’ll jump through numerous hoops providing tons of documents such as a proof of loss statement.
Or you will want someone who will navigate you through the choppy waters of a personal lawsuit if they didn’t have insurance or if their coverage didn’t cover the extent of your injuries. In the situations that you’ll be using someone personally, then you may need further research to justify your claim.
Should You Rely on Accident Attorneys in Georgia for Your Statement?
Whoever you’re looking to involve accident attorneys in Georgia, you should really focus on getting them on board quickly. The earlier you have the right person on the job, the more likely it is that you can build a strong argument for full compensation. When you delay legal matters, it makes the entire issue, in this case, your injuries and property damage, seem less important. An insurance company or a person will argue that if you waited a year to sue, then you didn’t really need to take action at all.
Contact Wade Law to connect with a Fayetteville injury firm that can review and work on your case. Get full advice on when to sue and how to proceed with a case.
View these other frequently asked questions pages:
What Causes Rollover Vehicle Accidents in Fayetteville, GA?
Are Smartphones to Blame for Distracted Driving in Georgia?
