Getting into a car accident can be incredibly stressful. It can also set you up for weeks or even years of recovery, plus months of legal battles to get you the compensation you need.
When you work with a car accident lawyer, your attorney can fight to get compensation for your injuries, including damages for vehicle repairs, injuries, lost wages, and more. Dealing with insurance and knowing how much your case should be worth is often difficult, but your attorneys can help ensure you get the help you need to move forward after a car accident.
The Central Islip car accident lawyers at The Carrion Law Firm offer free case reviews. Call us today to learn more about filing a claim and getting compensation. Our phone number is (718) 841-0083.
How to File a Claim for Damages After a Central Islip Car Accident
Getting damages paid after an accident often means pursuing compensation through two routes: an insurance claim and a lawsuit. Our Central Islip car accident attorneys can help you with both paths, covering all legal routes to compensation.
When filing an insurance claim, you are often limited to the damages you can get through your own no-fault insurance. All car insurance policies in New York are required to have coverage for personal injury protection, which is the insurance that your company will use to pay you for injuries and lost wages after an accident. You do not need to prove fault to get this compensation, so it can often be paid quickly to help you begin to pay for your damages.
However, these damages are often limited to a certain percentage of the damages you faced, plus you have to pay deductibles. This leaves far too many out-of-pocket payments for someone who was an innocent victim in the whole accident. Additionally, it does not compensate you for pain and suffering, which can be a substantial part of your damages.
If your injuries are “severe” under the laws of New York, then your Central Islip personal injury lawyers can file a third-party claim against the at-fault driver’s insurance and file a lawsuit in court. These routes can often get additional damages paid, potentially paying you in full. However, you should always speak with a lawyer about whether you can accept the damages from the insurance claim or whether you should wait for damages from trial. In many cases, settlements are intentionally left low by the insurance company so that they can avoid paying full damages to victims.
Damages in a Central Islip Car Accident Case
When you are injured in a car accident, there are a few different areas of damages that you might be interested in claiming. While many people immediately think of the damage to their vehicle after a car crash, those damages are just the tip of the iceberg; often, damages for physical injuries and the resulting pain and suffering of those injuries can be substantial compared to the damages to replace the cost of your vehicle or vehicle repairs.
When claiming damages for an injury, there are damages related to the economic cost of getting treatment, other economic consequences from the injury (such as lost wages), plus damages for the intangible effects of the injury (e.g., pain and suffering). The damages for the actual cost of treatment can often be calculated by simply looking at all bills and statements related to your care, including follow-up care, the cost of wheelchairs and other medical devices, and psychological care. The effects of an injury on your household service expenses, lost wages, lost future earning capacity, childcare costs, and more can all be calculated with the help of your Central Islip car accident lawyer and financial experts, as needed. The same goes for your pain and suffering damages and other “non-economic” damages, which are often harder to calculate in a settlement.
Proving Fault in a Central Islip Car Crash Case
To get damages in a third-party insurance claim or a lawsuit, your Central Islip car accident lawyers will have to prove that the other driver was at fault. Courts often look to some sort of “negligence” when determining fault in a car crash rather than intentional acts. You certainly can sue for road rage incidents or any sort of vehicular assault, but most cases are ultimately based on accidents rather than intentional acts.
To prove that the other driver did something wrong behind the wheel, you and your lawyers can usually point to some traffic law the other driver violated. Traffic laws are meant to keep everyone on the road safe, and so violations of these rules can often qualify as negligence when it comes to injury lawsuits.
Many common traffic violations – such as speeding, drunk driving, distracted driving, and tailgating – are all very common causes of car accidents. Other things that might not violate a specific traffic law but are nonetheless careless or dangerous behind the wheel might also be enough to show the other driver was negligent. For example, a driver who distracts themselves by setting up a GPS in traffic rather than setting it up before starting their trip could easily be considered negligent when it comes to a rear-end accident they caused.
In some cases, you may be concerned that you also did something wrong. Take comfort in the fact that New York law can take this into account without actually cutting off the other driver’s liability. If you were found to share some percentage of responsibility for the crash, you will be left to pay that percentage of damages out-of-pocket. Many states have an upper limit for the victim’s fault that will block you from being able to claim damages, but New York’s “pure comparative negligence” laws do not have such limits.
Call Our Central Islip Car Accident Injury Attorneys Today
If you were hurt in a car accident that was not your fault, call the Central Islip car accident lawyers at The Carrion Law Firm today. Our number is (718) 841-0083.