After a car accident, it is vital to work with a car accident lawyer to get the damages you need. If you were not at fault for the accident and you faced injuries, it can be hard to know exactly how much your case is worth and what damages you are entitled to. Getting those damages paid can also be incredibly stressful.
When you work with an experienced Huntington car accident lawyer, your attorney can handle your case for you. This means getting you the damages you need through insurance claims and lawsuits and fighting on your behalf so you can focus on your recovery.
For a free case evaluation, call The Carrion Law Firm’s Huntington car accident lawyers today at (631) 910-7493.
How to Begin a Huntington Car Accident Civil Case
Starting a car accident case is not the easiest thing in the world, and you might need some serious legal help. Car accident cases in New York might be particularly difficult to deal with because you must also navigate no-fault insurance laws. Your first step should be to contact an experienced attorney for assistance.
No-Fault Insurance
New York is one of a handful of states that requires all drivers to carry no-fault auto insurance, referred to as personal injury protection insurance, in addition to standard liability coverage that is required in almost all states. According to I.S.C. § 5104(a), your no-fault insurance is your first line of defense. Since this is your own insurance policy, you can file a no-fault claim with your insurance provider instead of the other driver’s. On top of that, there is no need to prove fault. You might be partially responsible for the accident and still be covered by your no-fault insurance policy, at least up to the policy limits.
One drawback to New York’s no-fault laws is that drivers are not free to start civil cases for car accidents unless certain legal criteria are satisfied. As described below, you must sustain a “serious injury” in order to be allowed to file a civil lawsuit.
Serious Injury Rule
The serious injury rule is the legal hurdle we must clear before we can file your civil case for a car accident. Under § 5102(d), a serious injury is defined as injuries including death, loss or permanent limitation of bodily systems, dismemberment, serious disfigurement, the loss of a fetus, and fractures. If your injury is not described here, you might still have one under the 90/180 rule. Under this rule, if a car accident victim has a medically determined, non-permanent injury that interferes with their ability to do normal daily tasks for at least 90 days out of the 180 days right after the accident, they may satisfy the serious injury requirement.
Filing a Lawsuit
How do you know if a civil lawsuit is even necessary? This is an important question to consider, as some people’s claims are completely covered by insurance, and civil action is not necessary. For others, insurance does not measure up, and a civil lawsuit might be the only way they can recover the full extent of their damages. If your no-fault insurance is exhausted, but you still have damages to cover, our car accident lawyer can help you file a third-party claim with the other driver’s liability insurance.
Liability insurance requires that we prove that the other driver is at fault for the accident. This means we must come up with evidence from the accident showing how the other driver was negligent. If successful, you might get the coverage you need. If your claim is denied, we can help you file a civil lawsuit in court.
Your lawsuit starts with a formal legal complaint. Preparing and drafting a formal legal complaint takes time, and it is crucial that you contact an attorney as soon as possible to make the most of the time you have.
Calculating Damages in a Huntington, NY Car Accident Case
To know what your case is worth, you will have to track down all of the damages related to your accident. Your Huntington car accident lawyers can advise you as to what damages you can claim in your case, what those damages are worth in your specific case, and what steps need to be taken to claim those damages.
Medical Expenses
If your injuries were severe enough to result in hospital stays, surgeries, casts, stitches, or even physical therapy and rehabilitation, you could be entitled to compensation for the full value of your medical expenses. In many cases, these damages are somewhat simple to calculate because there are medical bills and records of these costs.
In some cases, you may have future medical expenses. Discuss with your attorney about whether these damages can be included in your claim.
While your “no-fault” insurance should pay some amount of medical expenses without the need to prove fault, these damages are often limited by low PIP limits and deductible payments. For help getting these damages compensated in full, speak with our Huntington car accident attorneys.
Lost Wages/Lost Earning Capacity
When your injuries keep you from working, calculating damages can be complex. First, you could be entitled to any wages you missed between the date of the accident and the date you were fully recovered and able to go back to work. This is typically simple enough to calculate by looking at previous pay stubs and using your normal pay rate over those missed workdays to find the total lost wages.
If your injuries keep you from working at full capacity, require you to take a lower-paying position with fewer physical demands, or prevent you from working altogether, calculating damages is a lot harder. In many of these cases, your Huntington car accident lawyer will need to hire a financial expert to project lost wages over the time you would have continued to work if it were not for the injury. Getting these calculations right is an important part of getting the damages you need in your injury case.
These damages can be paid through no-fault insurance, but again, policy limits might allow only a percentage of these wages to be reimbursed, and deductibles may prevent you from getting compensated for the full amounts. Talk to a lawyer about suing for these damages.
Pain and Suffering
Along with other “non-economic damages,” pain and suffering is one of the core areas of damages you should consider claiming in your injury case. These damages are paid to account for the mental and emotional effects of an injury, such as your actual pain, mental suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress, and more.
Talk to a lawyer about how to calculate these damages. The actual calculation is usually done by determining a multiplier based on the severity of your suffering and applying that multiplier to your other economic damages. Alternatively, the court or insurance company could pick a per diem rate for your suffering and multiply that by the number of days you suffered from your injuries.
In any case, no-fault insurance usually does not pay for pain and suffering, so you would have to go through the courts to get these damages compensated in full in New York.
Proving Fault in a Huntington Car Accident Case
To get damages from your no-fault insurance, you do not need to prove fault. However, this insurance only covers a portion of your damages, and you will often need to sue if you have severe injuries. Property damage is also not included under most no-fault insurance policies. However, you will need to prove that the other driver was at fault to get these damages paid.
In a car accident case, someone is usually found to be “at fault” if they made a mistake or committed a traffic violation. Typically, outside of cases involving vehicular assault, there is usually no malintent behind the accident, and there is usually no requirement to prove that the driver did anything “on purpose.” Instead, your Huntington car accident lawyers will seek to prove that they committed “negligence.”
Negligence is based on a violation of a legal duty through carelessness or inattention. So instead of proving that someone hit you with their car on purpose, you would prove, for example, that they hit you because they ran a red light or because they were driving under the influence. Proving this kind of violation is often sufficient to prove that the accident was the other driver’s fault.
The evidence needed to prove fault varies from case to case. Your testimony and the testimony of other witnesses can often prove what happened and show an insurance company or court that the other driver was responsible. Photos and documentary evidence might also be available, but actual video of the crash is often the strongest evidence.
Evidence to Prove Fault in a Huntington Vehicle Accident Case
Your case must be supported by evidence. Without evidence, the court will likely quickly dismiss your case. We not only need evidence when the case goes to trial, but we need evidence when we file the formal complaint at the very beginning of the case. In short, evidence is key, and we need to gather it as soon as possible.
Witnesses may provide evidence in the form of testimony. Only witnesses with first-hand or personal knowledge relevant to the case may testify. Second-hand information (e.g., details heard through the grapevine) is inadmissible. Perhaps someone saw the accident happen from another vehicle. Maybe they were driving by and stopped to render aid. It is always a good idea to get the names of others at the scene, just in case you need witness testimony later.
Video footage of the accident could exist. Cameras are everywhere nowadays, and there is a good chance that your accident was caught on video. For example, a nearby business might have had security cameras recording the area where the accident happened. There might be traffic cameras operated by the local or state authorities that recorded everything. Still, maybe you or another driver had a dashcam that recorded the accident.
Photos of the damaged vehicles are also important because we need to show the jury how your vehicle was damaged. Not only will this shed light on how bad the accident was, but it might also help us prove that your car was expensive to repair or was totaled and needed to be replaced.
Reasons to Hire an Experienced Car Accident Lawyer in Huntington
It is not a good idea to try and handle your accident and subsequent legal claims on your own. Lawsuits and insurance claims are infamously complex, and even relatively simple cases can be frustrating. Your attorney can help you navigate the insurance claims process. Simply having a lawyer on your side when you file an insurance claim might be enough to make the insurance play more fair. Remember, the insurance company is loyal only to their bottom line, and they will deny your claim if they can.
Your attorney will also assist you in gathering evidence and assessing damages. This must start almost right away, and it is not always easy. Not only should your lawyer know where evidence is likely to be found, but they may have a good idea of how much evidence is enough evidence to meet the burden of proof.
Your attorney can also help you determine whether you have a serious injury that allows you to file a civil claim in court. This may involve gathering your medical records and information about your injuries from the accident. This information must be included in the formal complaint.
For a Free Case Review, Call Our Huntington Car Accident Lawyers Today
To seek a free case review from our experienced Huntington car accident attorneys, call The Carrion Law Firm today at (631) 910-7493.