You’ve just been in an accident. Now you’re injured, hurting, and overwhelmed by bills. You can’t go to work, and you don’t know what to do. You’ve been told you should look for an attorney, but you just don’t know if you have the energy. Here are 6 reasons why hiring a Lincoln injury lawyer will help you in the short-term and the long run and why you should take the time to look for an attorney soon after an accident.
6 Reasons Why You Should Hire an Injury Lawyer in Lincoln
1) You’ll Obtain a Larger Settlement
When you have suffered an injury after a car accident or other event that wasn’t your fault, it’s common for the responsible person’s insurance company to contact you and offer to pay you a settlement in exchange for your signature on a release of all claims. The release will contain language that you agree to never sue the insurance company or responsible person for any reason and agree to keep the settlement terms confidential after you receive the insurance company’s check.
But ask yourself: “Why is the insurance company offering me a settlement so quickly?” The reason is that the insurance company knows the faster it offers you money, the more likely you are to accept it before speaking to a personal injury attorney, and properly understanding the extent of your damages. Now ask yourself: “Why would the insurance company try to get me to sign a release without first speaking to a personal injury attorney?” The answer is clear: a good injury lawyer in Lincoln, NE, will know what your case is worth, and the insurance company wants to pay you the least amount possible.
Injury victims who are represented by an experienced and proven injury attorney receive up to ten times more in settlement than when they settle their claim without legal assistance, even after accounting for the attorney’s fee!
[Related: Why You Should Never Speak to the Other Person's Insurance]
2) You’ll Pay Less for Medical Care so You’ll Make More Money
Injury cases seem simple but are frequently complicated. After your injury, if you have ambulance, emergency room, therapy, or other medical expenses, these will need to be paid. If you have health insurance, then typically you will give the hospital and other care providers your insurance info so you can obtain treatment.
Later, when it’s time to settle your matter with the responsible person’s liability insurance, your health insurance company will file a lien against your settlement, meaning it will want to be reimbursed out of your settlement money for your treatment.
Here is where hiring an experienced Lincoln injury lawyer really makes sense: your attorney can use legal principles to negotiate with your care providers and insurance companies to reduce the amount owed on medical liens that you must pay out of your settlement! Meaning, you’ll pay less for the medical care you’ve received, and thus your settlement will be larger.
3) You Can Focus on Healing and Recovery
This may seem obvious, but experience has shown that seriously injured victims are coping with a lot and the last thing you need is to add the intense pressure and stress of assembling, negotiating, and settling your injury claim. Settling your own claim while you’re suffering from all that comes with a serious injury is always a bad idea for several reasons:
- Your body needs time to heal – After a serious accident, even if you didn’t hit your head and sustain a brain injury, your body is not in the ideal state to process all the variables of an injury claim. You’re aching all over, your sleep is suffering, your diet is abnormal, and you may be on pain medications that fog your brain. Does this sound like the ideal time to make complex decisions involving potentially thousands of dollars?
- Wage loss and property damage create pressure to settle for less money – Having your car totaled and losing money from time off work is no picnic. Often, victims can feel undue pressure and even duress that they need money to pay bills, and an insurance company dangling a small cash settlement is sometimes too much to resist. But this is never a good idea. A better strategy is having a professional personal injury attorney who is unbiasedly advocating for your health, well-being, and financial interests.
- Settling your claim takes time and patience – After your accident, you may have appointments with a doctor, therapist, chiropractor, or other providers necessary for your recovery. Do you really want to be taking important, consequential phone calls from adverse insurance adjusters during those appointments?
4) Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney Won’t Cost You Anything
Most people just don’t realize how personal injury lawyers get paid. This is known as a contingency fee, which just means that your injury lawyer only gets paid if you win or settle your case and receive compensation. If you don’t settle or win, the lawyer doesn’t get paid anything. Period.
When the settlement is reached, and you are satisfied with the amount, only then does the lawyer get a percentage of the settlement, usually around one-third. This may sound expensive but considering that injury victims obtain settlement figures usually vastly higher than they would have had they not hired the lawyer, legal representation pays for itself and more!
Another reason to consider - doctors, mechanics, accountants, and contractors all get paid just for showing up, whether the job is successful or not – personal injury attorneys are different – their compensation only increases (at the same fee percentage) when they do a good job for you.
5) A Good Injury Attorney Can Creatively Maximize Your Settlement
Hopefully, by now you are convinced that choosing to hire a personal injury attorney to represent you will get you a larger settlement than you otherwise could. But did you know that injury attorneys can also help your settlement pay you more over time? This is known as a structured settlement.
When you obtain a large settlement because of a serious injury, the funds can’t come soon enough. You have medical expenses and other bills, and life just simply doesn’t wait. But if heaven forbid, you are permanently injured and can’t work or do many of the things you used to do both at work or for fun, then this settlement will need to last over many years. A structured settlement is one way a personal injury attorney can help accomplish this goal.
Structured settlements are a way to invest settlement funds into an annuity or other investment instrument that is guaranteed to pay out a return over many years. The funds are overseen by a trustee and prudently invested to pay a return over time so that the principal can grow, or at least last longer than otherwise. This is a great way to ensure that your settlement can work hard for you over a period of years, paying an income or growing for later when you might need it most. It’s just another way that hiring a personal injury attorney pays for itself!
6) You’ll Get More Than Just a Lawyer
Personal Injury attorneys are more than just lawyers. They are confidants, who will care about your well-being and listen carefully to your concerns or questions and provide thoughtful answers. Anything you tell them in confidence will not ever be shared.
They are counselors too. Frequently a seriously injured person will face complex decisions with large consequences, and a personal injury attorney can help them to navigate the settlement process and provide seasoned, dependable advice. They will know the local medical providers and can best assist you with obtaining excellent medical care and treatment.
Finally, no one should have to face the insurance companies alone. The process of healing from a serious injury can be a difficult one. A personal injury attorney can be a strong advocate to lean on in vulnerable times, one whom you can count on to have your best interests in mind, and to fight on your behalf.
Contact Our Lincoln Injury Lawyer for a Free Consult
Steffens Law Offices employs a passionate team made up of people who love to help people. We fight each day for those who can’t fight for themselves. Our Lincoln personal injury attorney won’t rest until you are made whole again. Give us a call today at (308) 872-8327 for your free consultation! We answer our personal injury hotline 24/7/365.