Every year, the U.S. is home to well over 5 million car accidents. These car accidents do their fair share of damage and often result in injuries and even deaths.
Were you in a car accident recently? Did you suffer an auto accident injury during it? If so, you might be able to file a lawsuit and get compensated.
Before you attempt to put together an auto accident case, though, you should learn about the mistakes with auto accident lawsuits that people sometimes make. It’ll help you steer clear of them at all costs.
Here are 10 of the most common mistakes with auto accident lawsuits that will need to be on your radar.
1. Waiting Too Long
You don’t necessarily need to file a lawsuit in a car accident case the week after you get into it. But at the same time, you don’t want to put it off for months on end.
There will be a car accident lawsuit filing deadline in most states. If you miss it, you’re going to be out of luck if you decide to try to file a lawsuit too late. The deadline will usually be within about two years of your accident.
Try touching base with a car accident lawyer within just a few weeks of your crash. They’ll be able to walk you through the process of filing a lawsuit and make you aware of the relevant deadlines.
2. Representing Yourself in Court
There will obviously be a fee that’ll come along with hiring a car accident lawyer. It could be up to 40% of whatever compensation you’re able to get.
To avoid paying the price for a lawyer, you may consider representing yourself in court. Don’t do this under any circumstances.
Representing yourself might save you a few bucks on the front end. But since you likely don’t know the first thing about car accident laws, you could end up losing a lot of money when everything is all said and done.
You also aren’t going to stand much of a chance when it comes to possibly settling your case out of court. The lawyers for a car insurance company will take one look at you and decide they would rather face your case in court rather than make a strong settlement offer to you.
3. Hiring the Wrong Car Accident Attorney
Hiring a car accident lawyer to represent you is a great idea. But you don’t want to just Google “car accident lawyers near me” and choose the first one you can find.
Instead, you should aim to do as much research as you can on local car accident lawyers. It’ll put you in a position to hire one of the best car accident attorneys of the bunch.
This lawyer will be able to speak with you about how to file a car accident case. They’ll also be able to supply you with helpful resources that’ll come in handy when you’re trying to understand what’s going on with your case.
4. Failing to Secure the Appropriate Documents
There are so many auto accident lawsuit documents that you’ll need to provide to a lawyer at the start. From documentation that shows the medical care you received to the auto insurance information for other drivers involved in your crash, you’ll need to have it all on hand.
If you don’t secure the appropriate documents, it could slow your car accident case way down. It’s one of the worst mistakes with auto accident lawsuits you can make.
You should make copies of all the documents you obtain before handing them over to your lawyer. Even though they should be safe with your lawyer, it never hurts to have backup copies. They could save you if your lawyer misplaces your originals.
5. Accepting a Settlement Too Quickly
A car accident lawyer isn’t automatically going to try to take your case to court. They’re going to attempt to reach a settlement agreement with the insurance companies involved in your case first.
When you hear how much an insurance company is willing to offer you as part of a settlement deal, you may be tempted to jump all over it. But you should hold your horses if your lawyer doesn’t feel like it’s a fair deal.
You will run the risk of having to accept a lower amount of compensation by taking your case to court. But you might also be able to claim so much more compensation than you would be able to otherwise by holding out longer.
6. Turning Down a Fair Settlement
While you don’t want to jump at the first settlement deal an insurance company offers, you also don’t want to turn down every deal that comes your way. If your lawyer tells you an insurance company has presented a fair settlement deal, it might be a sign you should take it.
Remember: Your car accident lawyer is going to collect a fee from you that will be contingent on how much money you get. So if they’re telling you that you have a fair offer on the table, they’ll be telling you that what they’ll get from it sounds fair to them.
7. Losing Touch With Your Car Accident Lawyer
You and your car accident lawyer will need to speak early and often during your case. There shouldn’t ever be a time when more than a few days go by without you hearing from them.
You should return any calls and/or emails from your car accident lawyer as soon as you can. You should also reach out to them whenever you have any questions or concerns.
If you aren’t able to connect with your lawyer as often as you’d like, it might mean they aren’t the right person for the job. You may be able to cut ties with them and find a better lawyer to assist you.
8. Neglecting to Get Medical Care
In the immediate aftermath of a car accident, you should always work on getting the necessary medical care right away. Even if you don’t think you’re injured, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
You should also continue to get medical care until you’re completely healed. If you start skipping doctor’s appointments and an opposing lawyer finds out about it, it can be used against you in court.
Your goal should be to nurse yourself back to health as best you can and save any documentation showing that you’ve made every effort to do it. It’ll make your car accident case so much stronger in court.
9. Deleting Important Evidence
Following a car crash, you should snap as many photos of the accident scene as you can. These photos can be utilized as evidence by your lawyer.
You should send these photos in your lawyer’s direction and let them decide which ones to use. You should also hang onto these photos and avoid deleting them if you can.
If you delete the photos and your lawyer isn’t able to find them, it could result in you losing key evidence. It’ll make your case so much weaker, and it could even force you to accept a lesser deal than you deserve.
10. Discussing Your Case on Social Media
Are you someone who shares almost everything about your life on social media? If you are, your car accident case is one thing you won’t want to talk about on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
Anything you say or do on social media could potentially come back to bite you later. If you post a photo of you skydiving on social media, it might suggest you aren’t as injured as you’ve led a court to believe.
Generally speaking, you’ll want to shy away from putting anything up on social media that could affect your case. You’ll kick yourself later if you see any of your social media posts appear in court.
Don’t Make These Common Mistakes With Auto Accident Lawsuits
Filing a car accident lawsuit might help you get your hands on the money you need to recover from a crash. It could help you put the pieces of your life back together in no time.
But you might not be able to get the compensation you deserve if you make any of the mistakes with auto accident lawsuits listed here. They could doom your car accident case from the start and make you wish you had taken a different approach to it.
