Immediate and Long-Term Help For Auto Accident Victims

Each year, car crashes kill or seriously injure millions of Americans. The casualty rate is a little higher in semi-urban areas like Rockford. The closest and best trauma center may be several miles away, and in these cases, seconds count.

The injuries themselves are just the beginning. Accident victims who try to navigate the claims process on their own are often victimized again. They are at the mercy of the insurance company, which means they only get the minimum.

An attorney cannot turn back the clock and make things exactly the way they were before the crash. But a Rockford personal injury lawyer can do the things necessary to help your family move forward.

Immediate Assistance

Enormous medical bills are usually the first priority. Medical inflation is on the rise again for the first time since the end of the Great Recession. Even if the victim’s health insurance policy covers accident-related expenses, and that is a big “if,” copays and out-of-pocket expenses alone can be financially crippling.

Attorneys connect victims with qualified physicians at no cost. These victims need car crash specialists. Other kinds of doctors may be unable to properly diagnose and treat car crash-specific injuries, like whiplash. Additionally, attorneys send letters of protection to these providers. The physicians agree to put off billing until the case is resolved. So, victims pay nothing upfront for top medical treatment.

Property damage is a concern as well. In many cases, the family car is more than just another vehicle. The family counts on this vehicle every day in the performance of everyday chores. Attorneys can make the same arrangements with rental car providers that they make with physicians. That means a quality vehicle and no out-of-pocket expenses.

Long-Term Assistance

The insurance company does whatever it takes to protect its own bottom line. A personal injury attorney, on the other hand, does whatever it takes to obtain justice and compensation for victims.

Justice means a finding that the other party was negligent and at fault for the collision. Even if the settlement agreement contains no admission of liability, and that’s often the case, the payment of money damages is tantamount to an admission of guilt.

Compensation means money for both economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. The law allows both kinds of damages because this money is the best way to put victims in the same position they occupied before the crash.

How It Happens

The victim/plaintiff has the burden of proof in car crash cases. So, attorneys must collect evidence that supports their claims. Much of this evidence is the old-school variety, like damage photographs and witness statements. Most claims also include electronic evidence, such as a vehicle’s Event Data Recorder and electronic medical records.

Additionally, attorneys must put this evidence together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Before the jury awards maximum compensation, it must see a complete picture of the crash, and see it from the victim/plaintiff’s point of view.

Contact Hard-Hitting Attorneys

Car crash victims need help now and in the future. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Rockford, contact Fisk & Monteleone, Ltd. We do not charge upfront legal fees in negligence cases.