You’re traveling on familiar roads. It’s the same ride you take each day on your way to work. However, today, someone’s not paying attention and as you go around the corner, a large vehicle’s headed in your direction. In order to avoid the vehicle, you swerve and when you awake you’re lying on a hospital bed. Your life as you knew it just a few hours earlier is different.
The First Step
Immediately after a serious accident, you may feel anxious about getting back behind the wheel. It’s only natural. However, for the short-term, you need to focus on your recovery. If the accident causes you a reduced quality of life, contacting injury lawyers who specialize in personal injuries can help you determine if you qualify for a lawsuit. The loss of a leg, a chronic ailment such as a serious back or neck injury, are examples of outcomes that affect your quality of life.
Therapy
Physical therapy is necessary to reduce pain and suffering. Sometimes it can last for several months depending on the extent of your injuries. The insurance company of the responsible party should pay for all the appointments, along with the hospital stay, any medications, and damage to the vehicle. Chronic ailments will require regular therapy sessions throughout your life.
Your Car Insurance
When you’re involved in a serious accident, your car insurance rates can go up considerably. However, if the accident is determined to be the other party’s fault, it won’t increase. The police who arrive at the scene will fill out an accident report and determine who’s responsible and charge that driver.
Getting Compensation
A serious accident can leave you disabled, either temporarily or permanently. Neck and back injuries tend to leave scars that result in many years and sometimes, even a lifetime of chronic pain. It can prevent you from doing simple things such as walking or even sitting comfortably. Reduced quality of life can prevent you from enjoying time with family and friends, and take a toll on your health. Thankfully, you can seek compensation in the form of a one-time cash settlement or structured settlement.
Settling With the Insurance Company
The other driver’s insurance company may contact you directly to offer a settlement for the accident. At the time, it may seem like a lot of money and this may sway you to accept it and move on. However, there’s a reason people hire personal injury attorneys. There are many expenses associated with a serious accident, ones many people don’t even consider.
Initially, you’ll have hospital expenses, therapy fees, medications and loss of wages. However, that’s just the beginning. If you’re unable to work going forward, you now have to live on disability, which is a small fraction of your current salary.
The Real Costs Associated with a Serious Car Accident
If you find yourself unable to perform the duties on your job, you won’t be able to work. A personal injury attorney specializes in working toward a fair and just settlement for your injuries. They not only factor in the obvious, current expenses, but also long-term therapy costs and what you would make for the rest of your life. So, an insurance company offering $50,000, for example, is not going to cover the money you lose as a result of the accident.
Let the experts, your attorney, speak with the insurance company. If you’re younger, in your early 30s, you still have over 30 years until retirement. Take your annual salary and multiply it by those years and you’ll see that anything less than several hundred thousand is too little.
Life after a serious accident can overwhelm you. Take it one day at a time and make sure you have qualified experts on your side.
