If you have suffered injuries in a recent car accident caused by another driver’s negligence, you might wonder, “is it worth it to contact a car accident lawyer?”
Yes, it’s worth it. Professional car accident lawyers can help you get the money you rightfully deserve if you’ve been hurt to injured. But be careful, choosing the right lawyer can be difficult.
A car accident lawyer can help you evaluate the car insurance coverage available and recover the maximum compensation available from the negligent driver and from your own car insurance policy. Insurance coverage will allow you to get compensated for things like out-of-pocket expenses, medical bills, lost wages, inconvenience, pain, suffering, mental anguish, and disfigurement.
Continue reading for answers to all your questions regarding hiring a car crash lawyer.
If you’re looking for a local and professional team to help you, consider hiring Kansas City Car Crash Lawyers. Call us today at 816-825-5704. Let’s discover how much compensation you deserve!
When Should You Contact a Lawyer for a Car Accident?
We recommend contacting a car accident lawyer if any of the following apply:
- You’ve been injured in a car accident and received medical attention.
- You’ve been injured in a car crash and you had to miss work.
- You’ve been injured in a car crash and you aren’t sure what to do now.
Any one of these three will qualify you for contacting a car accident lawyer. If you don’t meet any of the criteria but still think you have a case, there’s no harm in contacting a lawyer. A good firm will be happy to answer any of your questions without charging you a dime.
How Much Compensation Can You Receive From a Car Crash?
The average car crash settlement for injuries sustained in a car crash are $5,000.00 to $100,000.00. Although Catastrophic injuries or death can result in settlements much higher than this.
The amount of compensation you can receive from a car crash will always depend on the severity of the injuries you sustained and the potential sources that are available for you to recover from. Generally speaking, the more serious your injuries, the higher you can expect your compensation to be. Assuming you have hired an experienced local attorney to handle your case.
Car accident settlements are determined by a variety of factors; such as the severity of the injuries sustained in the crash, the amount of lost wages incurred, the permanence of the injuries sustained and a variety of other factors including the location of the accident and the laws of the jurisdiction where the accident occurred.
If there are no injuries involved in the car crash, then it is unlikely you would be eligible for compensation beyond a property damage claim. Most lawyers do not assist individuals with property damage claims, this is mostly because we have little value that we can add to such claims.
How Long Do You Have to Hire a Lawyer After a Car Accident?
Typically, you should consult with an experienced local attorney within seven (7) to thirty (30) days after you were first injured in a crash. It is best, though, to hire an experienced local attorney immediately after you have been injured in a crash.
Most experienced lawyers prefer to work with clients that have contacted them before they have begun dealing with the insurance company beyond just preliminary matters.
This is because the insurance company is not looking out for your best interests when communicating with you. Innocent conversational statements made to an adjuster like “I am doing better” and “I feel better” will be used against you when it comes time to determine the amount of compensation you receive.
Make no mistake, insurance adjusters are taking notes every time they communicate with you and very rarely do their notes contain anything helpful for your claim.
After you have hired an attorney your “claim” will get split between a personal injury adjuster that won’t speak with you directly and a property damage adjuster that will work with you to get your vehicle repaired.
Aside from just worrying about what an insurance adjuster will use against you, the timing of when you contact a lawyer can be important for practical and legal reasons.
Most lawyers will not get involved in a claim that has gotten too close to the statute of limitations because they don’t have enough time to properly evaluate the claim before a lawsuit needs to be filed. If you have been injured in a car crash every state has a deadline in which you must initiate legal proceedings, i.e. filing a lawsuit, otherwise your claims are lost forever.
Missouri & Kansas Statute of Limitations (What They Say)
In Kansas legal proceedings must be started within two (2) years from the date of the crash, in Missouri legal proceedings must be started within five (5) years from the date of the crash.
However, it is critical that if you contact an attorney well become your statute of limitations is coming up. There are not many lawyers that are going to take on a client when their statute of limitations is coming up in the next several months.
Even if it’s been a couple of months or years since the accident, it’s still worth consulting a lawyer to get their input on the situation. They’ll help you find out what legal your options are and whether you are entitled to compensation for the losses you have suffered. Firms like ours will discuss your claim with you over the phone during a free no-obligation consultation.
Firms like ours will discuss your claim with you over the phone during a free no-obligation consultation. Call our team at 816-825-5704.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Lawyer for a Car Accident?
Most car crash law firms charge between 25% – 40% of the total amount recovered for your injuries or an hourly rate from $150.00 to $350.00 per hour. We call this retainer-based or contingency-based.
At KC Car Crash Lawyers, our pricing is contingency-based. Meaning, you don’t owe us anything until we get results for you. We make our money off of the total amount we recovered for you. If we don’t recover on behalf of a client, then we cover all expenses incurred to date and our client owes us nothing.
If we are able to settle your claim without the need for filing a lawsuit we only get 25% of the total recovery as compensation for our legal services.
And to be honest, if you can find a law firm that will take your claim for less and they know what they are doing, you should hire them. Most law firms’ standard fee is 40% or 33 ⅓% regardless of how easy it is to settle your claim.
If we have to file suit on your case then the contingent fee changes to 33 ⅓ percent of the total recovery as compensation for our legal services and the amount changes to 40% if we have to take your case to trial.
You might think this is a large percentage, but it takes into account the risk involved with taking on legal work for which the law firm may never get compensated for. The law firm also does not ask clients to pay back any of the expenses they have incurred in investigating and pursuing their claim should we be unable to recover on your behalf.
KC Car Crash Lawyers offers free no-obligation consultations where we answer any of the questions you may have about our firm’s services and charges. We won’t charge you a dime. It’s 100% free. Click here to start.
How Do You Find a Lawyer for Car Accidents?
The best way to find a good lawyer is to consult with several local law firms until you find one that works for you. During your consultations, ask questions about their experience, who will be handling their claim, and the percentage of your recovery that their firm takes in compensation.
Yes, this method can take a couple of days, but it’s absolutely the best way. Don’t trust the first lawyer you meet, even if they are nice.
During your consultations ask these questions:
- Ask about their experience
- Understand who will be handling your claim
- Ask them their method for handing insurance companies
- Find out if they are contingency-based or charge the by hour
- Make sure they are local
First, make sure the law firm is local to your area. If the law firm can’t file a lawsuit on your behalf and drive to the courthouse, then most likely they are going to try to convince you to accept the insurance company’s last settlement offer no matter what it happens to be.
Second, make sure you are going to be working with an experienced attorney at the law firm. You don’t want to give up a third or forty percent of your settlement to end up having your case handled by a brand new associate still learning what to do.
The insurance process and the legal proceedings, in particular, can be complicated and difficult for some people and you want to work with a law firm that you trust and one that is willing to take the time to explain the process to you so you know what’s going on.
Finding a great lawyer is hard! And trust us, you don’t want just any lawyer. You want a diamond in the rough. One that is knowledgeable, kind, has great communication and has a winning track record.
If you live in the Kansas City Metro Area and need a quality car crash lawyer, consider hiring KC Car Crash Lawyers. Give our experienced team a call at 816-825-5704. Our consultations are 100% free, with no obligation.
Summary
Having a local experienced car accident lawyer on your side to help manage the aftermath of an unfortunate event is very beneficial.
There are plenty of qualified professionals out there who can help guide you, but it’s vital to make sure they have the experience necessary for what is likely going to be a frustrating and challenging period in your life.
Schedule your FREE Case Evaluation with us by clicking here and we’ll be happy to answer all your questions and provide you with excellent service. No obligations, no strings attached. Just straight talk from people who care about helping you get what you deserve.
