Accidents happen all the time. They happen on the roads, on other people’s property, at work, at office buildings, hospitals, amusement parks, and everything in between. Since people are naturally “accident-prone,” insurance is a BIG industry.
People are required to carry auto insurance for the car accidents they cause, property insurance for the accidents that can occur on their properties, and even many doctors won’t get hired unless they carry medical malpractice insurance for the patients they may unintentionally harm.
If you were recently injured due to someone else’s negligence, there is a strong possibility that an insurance company will be involved in your claim. Since most people don’t have thousands of dollars (or more) laying around to “pay for their mistakes,” they’re usually required to carry some type of insurance.
So, if you were injured in some sort of an accident, an auto insurance carrier or a homeowners insurance company, or another insurance carrier is likely to get involved – and be in charge of handling the claim from the at-fault party’s end.
When It’s You Against the Insurance Company
Sometimes injured parties will forgo a personal injury attorney because they think, “I can handle the claim myself,” or “I don’t need a lawyer,” or “I’ll get more money if I cut the attorney out of it.” While it’s not unusual for people to think these things, they are not usually true. If you ask any legal professional, they’ll quickly say that the best way to ensure a maximum recovery is to hire a skilled personal injury attorney. Why exactly?
Because, insurance companies are for-profit companies who are focused on one thing: their bottom line. You would be hard-pressed to find an insurance representative who received a pat on the back or a gold watch for offering a plaintiff a nice, big settlement. It just doesn’t work that way – in fact it’s quite the opposite.
Insurance companies make every attempt to minimize plaintiffs’ (injured parties) claims. Since most plaintiffs are not attorneys and they have no clue as to how much their case is worth, or how much their future medical care will cost, or how much income they will lose due to their injuries, they are in the habit of accepting “low-ball settlements” offered by insurance companies.
Often, plaintiffs lose tens of thousands of dollars, if not much more when they try to represent themselves – we’ve seen it happen over and over again. Would you perform your own heart surgery? Probably not. When it comes to your personal injury claim, you may not even know a low-ball settlement offer when it was right in front of you, but an experienced Columbia personal injury lawyer would.
Don’t lose valuable compensation – contact our firm for a free case evaluation today!