A car accident can leave you and your family with substantial expenses. Sometimes, these expenses may be too much, and without help, you could be left in serious financial distress.
Our lawyers work to get victims of car crashes compensated for their injuries. Through insurance claims and lawsuits against the defendant, we can often get full compensation for serious injuries. This can even cover the pain and suffering damages that your insurance typically refuses.
For help with your case, call BKS Injury Law’s car accident lawyers at (845) 303-2748 today.
Damages Available in a Car Accident Case
You are entitled to a wide range of damages in a serious injury case. Our car accident lawyers can help you calculate the values and claim full damages in any of these areas:
Medical Bills
Going to the hospital can be expensive, but it is frequently necessary for a full recovery after a crash. Your own insurance covers medical care, up to certain limits, but we may be able to claim full damages from the defendant.
This also covers ongoing costs like pain medication and physical therapy, not just the emergency treatment.
Lost Wages
If your injury causes you to miss any work, we can claim lost wages for that. This can include the paychecks you missed from days or weeks of recovery, as well as any ongoing reduction in wages while you continue to heal.
Total disability can also be covered in serious accident cases.
Pain and Suffering
The cost of treating your injuries is considered part of “economic damages,” but injuries have “non-economic damages” they cause in every case, regardless of the expenses attached to the injury.
Pain and suffering damages are a major portion of these non-economic damages (and commonly used interchangeably as the umbrella term). They can include monetary payments for physical pain, emotional distress, mental anguish, and more.
Vehicle Damage and Repairs
You can also seek compensation for the cost of vehicle repairs or replacement tied to the accident, as well as the reduction in value your vehicle suffers because of the damage. These damages are typically covered under the defendant’s auto insurance, even if you otherwise use “no-fault” insurance.
Other Expenses
Other costs can also be covered, such as replacement home services while you are too injured to perform them.
How Insurance Claims Work in Wallkill, NY
In New York, we use a “no-fault” insurance system. This means your insurance should cover your injuries first, but getting full compensation can involve unexpected hurdles.
No-Fault Claim
Your first claim will be with your own no-fault insurance. These “first-party benefits” for your PIP (personal injury protection) insurance cover you and anyone injured in your car, but they are limited in a few ways:
- Medical bills are covered in full, but other expenses and lost wages are only covered in part.
- You cannot get pain and suffering from no-fault insurance.
- You have to pay a deductible first.
- You cannot sue unless you have serious injuries.
- Policy limits put an outside limit on coverage amounts.
Even so, fault is not a required element, so these should pay for the crash as long as you were covered at the time.
Serious Injuries
Under a no-fault system, you cannot sue or file an insurance claim against the defendant unless you have “serious injuries.” In New York, the definition is quite broad and includes any permanent injuries, permanent reduction in function, or broken bones.
Death always qualifies, allowing a lawsuit for a loved one’s death.
Property Damage
Property damage is always part of an at-fault claim against the defendant. This means that your no-fault insurance does not cover it unless you have add-ons to your policy, such as collision coverage.
Instead, you have to prove the defendant was at fault to get this covered, whether you have serious injuries or not.
Injury Claim Against Defendant
If the serious injury threshold is met, then you can sue the defendant for injuries. Their insurance will cover your medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other costs, up to policy limits.
This can also cover your deductible if you already used your PIP and pay your own insurance back for the expenses they paid out for you.
Lawsuit
If you meet the serious injury threshold, you can sue. This gives the insurance company less power to deny your claim if they know a lawsuit with a neutral jury is possible.
Evidence Needed for a Car Accident Case
Car accident cases are often based on simple evidence you already have at your disposal:
- Your testimony about what happened
- Medical records and financial records showing the harm
- Vehicle damage appraisals and repair bills
- Photos you may have taken at the scene of the accident.
On top of this, we can seek out additional evidence, such as
- Eyewitness testimony
- Expert reports from doctors, financial experts, and accident reconstruction experts
- Security camera footage from cameras near the accident
- Dash cam footage from other cars or the victim’s cars
- Internal records from their employer, if you were hit by a commercial driver
- And more.
How Long Do You Have to File?
New York law gives victims 3 years to file car accident injury claims. If your claim is based on a loved one’s death, you typically have only 2 years from their death instead.
When Should You Call a Lawyer?
In the immediate aftermath of a car accident, you should report the accident to the police, get emergency medical care, take notes and collect information at the scene of the crash, and then continue following through with medical care.
As soon as you have a moment during that process, call a lawyer. The earlier we get on your case, the earlier we can start collecting evidence, take photos of the vehicle damage and accident scene, and seek out security footage of the crash. If you wait too long, your claim will be delayed, and evidence may be lost, so call as soon as possible.
What if Insurance Denies Your Claim?
If your insurance company denies your claim, we can appeal through their systems and continue to demand coverage. Your insurance is supposed to pay regardless of fault, which means that many of the reasons for denial are technical or perhaps even unreasonable excuses. If this is the case, we could potentially be able to file an insurance bad faith claim against them.
If the defendant’s insurance denies your claim, we can simply take the case to court and leave it up to a judge and jury instead of letting the insurance company decide.
Call Our Car Accident Lawyers in Wallkill, NY Today
Call Basch, Keegan & Spada’s car accident attorneys at (845) 303-2748 for a free case evaluation on your car accident claim.