Personal injury claims can help you and your family recover damages after a serious injury. These damages can cover medical bills, pay for lost wages, and compensate you for pain and suffering, taking care of your needs when no one else will.
For help with your claim, always work with an attorney. Insurance companies and their lawyers will do what they can to stop your claim and pay low amounts. Your lawyer works to maximize the damages you receive and win compensation even in the face of strong resistance.
For a free case evaluation, call our personal injury attorneys at BKS Injury Law today: (845) 303-2748.
What Constitutes a “Personal Injury” Case?
A personal injury case is essentially any case where you sue someone else for hurting you.
Basics of Personal Injury Cases
In a personal injury case, the victim (plaintiff) brings a claim against the defendant, saying they were responsible for the accident. This can be based on intentional acts or, more likely, a mistake they made (negligence) to cause the accident.
If the defendant has insurance to cover the situation, that can often supply them with a lawyer and pay damages. However, victims need to find their own personal injury lawyers, who typically work on a contingency fee. This means we receive nothing unless we win your case, in which case we get a percentage of the winnings.
What Do You Need to Prove?
In intentional injury cases, you need to prove they injured you on purpose.
In the more common accidental injury case, you prove the defendant committed negligence, which has four elements:
- The defendant owed you a legal duty.
- They breached that duty.
- That breach caused the accident/injury.
- The accident resulted in damages a court can order compensation for.
Possible Defendants
You can sue any party that was responsible. This might be an individual, a business, or a property owner. You can even sue product manufacturers, hospitals, and more, as long as they were responsible for your injury.
What Evidence Do You Need to Bring a Claim?
Personal injury cases usually rely on these kinds of evidence:
- Eyewitness testimony informs the court what happened.
- Your testimony, as the victim, is also part of eyewitness testimony.
- Expert testimony and opinions inform the court about special scientific, medical, or technical facts.
- Records – especially financial records – can show various activities and damage values.
- Medical records show what injuries and care you received, as well as your potential recovery process.
- Medical bills show how much your treatment costs.
- Other bills and receipts show the other economic impacts of the accident.
- Your testimony and testimony from loved ones and medical/psych professionals tell the court about your pain, suffering, emotional distress, etc.
- Pictures of the accident scene can be used to help show the effects of what happened.
- Video might show the accident as it happened, such as security camera video, doorbell camera video, or dash cam video.
What evidence is available varies from case to case. The more evidence you have, the stronger your case typically is.
What Does a Lawyer Help With?
Your lawyer can help in many ways, but these are some of the biggest. Your lawyer can
- Research the legal situation and help you determine whether you have a case and how strong it is
- Put a value on your case that takes into account all damages and effects, while the insurance companies might skimp to protect their bottom line
- Talk to insurance on your behalf and negotiate for a fair settlement
- Represent you in court
- Take the case to trial
- Advise you on settlement offers and whether they are sufficient
- Find evidence and experts needed for your claim
- And more.
Can Insurance Pay for Personal Injury Cases?
If there is an insurance policy for the given situation, you can definitely file a claim – though your situation might have some special rules.
Typical Situation
Usually, the defendant is the one with the liability insurance policy that covers accidents they are responsible for. For example, homeowners insurance pays for accidents on that owner’s property, such as a slip and fall on their sidewalk.
You can file a third-party claim with their policy. Their insurance company will typically deny it or offer a settlement that is far too low, but we can take the case to court if they refuse a fair settlement value.
Exception: Car Accidents
In NY car accident cases, we use a no-fault system. This means each driver’s insurance pays for the driver’s own injuries and injuries to anyone else in their car. Your insurance pays regardless of fault.
However, it does not cover pain and suffering, which you can only get through a lawsuit. To file a lawsuit, you need “serious injuries,” which include certain permanent injuries, total loss, serious limitation, or a fracture.
Exception: Work Accidents
With work accidents, your employer is typically required to cover you through Workers’ Compensation insurance. This has limited damages, blocks you from suing your employer, and blocks pain and suffering damages against them, but it pays on a no-fault basis.
You can still sue other outside parties for full damages (including pain and suffering), such as an equipment manufacturer or a customer. You can also sue your employer for full damages for work injuries in New York if they were at fault and violated certain safety rules, such as scaffolding laws.
How Long Do You Have to Sue?
New York law gives 3 years for most injury lawsuits. The rules are different for medical malpractice cases (2.5 years), wrongful death claims (2 years), and intentional injuries (1 year).
Do You Need to File a Lawsuit?
If the insurance company is not cooperative, we can turn to a lawsuit instead. In most cases, we give the defense a chance to settle for a fair value first, but we can file a lawsuit from the beginning if needed.
Can You Settle After You File a Lawsuit?
Just because you filed in court does not mean you have to go all the way to trial. Most cases do settle, potentially after filing or even on the day of trial.
Can You Sue if Your Settlement is Too Low?
If you accept a settlement from the defendant or their insurance, the case is over. Never sign anything or accept money from the defense without speaking to your lawyer first.
However, if they offer a low settlement, you can reject it and go to court instead.
Call Our Personal Injury Attorneys in Wappinger Falls
For your free case evaluation, call Basch, Keegan & Spada’s personal injury attorneys at (845) 303-2748 today.