Common Complications In New York Personal Injury Claims

Car crashes and other accidents that leave you injured often come at considerable economic and emotional cost. In this article, we’ll dive into the details and complications of recovering those costs, including:

• How fault and blame impact your personal injury claim after a car accident.
• Who pays for the damages and costs, including when you are hit by an uninsured driver.
• How personal injury claim damages are calculated.

It Is Clear The Other Driver Was At Fault For The Accident That Caused My Serious Injuries. Do I Still Need To Hire A Personal Injury Attorney?

It might be natural to think that when the other driver has admitted responsibility and their role in your accident is undeniable, you could just claim your damages and be on your way. Unfortunately, the involvement of insurance companies makes the process much more complicated.

No insurance adjuster is going to come out and admit that their client is 100% at fault for the accident, and even if they are, they will still question the severity or causality of your injuries. The truth is? No insurance company will offer you the full policy without a fight.

That is why hiring a professional and experienced attorney to help you is essential. Especially when it costs you nothing, as the attorneys only get paid out of the final settlement or victory. What’s more, hiring a personal injury attorney is all the more vital when the situation is not so clear cut, for example, when you bear some of the blame for the accident that caused your injuries.

If I Was At Fault For The Accident That Caused My Injuries, Can I Still File A Personal Injury Claim In New York?

New York personal injury law is clear: even if you are 99% at fault and the other driver is only 1% at fault, you still have a valid claim. However, the amount that you can claim is diminished by your responsibility, so you would only be entitled to 1% of the final jury damage verdict.

But such extreme cases are rare; more often than not, a small share of the blame is easy to attribute to multiple parties involved, and there are sufficient grounds and compensation to recover personal injury damages. If you are unsure whether you should file a claim, you can ask a personal injury attorney (for free) by calling our firm today.

Things do get even more complicated, however, when the other driver does not have insurance or lacks sufficient insurance to cover the severity of your injuries.

I Was Injured In A Car Accident Caused By An Uninsured Or Underinsured Driver. Can I Still File A New York Personal Injury Claim?

The sad truth is that, despite insurance being a legal requirement for all drivers in New York, some people drive without it. A more frequent, if still distressing, case arises when what insurance they can afford is not sufficient to cover the extent of the harm or injury you have suffered. Fortunately, there are outlets in place for the victims of accidents with uninsured and underinsured drivers in New York State.

Everybody in New York state who has car insurance carries a minimum of 25,000 underinsured or uninsured motorist coverage that would help cover your injuries as well those of anyone who resides in your home. In addition, there is also something called MVA that adds a layer of coverage if there is absolutely no insurance on either side to cover damages.

This is important because you may need funds to cover damage to your vehicle as well as long-term personal injury compensation.

Who Will Pay For The Car Damage After An Accident Caused By Another Driver?

If the accident is the fault of another driver, your best option is to contact the other driver’s insurance company immediately and file a claim for damages. If they are dragging their feet, you can file a claim through your own insurance company if you have collision insurance on your policy.

Your insurance company will then subrogate the claim (which means they would go after the other driver’s insurance company to recover the costs). However, this is more expensive for you than going through the other driver’s insurance company.

If you do go through your own, even if it is clearly the other driver’s fault, you are still responsible for the deductible, (typically $500 to $1,000), and while you might get that back through subrogation, it could take up to six months or a year.

How Am I Going To Pay For My Medical Bills While I Wait For My Car Accident Claim To Settle?

New York is a no-fault state. This means that every insured driver in New York State is entitled to at least $50,000 in medical coverage. Of course, this money will not be paid directly to you, but rather will be paid to the medical providers treating you.

This is why it is vital to set up a no-fault claim as soon as you are injured in an accident. Those bills will start getting paid even before you reach a settlement, and the money even covers a minimum of $2,000 a month for lost wages. (You are entitled to those lost wages for three years after the accident.)

What’s more, you are entitled to compensation for costs covered to get to and from your medical treatment. Your insurance company will pay a portion of those costs based on mileage, about 50 or 60 cents a mile. Naturally, if you are traveling every day to treatments like physical therapy, that adds up.

Is The $50,000 In Medical Coverage Available For Both Insured And Uninsured Drivers In New York?

This coverage is for any driver in your car, in your own vehicle, assuming it is insured. It could be you and your spouse, you and two kids, or even you and a friend. Your insurance company will cover up to $50,000 minimum in coverage. There are people who have excess coverage as well, of course, and that can be wise, but at least you can always count on the minimum if you are insured.

How Are Personal Injury Damages Calculated In A New York Car Wreck Injury Case?

Every accident and injury is different and will require different costs; part of the work of a personal injury is calculating all the damages that you can recover compensation for after an accident.

In general, this will include the cost of:

• Surgeries and hospitalization,
• Ongoing, past, or future medical treatment, including conservative treatment,
• Income lost due to time missed from work, including future disability,
• Emotional harm, suffering, and trauma,
• And more…

Everyone will need different treatments, so the exact costs will have to be calculated on a case-by-case basis. Your personal injury attorney will fight to the highest degree to get every dollar that you need and deserve.

Obviously, broken bones or amputation will have higher compensation totals than a couple of rounds of physical therapy or a year of seeing a chiropractor. Thus, the main component of your personal injury damages will always be the injuries and suffering you have endured and their financial and emotional cost.

What Will Hiring A New York Car Accident Attorney Do For My Personal Injury Case?

Chances are, after an accident with serious injuries, you are already under a lot of emotional and financial pressure. You should not have to bear that on your own and certainly not have to struggle to get insurance companies to pay you what you deserve on your own.

Between the paperwork, deadlines, investigations, and questions, a personal injury claim can be quite a challenge from start to finish. Handing it over to an experienced personal injury attorney takes that burden off of you so that you can focus on getting back to the state you were in before the accident.

A personal injury attorney, after years of working with the insurance companies in the state or region, knows how they work generally and may even personally know a lot of the adjusters. There are relationships that are built, which will end up benefiting you as it makes recovering the financial compensation you need faster and easier. For more information on Filing An Auto Accident Injury Claim In New York, an initial consultation is your next best step.