How Can an Accident Lawyer Assist With Insurance Claims?

Having an accident lawyer on your side can make a big difference when you’re trying to bring an insurance claim. While many people think that an accident lawyer in New York is really only someone you need if you’re filing a lawsuit, a skilled attorney can do a lot more than just represent you in court.

Understanding Your Rights and Options

If you hope to get all the compensation you’re entitled to under New York law, you need to know what rights you have and all your options for obtaining compensation. Because of New York’s no fault rules in car accidents, in a lot of cases, you will be making a claim against your own insurance company. However, there are cases where you can make claims against the other driver’s insurance for various things.

If you’ve had property damage, you may be able to make a claim to cover things like your deductible and out-of-pocket expenses that you have as you get your car fixed, even if the primary cost of fixing the car comes from your own insurance policy. If you are injured so badly that it qualifies as a serious injury under New York law, you can bring a lawsuit. Additionally, even if you or another driver primarily caused the accident, if there was a third party not a driver who bears some blame, this may provide another avenue for compensation. Essentially, you don’t know what all your rights and options are until you talk with a qualified lawyer.

Gathering and Preserving Evidence

For you to get all the compensation that you need after an accident, you have to bring solid evidence before the insurance company. If they deny your claim, good evidence allows you to fight the denial effectively. As a lay person, you may not know all the evidence you need and where to find it. Your lawyer will, and your lawyer will also know how to document and preserve it properly.

Negotiating with Insurance Companies

Even when you are making a claim against your own insurance company, your goals and theirs are fundamentally at odds. As a business, an insurance company needs to bring in more money than it lets out, which gives them an incentive to minimize their payouts.

Insurance companies are notorious for using legal jargon, complicated technicalities, and delay tactics to deny valid claims or pay out less than requested. It’s even not unheard of for an insurance company to have an unspoken internal policy to always deny a claim the first time, forcing customers automatically to challenge the claim to get what their policies clearly award them. Lawyers understand all the tactics that insurance adjusters can use and how to counter them.

Calculating the Full Extent of Damages

It’s not always straightforward to calculate the full extent of the damages you’re owed. It’s easy to concentrate just on the big items, like your medical bills and the cost of replacing a car, but your lawyer will help you think about other things, like ongoing medical treatment and possible rehabilitation, lost opportunities for overtime or promotion, and other possibilities.

For expert assistance with your insurance claims, contact Miller, Montiel & Strano, PC, in Garden City, NY today for help anywhere in the city or in Nassau County. 

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