Auto Accidents Archives | Westmoreland Injury Lawyers Blog

5 Big Tips for Filing a Car Accident Insurance Claim the Right Way

As we shared in the Your Complete Guide to Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer chapter on auto injury settlements, the settlement and claims process begins at the accident scene, even before you file your car accident insurance claim.

There are many actions you need to make sure you take following an auto accident—and one big thing you need to make sure you don’t do—to set the stage for a better claims experience, whether you’ve been seriously injured or not. Today’s post offers a few tips on those actions.

Of course, sometimes, insurance companies aren’t cooperative, especially in cases where injuries are involved. They often try to close claims much too quickly, and accident victims are left with insufficient compensation for their injuries. This is why it is imperative to contact an experienced personal injury lawyer when you’re hurt in a vehicle accident.

Seeking Chiropractic Care for Auto Accident Injuries

The main reason to make sure you have adequate bodily injury liability limits set up on your auto insurance policy is to allow you to visit all the medical specialists—from life-saving surgeons to chiropractors and other therapists—who can aid your recovery from an auto accident injury.

After all, even minor fender benders can cause chronic aches and pains associated with neck trauma and whiplash injuries. And believe it or not, your seatbelt doing its job of restraining you in a collision can cause shoulder problems, which are a top complaint that chiropractic care treats for car accident victims. Deploying airbags, designed to save your life in serious crashes, can cause physical pain issues, as well.

As experienced personal injury lawyers right here in Greensburg, we can often get the best personal injury case results and most compensation following an auto injury for those who seek medical treatment promptly and who follow up with specialists, as needed.

With that in mind, today’s post gives you some insight on working with chiropractors, who have unique training to help accident victims move past their musculoskeletal pain and more on the road to recovery.

$1 Million Award for Drunken Driver Victim

At our Westmoreland Injury Lawyers law office, there are a number of things that we do better as a law firm dedicated to serving our neighbors right here in Greensburg. While we’re a small law firm, our experienced and caring personal injury attorneys have the knowledge in a variety of specialties required to win cases and get justice for clients just like you.

Have you been hurt in an accident that wasn’t your fault? You’ll take a particular interest in today’s post.

This success story illustrates how our lawyers closely collaborated to get a drunk driving accident victim over $1 million for their injuries by leveraging workers’ compensation benefits, traditional personal injury law focused on auto accidents, and more.

What is Tort Law?

Tort law is the part of civil law that deals with acts or omissions that violate general social duties and cause harm—such an act or omission is called a “tort,” from words in French and Latin that mean a “wrong” or something “twisted” and unjust. In other words, if someone has wronged you, tort law might be the way to right that wrong.

But that’s a heavy definition, so let’s break it down a little bit.

You probably know you’ve been wronged because you’ve suffered some kind of harm. We usually think of physical injuries, but harm could also mean damage to or loss of property.

When someone wrongs you by not honoring an agreement you have with them, that would generally be a question for contract law, not tort law. Instead, tort law deals with actions or omissions that are wrong because society has generally decided we all have certain duties of how to treat each other even if we haven’t specifically agreed to those rules in a contract. For example, we all have duties not to punch people, steal things, or drive dangerously and cause car accidents. And notice that we usually say “acts or omissions,” because sometimes people do things they should not do, and sometimes they fail to do things they should do.

So tort law differs from contract law on the one hand, but it also differs from criminal law. If someone punches you, steals your property, or drives recklessly, they might be committing both a tort and a crime. But criminal law is about the government holding people accountable for committing wrongs against the public order, which harms society in general. The purpose of tort law is to right wrongs between private parties, mainly by making the wrongdoer compensate the victim of the tort for the injuries and other harm they suffered. The fact that it’s about disputes between private parties (individuals, but also businesses or organizations, or even the government in certain situations, such as poor road design) is what makes it part of “civil law.”

What to Know About Auto Injury Settlements

Your Complete Guide to Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer – CHAPTER 2

Car accidents, even when they seem minor, can cause all sorts of pain and suffering for victims. And insurance companies are infamous for treating injuries as less serious than they are. How can you be sure that the steps you’re taking to resolve your accident—beginning just moments after it has occurred—are the right ones that will help you get the compensation you need and deserve?

Our Top Tips for Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer

Your Complete Guide to Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer – CHAPTER 1

Finding an experienced and compassionate personal injury lawyer who can fight for your rights when you’ve been hurt on the job, in an auto accident, or as the result of a medical mistake may seem like an intimidating or overwhelming task. However, with a little preparation and knowing the right questions to ask during an initial consultation, it doesn’t have to be.

As part of our ongoing post series, your complete guide to hiring a personal injury attorney is right here on our blog to make your search for the best personal injury lawyers easy and worry-free. Today we’re bringing you our top tips and questions to ask before and during a consultation with a prospective legal partner so you can get the most out of this conversation and ultimately hire the lawyer that’s right for you and your unique case. Here are your “must-dos.” Continue reading “Our Top Tips for Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer”

Your Complete Guide to Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer

When you are hurt in an auto accident, on the job, or as the result of a medical mistake, it’s easy to feel confused or overwhelmed in dealing with the aftermath. You may have expensive healthcare or even regular household bills that you have no idea how you can pay, especially if you are off work and have no paycheck coming in. You may have been unfairly treated by insurance companies, doctors, your employer, or others who should be trustworthy but are only looking out for their own best interests.

This is when you need someone who’s looking out for you – an experienced personal injury attorney who can help you put a nightmarish situation behind you and get you the compensation – and justice –you deserve. We can help you replace lost wages, deal with creditors, and stop bill collectors in addition to fighting back against those who have mistreated you.

Today we’re beginning a new post series here on the blog to show you everything you need to know about when you should hire a personal injury lawyer, including how to find the most experienced and compassionate legal representation right in your local community. We invite you to stop back frequently for updates and to learn more about the services that the best personal injury law firms offer. Continue reading “Your Complete Guide to Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer”

How You Can Prepare Yourself for Uninsured Drivers

Imagine this nightmare scenario: you’re seriously injured in an auto accident, and the person who hit you doesn’t have any insurance. True, they are driving illegally in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as our state’s laws require all motorists to be insured. Unfortunately, that scofflaw’s actions will not help you pay your medical bills or recover your lost wages when you can’t work due to your injuries. Suing the at-fault driver may not do much good either since they probably have nothing to give you. They were likely driving uninsured because they could not afford to pay even the modest premiums associated with minimum coverage policies. This is the case for millions across the United States. So what happens now?

If you only have minimum coverage yourself, your insurance will only pay up to $15,000 for bodily injury per person per accident (with a limit of $30,000 per incident), and we all know that doesn’t add up to much in modern American medicine. Uninsured (UM) and underinsured (UIM) motorist coverage is available for purchase with all policies, but since it’s not required in our state, many drivers skip it, and minimum coverage policies definitely do not include it. Obviously, our Pennsylvania minimum insurance requirements are designed to save drivers money on premiums, which is important, but the downside is this budget coverage may actually prove quite costly.

Let’s look at how you can protect yourself from the uninsured and underinsured drivers who are on the roads with you and assure that you have all the coverage you need to avoid the misery of financial problems following an accident. Continue reading “How You Can Prepare Yourself for Uninsured Drivers”