Car Accident Attorney Gwinnett County

If you’ve been in a car crash, the first thing you should do is call 911 and get the due medical attention. Even if you think that you’re okay and there are no visible injuries, consult a doctor, nevertheless, as delayed pain is not uncommon. You could also make a call to the police so they could investigate the scene and gather valuable evidence while it’s still fresh. If you’re fit enough, take a quick survey of the scene and see if there are any witnesses who’d be willing to give a statement to the insurance companies. If yes, take their number. You could also take photos and videos of the scene. Call a county car accident lawyer once you get discharged from the hospital.

Usually, the case of auto accidents and motor vehicle accidents is resolved outside of court since lawsuits can prove to be expensive for both parties. The two parties, their car accident attorneys, and the insurance companies negotiate and try to reach an agreeable settlement with all the concerned parties. So to file an injury claim, you don’t have to go to court. However, if the insurance firm is not willing to give you the compensation that you deserve, you can file a lawsuit against them and let the courts decide. Although, your lawyer would advise a case only as a last resort. Most of their efforts would be toward reaching an out-of-court settlement, as they are relatively quick and inexpensive to resolve.

Before you barge into the offices of an insurance firm, you need to hire a lawyer and collect bits of information that would help your case. For starters, you’d need the contact information of the people involved in the accident and the eyewitnesses of the crash. Photos and videos of the accident scene and your injuries could further strengthen your claim. In addition to this, the official police reports and the doctors’ statements that tended to your injuries could help your cause as well. You can talk to an attorney about what other kinds of information can be used to prove negligence on the part of the defendant.

If you have reasons to believe that you could be partly at fault for the accident, the first thing to remember is not to admit guilt. If you give a statement saying that you think your inattentiveness played a role, too, rest assured, the insurance firm will try everything in its might to pin the blame for the accident on you. The next thing to know is that even if investigations reveal that you were partly at fault for the accident, you could be entitled to some percentage of the claim as per Georgia law. This is called modified comparative negligence. Your total claim would get reduced by the percentage of your fault. So if you were 30% at fault, your comprehensive compensation would decrease by 30%. However, it is noteworthy that you should be less than 50% at fault for your claim to hold any water. If your responsibility exceeds 50%, you will be unable to recover any money.

You must file your Gwinnett County car accident lawsuit before the statute of limitations expires. Georgia law says you have up to two years from the date of your accident to file your claim. However, if you file a claim with the insurance company, you might have as few as 30 days. Those who fail to file their claims before these deadlines lose the opportunity to hold the liable party accountable to the fullest extent of the law.