Posted on Friday, February 3rd, 2017 at 2:08 am
Sometimes personal injury accident victims become confused when we talk about filing an injury insurance claim versus an accident lawsuit. They don’t understand why we begin with an insurance claim rather than file a lawsuit. However, there are good reasons why we begin with an injury insurance claim instead of jumping into an accident lawsuit.
Filing an Injury Insurance Claim
After an accident, we usually begin by filing an accident claim with the insurance company for the other party. A claim is a formal notice to the insurance company that you are claiming damages from the accident and that you are alleging the other party is liable for those damages. For example, if another driver turned left in front of you causing a collision, we would file an injury claim with the other driver’s insurance company.
Even though we are not filing a lawsuit, we treat the claim as if we are preparing for a lawsuit. Our Sacramento accident attorneys investigate the case to gather and preserve evidence we can use to establish fault and liability. We do this for several reasons. One, we want to present a strong claim, and we want to be prepared in the event we must file a lawsuit.
We begin by filing a claim because this choice is usually the most efficient, timely, and cost-effective method of settling an accident claim for our client. Most claims are settled out of court by filing an injury insurance claim. Unfortunately, there are cases in which we advise our clients to file an accident lawsuit.
Filing an Accident Lawsuit
If the at-fault party’s insurance company refuses to negotiate in a fair manner or completely denies liability, we will advise you to file an accident lawsuit. Because California law limits the time for you to file an accident lawsuit, we carefully monitor the time limits to ensure we file the lawsuit before the deadline if the insurance company is dragging its feet. Sometimes, we must file an accident lawsuit to preserve your right to pursue a claim even though we are close to a settlement because the deadline to file a lawsuit is very close.
By filing a lawsuit, we can conduct discovery to obtain additional evidence from the other party. The discovery phase of the lawsuit may include taking depositions, requesting records, submitting interrogatories (questions), and filing a request for admission. Many accident lawsuits never make to trial. After the discovery phase, we are able to reach an agreement with the other party without the necessity of going to trial.
Protect Your Rights by Hiring a Sacramento Personal Injury Attorney
Whether your case is resolved by filing an injury insurance claim or we must file an accident lawsuit, our Sacramento personal injury attorneys have the experience you want on your side. Our attorneys are skilled and talented negotiators in addition to experienced and effective trial attorneys. Let us fight for you right to receive full compensation for your injuries, losses, and damages.
Call the Tiemann Law Firm at (916) 999-9000 to schedule a free consultation and no-obligation case evaluation with one of our attorneys. Don’t wait too long to contact an attorney because your time to file a claim is limited.
