You’ve just experienced a painful accident and you wonder if you can file a pain and suffering claim without a lawyer. If you aren’t familiar with how you can work with a lawyer, you might not want to go through that process.
In this article, we are going to talk about how to get money from a car accident or other injury without a lawyer. Continue reading to learn whether or not you need a lawyer after a car accident or other injury.
The 411 on Filing a Pain and Suffering Claim Without a Lawyer
After going through your accident, you might not want to share your settlement with a lawyer. Whether it is car accidents, slip and falls or another type of accident, you can file a claim without a lawyer.
When Should You Consider Self Representation?
If you’re still on the fence whether you should represent yourself or not, there are some instances that it does make sense to DIY the process. Two of the things you need to think about are how badly you were hurt and is it clear that the other party is at fault.
You have a severe injury that is going to make it difficult for you to do the necessary work to get a settlement for your case, you might want to hire an attorney but if your injury is minor, there isn’t any reason that you can’t take care of it yourself. If it’s obvious that the other party is at fault, you likely don’t need an attorney’s help since they will settle pretty quickly.
What to Do Before Sending a Demand Letter
Before you send a demand letter, you need to make sure you have everything in order. If you don’t have everything in order before you send your demand letter, they might respond before you’re prepared which could hurt your case.
Document All Proof
Don’t depend on anyone else to keep copies of important documents or keep track of witnesses and other important information. You need to document and keep all proof on hand in a safe location.
Take pictures at the scene of the accident as well as taking pictures of the property damage and injuries. Get a copy of the police report if you were in a car accident.
Get Medical Treatment
Before you do anything legally, you should take care of yourself. If you don’t get medical treatment in a timely manner, the validity of your case may be in question. You should also keep all of your medical records and bills for proof that you had expenses that either you or your insurance had to pay.
Estimate Your Damages
Most personal injury claims have two types of damages which are special damages and general damages. Damages that you can calculate are special damages and damages that you can’t calculate are general damages.
Special damages include lost earnings and the present value of your damage. General damages include pain and suffering which can be difficult to value.
You may want to use a personal injury settlement calculator to get an idea of how much money you should ask for in pain and suffering damages.
Sending Your Demand Letter
Once you know what you want to ask for, this is the time you have to send your demand letter. It is best to send your demand letter only after you know exactly what is going on with you, your body and life so you can get a proper valuation of your case before demanding payment.
You will have to outline why the other party is liable for the injuries, the nature, and extent of your injuries, the financial losses linked to the injury and any other losses.
Counter or Accept?
When you get a settlement offer, you might get excited but you should know that the first offer is likely to be a low ball offer that you aren’t going to want. If you don’t have an attorney, you might be tempted to accept the settlement and be on your way but you shouldn’t be afraid to counter the settlement offer.
If they counter your offer again, you’ll need to decide if you’re going to accept it, sign a release and go about your life or if you want to go to court and fight it. Going to court and representing yourself is a whole other ballgame than filing information with the court and speaking to the other side over a negotiation table.
When you’re deciding if you want to take the settlement or not, think about all of the time, effort and pain and suffering a court case would put you through. You’ll have to win the jury over to see your point of view and if your case isn’t one where it is easy to tell who is at fault, you may have a 50/50 chance of winning.
You aren’t looking to get rich off of the settlement, your goal is to get a fair settlement to pay for the loss that you’ve experienced and the loss you’ll experience in the future because of the injury.
Learn More About Legal Matters
Now that you know how to file a pain and suffering claim without a lawyer, you might want to learn more about legal issues. We have a site full of helpful articles that can make you a more knowledgeable citizen.
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