You aren’t the first person to be in a car accident in Ann Arbor. They happen almost daily, and that’s why insurance was created. Humans are reckless and thoughtless when driving vehicles, and they often cause car accidents. If you were hurt in a car accident, you might be able to file a car accident claim.
Although Michigan is a no-fault insurance state, there are many occasions in which you would be able to file a claim against the at-fault driver. If your damages are excessive or your injuries serious, you could qualify to file a claim. It’s always best to talk to a lawyer to find out for sure whether you have a solid case.
The first thing you should do after a car accident is seek medical assistance. You need to focus on your health first. After you receive medical care, you should do what you can to obtain evidence related to your crash. You can also have a friend or family member collect evidence on your behalf.
You could use police reports, crash reports, crash scene expert statements, witness statements, photo evidence, video evidence, physical evidence, and more to prove your car accident claim. You should also collect evidence of your medical injuries and expenses. You will need them later to prove your damages.
After you have enough evidence to prove your case, it’s time to calculate your claim. This includes adding up all of your accident-related losses to come up with an amount of money you want in a settlement. You can add up all of your financial losses, such as lost wages, medical costs, property damage, transportation expenses, and more.
You can also keep track of your non-financial issues related to your car accident and determine an amount of money that you think compensates you for the accident and what you went through. A lawyer can help you with all of these calculations.
Next, you need to put all of this information together into a claim. You need to do some paperwork and send in your claim to the at-fault person’s insurance company. The insurer is probably the one who will be paying you for your losses.
Finally, the insurer should pay you a settlement. If your insurance provider doesn’t agree to your settlement request, you can go to court. Insurers don’t like to go to court, so you can usually settle your case out of court.
Filing a car accident claim is not easy. There is a lot of legal work that goes into the process. If you aren’t a lawyer, you could get cheated out of a fair settlement by a less than fair insurance company.
Contact an Ann Arbor car accident lawyer with Christensen Law to start working on your claim. Call 248-213-4900 or you can check out our website to learn more about the process.