When you’re riding a motorcycle, you’re a lot less protected than you would be in a car, truck, or other enclosed vehicle. You’re also vulnerable to hazards on the road that could cause your bike to tip and fall, exposing you to great risk. So, a Decatur motorcycle accident attorney knows that the injuries in motorcycle accidents are often far more severe than in car accidents. In fact, the injuries often lead to wrongful death, and even when they do not, the injured biker is often so hurt that they must rely on family to do everything for them, including talking to an attorney about the potential for compensation.
An individual conversation with an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer is the best way to get answers to the questions you have. However, to provide some background information and get the thought process started, we want to discuss some of the questions we get most often at Michael M. Day Law Firm, LLC, regarding motorcycle accident claims.
Do I Need a Lawyer if the Insurance Company Has Already Offered Me a Settlement?
It might seem like a good idea to save yourself legal fees by skipping an attorney and accepting the settlement you’ve been offered by the insurance company. That is a quick and easy option, but it’s not the best choice if you want to receive fair compensation to offset your losses and meet future needs.
Remember that insurance companies are in business to make money, and they can save themselves a great deal of cash if they can get you to accept a settlement that is far less than what you’d get if you went to court or had a knowledgeable motorcycle accident lawyer negotiate on your behalf. A damage award after a motorcycle accident should include amounts to cover all your future medical needs stemming from the accident, and to make up for reductions in your future earnings caused by the changes in your life. It should also include substantial amounts to make up for your pain, suffering, and loss of opportunities and enjoyment.
An attorney who is familiar with motorcycle accident injuries will have a good sense of the needs you will face in the future and can work to ensure that you have the compensation you need to meet those needs. Your attorney will also be able to calculate a fair value for pain and suffering and other intangible effects of your injuries, which could potentially amount to millions of dollars. The insurance company is only going to offer a fair settlement when they know that you have solid proof to demonstrate liability and that you know how to justify the value of your intangible losses. Unless you have significant experience working with motorcycle accident liability, you need an attorney to get the results you deserve.
Does Insurance Cover My Accident Claim?
Before an attorney can answer this question, they need to know what type of insurance you’re talking about, who holds the policy, and what the policy covers. Like other motorists in Georgia, motorcycle riders are required to purchase liability insurance that covers bodily injuries and property damage. But liability insurance only covers harm that you cause to others in an accident. Liability insurance protects you if you are liable for causing a collision and someone is hurt or their property is damaged, but it does not pay for the cost of your medical needs.
Some motorists in Georgia purchase personal injury protection coverage (PIP) or Med-Pay coverage. These types of insurance will pay for injuries you suffer in an accident, regardless of who was at fault for causing the accident. Since this is not required, however, many people do not opt to purchase this coverage.
Your injuries might be covered by your health insurance policy, but when injuries occur due to a motorcycle accident, your insurance company may seek to be reimbursed by the person who caused the accident.
The best recovery you can get through insurance is to file a well-documented claim and send a demand letter to the insurance company of the person responsible for causing the accident. Once you prove liability, that insurance company would be required to pay not only your medical bills but also make up for lost wages and intangible effects such as pain and suffering. However, you will have to work hard to demonstrate liability, and that is where a motorcycle accident attorney comes in. At Michael M. Day Law Firm, we can investigate to determine why a collision occurred and who is at fault. We can also determine how much you should receive for multiple past and future consequences of your injuries, and present evidence persuasively to get full compensation for your losses.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer?
We can’t speak for other attorneys, but at Michael M. Day Law Firm, fees are handled on a contingency basis. That means that you only have to pay us if we succeed with your claim. And you never have to pay a dime up front.
What happens is that when you approve a settlement or win a verdict in court, we deduct our fee from the amount you receive. Our fee is based on a percentage of your recovery, so you don’t have to worry about billable hours when you talk to us. We want you to ask questions, and we want to take the time to understand the full range of needs and how your injuries have impacted your life. We are prepared to invest substantial time and resources in each case we take because our clients deserve no less.
If you schedule a free consultation with an attorney at our firm, we can explain the details about how the fee would work in your particular situation based on the circumstances of your case.
Can I Recover Compensation If I Wasn’t Wearing a Helmet?
If you were not wearing a helmet at the time you were injured in a motorcycle accident, your ability to recover compensation depends on a few different factors. For instance, if the accident caused burns and crushed bones in your leg, a helmet would not have prevented your injuries at all, so your attorney could argue that the failure to wear a helmet is irrelevant.
For a head injury, on the other hand, the insurance would argue that the lack of a helmet contributed to the severity of your injuries, and you might be considered at least partially at fault. Your ability to recover compensation would depend on the degree of fault assessed by the court. Failure to wear a helmet complicates your case, so it is a good idea to work with an attorney as early on as possible.
Get Answers to Your Specific Questions About Motorcycle Accidents
To find out how a claim for recovery might play out in your case, how the process would work, and what you might be able to recover, you can schedule a free case evaluation and consultation with a dedicated motorcycle accident attorney at Michael M. Day Law Firm. Just call 404-480-4284 or contact us online to get started. There are deadlines, and it becomes more difficult to prepare your claim as time passes; so, it is wise to contact us sooner rather than later.