You should never accept the insurance company’s first offer after a car accident in Wichita Falls for a number of reasons. First, there is always room to negotiate. In a good negotiation, one person starts high, one person starts low, and the final agreement ends up somewhere in the middle. By taking the first offer, you are likely accepting the lowest amount. Secondly, you may not be done treating for your injuries and you want to be sure you know the final cost of your medical bills before you accept an offer. The last thing you want to do is accept an offer right away and then later on find out your medical bills are going to be much higher than you initially thought.
Sometimes, however, insurance companies may refuse to negotiate until you have a Wichita Falls car accident lawyer on your side. If you do end up choosing to accept the insurance company’s first offer on your car accident in Wichita Falls, you could be leaving thousands of dollars on the table.
Insurance companies and the insurance adjusters that work for them are not on your side. Their goal is to make money and the way they do that is by minimizing your claim and paying you as little as possible. They aren’t going to pay the maximum amount for your claim unless you provide them with every shred of evidence proving what you claim as worth. Sometimes, you even have to show a willingness to go through a lawsuit before they will cave and pay. As the everyday person with a career and a family, they know you don’t have the time or training to do all this. A Wichita Falls car accident lawyer who handles these situations all the time can help.
Before you accept an offer from an insurance company, contact our office at 940-569-4000 for a free, confidential, no-obligation consultation. We will give you a free evaluation of your case and let you know if the offer is any good. We can even offer you some helpful advice for how to proceed if you want to attempt to settle the claim on your own. We want to help make sure you aren’t being taken advantage of because we see that all too often.
You Don’t Always Have to Hire a Car Accident Lawyer
Just because a lawyer can help get the ball rolling and knows the right ways to handle insurance companies and get things done, that doesn’t mean that you always need to hire a lawyer for every accident. Although many attorneys might not admit it, but there are plenty of accidents where you don’t need to get a lawyer involved.
For example, small accidents that involve minimal property damage and minimum injuries don’t really need a lawyer. But there are steps you should take to ensure you are still being treated fairly. Check out our article on how to settle your case on your own.
So, When Should You Hire a Wichita Falls Car Accident Lawyer?
You are never required to hire a lawyer, but there are many situations where you would benefit greatly from having one. For example, it would be in your best interest to at least go speak with a lawyer about your Wichita Falls car accident in the following circumstances:
- Your suffered serious injuries such as broken bones, amputations, neck injuries, back injuries, brain injuries, paralysis, or damage to internal organs.
- Your injuries have left you disabled or impaired.
- Your injuries have left you disfigured and scarred.
- You are not done treating for your injuries yet.
- A company or government vehicle was involved in the accident.
- Multiple vehicles were involved in the accident.
- A semi or other large commercial vehicle was involved in the accident.
- The insurance company is claiming you were at fault, or even partially at fault.
- Your have been forced off of work due to your injuries and have lost income
- Your child suffered injuries
- The insurance company is offering you the policy limits
- The driver who caused the accident was drunk or under the influence
While there could be other circumstances where having an experienced Wichita Falls car accident lawyer could be beneficial, this covers the majority of them. An experienced attorney can handle all the hard work for you in the most effective way so you can focus on healing from your injuries and you can get the maximum amount of compensation you deserve.
Contact Our Wichita Falls Car Accident Lawyer
Booker Law represents accident victims in Wichita Falls and throughout Texas and Oklahoma. For more information, download our free book, The Traveler’s Guide to the Universe of Personal Injury. This book will give you an overview of personal injury cases and what they involve. You can also browse our website, which has a ton of additional, helpful information.
If you or a loved one has been in a car accident in Wichita Falls, fill out our contact form or call us at 940-569-4000 to set up a free, confidential, no-obligation consultation. We will give you a free evaluation of your case. We want to help.