When Do You Need a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer?

After you’ve been injured in a motorcycle accident, you may wonder if you need a personal injury attorney to maximize your insurance claim. Dealing with an insurance company on your own may leave you frustrated, confused, and feeling like you’re being lowballed out of a higher settlement offer. An experienced personal injury attorney will make the insurer know that you are serious, to help you seek the settlement offer you need—so the sooner you enlist their help after your accident, the better your chances of receiving fair compensation.

This article will tackle when it’s in your interest to hire an attorney and what factors you should consider before selecting someone to represent your motorcycle accident claim.

Why Do You Need a Personal Injury Lawyer?

Negotiating with insurance companies is difficult. While you certainly hope that following your motorcycle accident, they’ll be willing to fairly compensate you for your injuries, often, this isn’t the case. Motorcycle accidents are complex and can lead to serious injuries and disagreements with the insurance company over who is at fault. If your insurance company is unwilling to offer you the amount of money you are owed, it’s time to hire a lawyer. Many factors can contribute to insurance companies’ reluctance to provide you with fair compensation, including:

1. A Lack of Evidence for Your Claim

Motorcycle wrecks are incredibly different from car accidents due to the size of the vehicle. Motorcycle wrecks usually cause less property damage than car wrecks, meaning there is generally less proof of what happened or who is at fault. And because victims of motorcycle accidents are often injured, collecting evidence may be difficult or impossible to find after the incident.

Any attorney will work diligently to collect any traces of evidence from the scene of the accident, including tracking down video footage, looking for driving history for the other driver, finding witnesses, and locating professionals who can provide expert testimony that will benefit your case.

2. Injuries Tend to Be More Severe for Victims of Motorcycle Accidents

Motorcycle accident victims lack the protection that larger vehicles offer, leaving them subject to far more significant injuries during a wreck, including broken bones, skin burns, and head and spinal cord injuries. For victims, this means that insurance companies may be less likely to offer them the payment they need for the number of damages they have been afflicted with. Insurers will attempt to search for any reason to pay less than their bottom line, including searching the victim’s background for any past medical conditions or legal violations that may exempt them from paying you the full settlement they need.

Because lawyers are prepared to deal with scrupulous insurance companies, they know how to use all the evidence available to argue for your case and defeat the common tactics insurers use.

3. You May Need Medical Experts to Testify on Your Behalf

Without expert witnesses, it can be challenging to prove to insurers that your injuries require long-term care and resources to recover. If you sustained severe injuries requiring physical therapy, medical follow-ups, or other kinds of long-term care, it’s vital to argue for your settlement to cover the costs of all future treatments. Because these costs may be hard to calculate, hiring an experienced lawyer can help tremendously. An attorney knows how much your case is actually worth and will seek an appropriate settlement to cover the projected costs of your medical care. Additionally, they will secure medical experts to testify on your behalf over the severity of your injuries.

4. You Need a Professional to Negotiate with Insurance

Negotiating with insurance companies on your own accord can be risky. It’s easy to say something that can accidentally incriminate yourself or jeopardize the details of your case without even realizing it. Furthermore, you may not always realize when the insurance company is giving you a reasonable offer and when it is not. To make a decent counteroffer, you’ll need to provide ample evidence to prove your claim, so enlisting the help of a skilled attorney can make this process much more manageable. An attorney is trained in the art of negotiation tactics, which aids in pursuing a successful case.

5. Judges and Insurers May Be Biased

For many, motorcyclists get a bad rap for being reckless drivers with risky driving habits. This stereotypical view of motorcyclists can often contribute to jurors, insurers, and judges believing that they did something to cause their injuries, especially if their case lacks decent evidence to prove otherwise. However, a personal injury lawyer will work to establish the character of a motorcycle accident victim and find ways to prove that the accident was not their fault.

Conclusion

Surviving a motorcycle accident is a harrowing event that no one should have to experience. When it does happen, however, you need to seek appropriate compensation for your injuries. Hiring a personal injury attorney helps you take the right steps forward to pursue recovery for your personal losses from your accident.

If you live in South Carolina or Georgia and have been injured in a motorcycle accident, the lawyers at the Hammack Law Firm can help. We will work hard to pursue the compensation that you need. To schedule a free consultation with us, call (864) 740-8653.