Are you wondering whether or not to hire an attorney after your accident? This should not be a hard decision to make. If you were not the cause of your own injury, you definitely need to take action. If you don’t feel like footing the bill for an accident you didn’t cause, you should hire a Labor & Industry (workers’ compensation) lawyer as soon as possible.
Is Your Insurance Company Turning You Down?
One of the best reasons to hire an L&I attorney is to let your insurance company know that you are not prepared to take no for an answer. Hiring a lawyer is your best bet to serve notice to them that you don’t intend to accept a paltry payout. To do so would be to let them add insult to your already existing injuries. Filing a claim is your way of saying no.
This is crucial because insurance companies are in business to take in money via the premiums that you pay each month. They are not well disposed to simply hand out money anytime one of their clients files a claim. They may well try to deny your claim for any number of reasons. This will be their way of saving money at your expense.
They may try to say that your claim was not filed at the right time or that it was the wrong type of claim. They may say that you are not owed the amount you are asking for under the terms of your policy. As a result, they may offer you a pitifully small amount. They may even try to deny you any payout. If this occurs, you need a lawyer.
Are Your Bills Spiraling Out of Control?
Another very vital reason for you to call a lawyer is to try to get control over your rapidly mounting bills. You will have a ton of them to pay after you receive treatment for your injuries. These will include the cost of care, the cost of your stay in the hospital, the cost of your ride in the ambulance, and the cost of continuing rehab or physical therapy.
Where is all of this money going to come from? If your insurance company has turned you down, you will end up paying out of pocket. This means that you will rapidly empty your bank account. Meanwhile, you may have had to take so much time off from your job that you used up all of your paid days. You may since have been given the heave-ho.
If this is the case, you now have no income and no way to pay your rapidly increasing bills. This means that you may be in danger of losing your home, car, and a host of other assets. The only way to avoid this will be to hire a lawyer. This will be the legal expert you can count on to get you the money you need to settle your bills.
Do You Know How to File Your Claim?
The last thing to keep in mind is that even when you know you need to file a claim, you may not know how to. These are complex legal matters that are like a foreign language to amateurs. You may not know that your claim may be subject to a very strict statute of limitations in your state. A lawyer will be the one to clue you in on this.
Your lawyer will also be able to assist you in a thousand other very crucial ways. They can give you the aid and counsel that you will need to stand up to very harsh questioning from the lawyer for the opposing side. This will help you to avoid getting your story mixed up or getting your entire case dismissed.
It’s Time to File Your Claim
There is no time like the present to file your claim in a court of law. Your L&I lawyer will be there to help you file your claim on time and in the correct manner. This will be the crucial level of support that you will need to make your case. The sooner you get started on making your claim, the sooner you can get your full payout.
Author information: Tracie Johnson is a New Jersey native and an alum of Penn State University. Tracie is passionate about writing, reading, and living a healthy lifestyle. She feels happiest when around a campfire surrounded by friends, family, and her Dachshund named Rufus.
