Car Crash Compensation: Mississippi Personal Injury Claim Details
Mississippi is consistently ranked among the deadliest states in the US in terms of car accidents. But for every passenger and driver killed on the road, there are many times that number injured, often seriously. This article explains some of the complicated but important scenarios that arise when trying to recover compensation using the personal injury system in Mississippi, including:
- How being partially at fault for your accident will affect your personal injury compensation.
- How to receive compensation for your injuries when you are hit by a driver without insurance.
- How your personal injury claim compensation will be calculated after an accident.
How Will Partial Responsibility For The Car Accident That Caused My Injuries Impact My Personal Injury Claim?
In some states, if you are in a car accident which you bear some of the blame for, you are entirely barred from recovering financial compensation for your accident.
Fortunately, Mississippi is not one of those states. Instead, your total compensation is reduced by your percentage of blame. For example, if you had a claim for $100,000 for medical coverage on an accident where you were 20% at fault, you would only be able to obtain $80,000.
Blame is often subjective and unclear. Having an attorney on your side who will help argue the facts of the case to show why you bear less responsibility can greatly impact the eventual settlement or jury verdict.
The situation becomes even more complicated if you are in an accident with a driver who does not have insurance or does not have sufficient insurance to cover your damages.
Can I Still File A Personal Injury Claim If I Was Injured In A Car Accident Caused By An Uninsured Or Underinsured Driver?
No matter what the insurance situation of either driver is, you can always file a claim. That said, chances are that will be pointless unless you have uninsured motorist coverage on your own car insurance.
If both you and the person that hit you are uninsured, you can still file a claim. You could even win, but you are not going to get anything unless the driver is quite wealthy.
However, if you at least have insurance, you can use your uninsured motorist coverage if you have it. This can be used to supplement the insurance of a driver with too long of a policy to cover your injuries, or instead of the other driver’s if they have no insurance coverage at all.
Obviously, doing so is more complicated, and more difficult, but it is certainly possible for an experienced personal injury attorney.
Do I Still Need To Hire An Attorney To Claim Compensation For My Injuries If The Other Driver Was Clearly At Fault?
While fault is one source of conflict and complication during personal injury claims in Mississippi, it is far from the only one. Once the fault is decided and clear, it then becomes a pocketbook dispute as the insurance company fights you every step of the way over the value of your case and claim.
That is why you still need an attorney – and not just any attorney. You need a skilled and experienced attorney who knows exactly how to handle your kind of case and how to take on the insurance companies you will be going up against.
If you were guilty of a crime, facing 20 years of possible jail time, would you want the attorney who will be able to negotiate that down to five, or the public defender, with whom you might end up doing ten or even twenty years? Personal injury cases are also up for negotiation, so you need a real champion on your side.
But an attorney is not just your advocate in court and negotiations. From the start of the case to the finalization of bureaucratic details and paperwork, they will help you through this incredibly difficult process.
For example, if Medicare or Medicaid are involved, there will be statutory liens and obligations to pay. You also have obligations to your personal insurance. If the injury is severe enough, you might need life care plans or experts to establish the value of the claim. These are all crucial steps an attorney will help you deal with.
Finally, an attorney will help you calculate the exact amount of compensation you are owed for your injury, which is a complicated process in its own right.
How Are Personal Injury Damages Calculated In Mississippi Car Wreck Injury Cases?
When it comes to calculating the value of all the damages you have suffered as a result of a car accident and injury, everything gets taken into account. From your medical costs to the emotional and psychological harm to lost work income, a personal injury attorney will add everything up.
The starting point should always be your medical bills, however. Here, it is vital that you listen to your doctor and receive the treatment they recommend for your recovery. If you do not, the insurance company will use that against you. They will question your injury and your symptoms if you choose not to get the recommended care.
This is also why an attorney will help you get medical treatment even if you cannot afford it. Those costs are then added up and will be paid to you and your medical providers out of the final settlement.
To those initial medical bills, we will add all the other costs, physical therapy, mileage for trips to the doctor, prescriptions, medicines like Neosporin, and even any lost wages due to your inability to work, including in the future. These are all considered “economic” damages because they have clearly and easily defined costs.
Next, we turn to “non-economic” damages. These are the harder-to-quantify but no less real impacts on your day-to-day life or emotional state.
They include your own pain and suffering, but also that of those close to you, such as the lack of marital consortium if you can no longer enjoy the same kind of relationship with your spouse. You may even want to start a diary or journal to track the impact of the injury on your day-to-day life because every detail can be relevant.
The sheer volume and complexity of all these sources of harm, and hence of compensation, make trying to prepare your own comprehensive personal injury case a nightmare. This complexity is one of the main reasons why it is so important to hire an attorney to help you with your claim.
What Will Hiring A Mississippi Car Accident Attorney Do For My Personal Injury Case?
Your personal injury attorney will make sure that you are as fully compensated as the available insurance will allow, that you get the treatment you need when you need it, and that after the claim process is done, that treatment is fully paid for.
Best of all, personal injury attorneys do not usually charge anything until a settlement or jury verdict has been granted in your favor. This means you do not have to worry about paying for their services, and you will always end up with more money than you had without an attorney to help. For more information on Filing An Auto-Accident Personal Injury Claim In Mississippi, an initial consultation is your next best step.
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