Darlington, SC Car Accident Lawyer
Car accidents can leave you with extreme injuries that take months or years for full recovery. Even without such serious injuries, you may be left with expensive medical bills and time away from work that make a huge impact on your finances.
For help moving forward, work with a lawyer. We can look into your insurance policy and file claims with the at-fault driver’s policy. If they refuse to pay, we can even take the case to court to get you the financial relief you need.
For your free case review, call Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers’ car accident attorneys at (803) 451-4000.
What Damages Can You Get in a Car Accident Case?
These are four of the core areas of damages most car accident victims need compensated:
Medical Expenses
The cost of treating your injuries can be incredibly high. If someone else caused your accident, they should be the ones paying these costs – usually through their insurance. You should not have to pay for medical care for an accident you did not cause.
Lost Wages
The same is true for lost wages. If the crash caused you to miss work now or into the future, the driver should be responsible for replacing those wages.
Many car accident victims face permanent disabilities that affect their ability to work going forward, resulting in ongoing wage-loss damages.
Vehicle Damage
The cost of repairing your car might be quite expensive, too. If your car was “totaled,” you may be able to claim the remaining value of your vehicle instead, putting that toward a replacement car.
Pain and Suffering
Many of the other harms you face from a crash are not economic, but physical, mental, and emotional. These are often lumped together under names like “pain and suffering” or “non-economic damages,” but they account for mental anguish, emotional distress, and many other areas of harm.
How to File an Insurance Claim
Never try to file an insurance claim on your own.
Call a Lawyer Before Talking to Insurance
Your lawyer can file your claim and guide you through what you can and cannot say to insurance. It is vital that you follow your lawyer’s advice to avoid producing conflicting versions of your story or giving them statements they can use against you.
File Claim
Our lawyers can file your claim and send demand letters detailing how much you need in compensation. We can also provide the evidence to back up our claims, such as medical bills, pay stubs, and more.
Negotiate Damages
From there, we can negotiate directly with the insurance adjusters and lawyers. They will often try to reach a fair settlement with lawyers, while they might offer only low-dollar initial offers directly to victims.
If they refuse to negotiate, we can escalate the case by filing a lawsuit.
How to File a Lawsuit
Lawsuits are not necessary in every case, but when the insurance company is being uncooperative, it may be the only way to press them into paying your damages. If they still refuse, the jury can award damages, but we have to prove the case first.
Collect Evidence
We cannot file your claim until we have the evidence to back up the claim. This means securing your medical records, analyzing the vehicle damage, and performing investigations.
Filing Claim
We can file a formal claim in court and serve the defendant with a copy to start official court proceedings. This must be filed within 3 years of the crash.
Progressing Case
From there, we can move forward to the discovery stage of the case. There, we can depose witnesses, get records and evidence in the defendant’s possession, and do more research. After discovery, all of the facts are known, and it is likely that if a settlement will happen, it will happen now.
Trial
If the defendant still refuses to settle, we can take the case to trial. At trial, the judge decides legal questions, such as objections, and the jury decides the facts, who was at fault, and how much they owe you.
What to Do After a Crash
After an accident, take the following steps:
- Call 911 to report the accident and request an ambulance.
- Get the other driver’s name, contact info, and insurance info.
- Get the make, model, and license plate number for all vehicles involved.
- Get all witness contact info.
- Write down any important details about signs, weather, lighting, and roadway conditions.
- See if any nearby security cameras were pointed in the direction of the accident so our lawyers can seek this footage later.
- Get medical care – skip the other steps if you need immediate care and cannot wait at the scene.
Our car accident lawyers can seek further evidence by collecting your medical records, seeking damage appraisals, and requesting security video from nearby buildings.
FAQs for Car Accidents in Darlington, SC
Do You Need an Attorney?
Yes. You can legally put forth a case without a lawyer, but it is practically quite difficult. It is very hard to know what your damages are worth, to negotiate your claim with insurance, and to take the case to trial, all while dealing with a serious, potentially disabling, injury.
How Long Do You Have to File?
South Carolina’s statute of limitations gives you 3 years to file your case.
When Should You Call a Lawyer?
Call a lawyer as soon as you can after the accident. Do this before talking to insurance, and certainly call a lawyer before accepting any money for your case.
If you do accept money, it could function as a settlement and end your case then and there.
What if You Were Partially at Fault?
Many cases involve mistakes on both sides. The important thing under South Carolina law is that the defendant’s fault was greater than your own (i.e., you are 50% at fault, maximum).
As long as that is true, you can still recover damages – they will just be limited to the defendant’s share of fault. You lose damages proportional to your own share of fault.
Call Our Car Accident Lawyers in Darlington, SC Today
Call (803) 451-4000 for a free case evaluation with the car accident lawyers at Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers today.
