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If your pain is strong enough that you believe medical attention is necessary, then you should absolutely go to the emergency room. Sometimes, especially with soft tissue injuries, the pain doesn't develop until later. It is common for people to see their doctor later in the day or the next day when they start to feel the pain.
You should always cooperate with your own insurance company; however, we would never suggest that anyone give a statement to the opposing insurance company without consulting with a lawyer. The reason is the other person's insurance company has their insured's version of the accident as well as an accident report. In a slip and fall case, we often allow insurance adjusters for the premises to take a recorded statement from our client if we are present.
No, not directly. The only thing that you, on your own, or an attorney is going to obtain from the other driver's insurance company is ultimately a lump sum of money by way of settlement, or a judgment after a trial of your case for all of your damages, including the injury; the medical bills incurred; the pain and suffering; lost time from work; lost wages; and potentially loss of consortium of a spouse. In this regard, we advise clients to utilize their own automobile insurance coverage for medical payments to the extent of its limits and whatever group insurance they have as a primary/secondary carrier to cover all medical bills. This insures the bills are paid now as opposed to not paid until the case is settled, which can result in credit problems.
In the State of Indiana, if the other person does not have insurance, it is likely that you or the driver of the car are in will have both uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage to the same extent of their own liability coverage. Uninsured motorist coverage must be rejected by you or the owner of the vehicle in writing, or it must be issued by the insurance company. Uninsured motorist coverage is provided to protect you in just that type of situation: when you are involved in an accident with someone else and that person does not have insurance. Your lawyer will ultimately settle the case for a lump sum of money with your insurance company. Your insurance company will pay the damages up to the extent of your coverage by settlement or trial.
Indiana has a comparative fault law with regard to negligence accidents. Your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault. In other words, if you were determined by the jury to be 15% at fault, then the amount of your damages are reduced by 15%. The only time you would not be able to recover is if the fault assessed to you was 51% or more.
No. The only way you can collect money for an injury that occurred on someone's property for damages, is if the owner of the property is somehow negligent in causing the injury. Beyond that, if the property owner has insurance coverage that includes medical pay, you can collect the medical pay to reimburse you for your medical bills or to pay your medical bills to the extent of the coverage or limits of that policy. This is often only $1,000.00 to $5,000.00.
That is a personal choice you have to make. In the case of any claim against a governmental agency (city, state, county, school, etc.), there is a Tort Claim Notice requirement that must be served within a certain amount of time, the shortest of which is 180 days. We, of course, as a firm which has been handling this type of case for over fifty years, believe we can present your case for compensation for your injuries better than an individual can for themselves. The quicker you hire an attorney, the quicker that attorney can start working on the case as fast as the other side's insurance company's attorney or representatives.
Almost all, if not all, personal injury cases are on what is called a contingent fee basis. Indiana requires that such an agreement be in writing. That is on a percentage basis so that there are no legal fees unless there is a settlement or recovery at trial.
In Indiana, the statute of limitations for all personal injury cases is two years from the date of the accident. There are certain exceptions that extend the time, but they are very limited. Obviously, depending on the complexity of how the injury happened, a lawyer needs sufficient time to investigate and determine who the proper parties are to sue. In short, as soon as you think you need an attorney for your injury case, you should hire one right away.
You can certainly talk to friends and acquaintances regarding the reputation of lawyers in your area regarding certain types of cases. While the yellow pages are available to indicate, through advertising, what types of cases different firms handle, a better source is Martindale-Hubble, which has a website that is accessible where lawyers are actually rated by their peers. An AV rating is the highest rating that a lawyer can have for his or her skill and acknowledge of the law, and honesty and integrity. Certainly, many firms, as this one does, now have websites to provide additional information regarding the firm and the lawyers in it.