Can You Represent Yourself in a Car Accident Case?

Car accidents affect thousands of Americans every day, causing injuries, fatalities and property damage. The course of your life can be changed in an instant, leaving you wondering how to cope with health issues and financial obligations.

You may qualify to seek compensation when someone else causes a car accident that injures you. You might wonder if you have to hire a lawyer or if you can represent yourself. Big Auto explains.

Can You Represent Yourself in a Car Accident Case?

There is no law requiring you to hire a car accident lawyer. Many people think they can represent themselves just as easily without any change in the outcome. We’ll explore some of these common myths about self-representation to evaluate their merit.

1. Car Accident Claims Are Simple

Very few car accident claims are simple, especially those involving injuries or fatalities. Depending on the circumstances of the collision, the claim might be incredibly complex. If you make missteps in handling your claim, you might lose your right to seek compensation or receive only a minimal amount.

2. Insurance Companies Are Your Friends

While insurance company representatives might be friendly, these companies are in business to make a profit. The less they spend paying claims, the more profits they can keep. Most insurers have strategies in place to minimize how much they pay, even for valid claims.

3. You Know How Much Your Claim Is Worth

Most people can calculate accident-related expenses pretty accurately. Just add up your medical and vehicle repair bills, right? When state laws allow, injured accident victims may qualify for many types of compensation, including some that don’t have dollar amounts attached. If you are unaware of all the damages you can seek, you may lose money.

4. Lawyers Cost Too Much Money

Most car accident attorneys take a percentage of your settlement amount as payment. Building a successful claim takes time, effort and expense, but we understand that many people involved in car accidents are unable to pay substantial retainers. That’s why Big Auto offers free case evaluations and doesn’t require any upfront costs from our clients. In fact, your case is free if we don’t win.

5. Payouts Won’t Change With Attorney Involvement

Most people who have legal representation in car accident claims obtain significantly higher amounts of compensation than those who handle their claims alone.

Why Should You Hire an Auto Accident Attorney?

We’ve covered reasons you might think you don’t need a lawyer, but discovering the many ways a competent attorney can benefit you may shed more light on the matter.

1. Your Health

If you sustain injuries in a car accident, your primary focus should be your health and recovery. Jumping through insurance and legal hoops doesn’t give you the chance to relax and mend; in fact, it can add stress that may prolong your recovery.

When you hire Big Auto, we will take care of your accident-related administrative tasks. We will also handle communications with the insurance companies involved. If you have issues getting adequate medical care or car repair estimates, we can help with that, too.

Hiring a car accident lawyer lets you focus on what’s important while we handle what’s necessary.

2. Legal Knowledge

Laws governing car accident claims vary, sometimes even in the same state. Unless you are knowledgeable about these laws, you may not realize how they can affect your case. Negligence laws determine your eligibility to seek compensation and how much you can receive; statutes of limitations provide deadlines for filing claims, and court systems have preferred protocols.

Big Auto’s nationwide network of attorneys has local, relevant knowledge about applicable laws, procedures and deadlines. We will be sure to cross every “T” and dot every “I” while representing your best interests.

3. Investigations

In many car accident cases, multiple parties share the fault. The more parties involved, the more complex these cases become. It may take a detailed, in-depth investigation to uncover who is responsible and how much liability they bear.

Conducting a thorough investigation can use a lot of financial resources. It also takes time, skill and the knowledge of what evidence to look for and how to find it.

Many people are unable to perform investigations, but Big Auto can.

4. Insurance Company Dealings

As we mentioned earlier, insurance companies want to keep their money. Many utilize various tactics to get out of paying you what you deserve, such as:

• Recording verbal conversations while tricking you into admitting fault for causing the crash
• Intentionally offering you less than they know your case is worth
• Delaying your case, hoping you will be desperate enough to accept lowball offers
• Not providing for non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering
• Denying a claim that they know is valid

If you fall for these tactics, you can damage your claim and chance for reasonable compensation.

Big Auto can handle all communications with insurance company representatives, investigators and adjusters on your behalf. While insurers may still try to get away with minimizing your payments, they typically change their stance when they realize you have an attorney on your side.

5. Negotiations

Did you realize that you don’t have to accept an insurance company’s initial offer for compensation? Many people think it’s a “take it or leave it” proposition, not realizing that they can negotiate for a higher amount.

Insurance companies typically use attorneys for negotiations, and you may lose ground if you try to handle this process alone. Successful negotiations take skill and experience. Although most car accident claims are settled without needing a trial, you may have to go to court to get the compensation you deserve.

6. Litigation

When you hire Big Auto, you can rest assured that we will do what is necessary to obtain a favorable outcome for your car accident claim. If insurance companies refuse to negotiate, we may suggest taking your case to trial.

Most people can’t represent themselves effectively in court. You can hire an attorney at any point in your claims process if you think it will lead to a court proceeding, but it’s often better to involve a car accident lawyer soon after the accident. That way, we have more and better opportunities to build a solid claim that can succeed in court.

Can You Hire Any Lawyer?

Technically, any attorney can handle a car accident claim; however, not all of them have experience in this area of law. Local personal injury lawyers understand how to proceed with a claim in your area. Hiring an attorney without car accident claim experience or in another state may damage your case, causing you to miss out on compensation.

Why Should You Hire a Car Accident Lawyer From Big Auto?

Finding an attorney with the right kind of experience in the right location can be challenging. Big Auto can solve those issues for you. We focus on car accident claims so we have handled countless cases like yours, and our nationwide network of attorneys means we are ready to assist you anywhere in the nation. We will advocate for your rights and fight to help you get the compensation you deserve.

Big Auto offers free case reviews, and you won’t pay us unless we win your case. Contact us 24/7 by calling (844) BIG-AUTO or (844) 244-2886 or complete our online case review request form.