Saturday, December 30, 2006

Hiring An Accident Lawyer Takes Consideration

If you've been injured in an accident that's serious enough to require legal representation, you owe it to yourself and your family to ensure that you hire a good lawyer. This means being cautious about ambulance chasers and taking the time to check out backgrounds before hiring an accident lawyer.

Whether it's a car accident, a slip and fall or some other form of catastrophe that led to the injury, a good accident lawyer will work for you, not just for money. Hiring a lawyer takes time, consideration and patience to be certain the best person for the job has been hired. For those who are uncomfortable hiring a lawyer, when a serious injury is involved, lost wages, medical bills and other needs might stack up and require the hiring of an accident lawyer.

If you've been injured in an accident, there are some things to consider before evening making the decision to hire an accident lawyer:

* How serious is the injury that resulted from the accident? Litigation over a minor scrape or bump might not be wise, but if you've been side-tracked from your professional or personal life, hiring a lawyer makes good sense.

* Are the damages you've suffered enough to require the hiring of an accident lawyer? For example, if your injuries are very minor and your expenses are covered completely by your own insurance, is it really necessary to hire an accident lawyer? Clogging up the legal system with unnecessary cases doesn't do anyone any good. A good lawyer won't take a frivolous case.

* What do you have to gain?

* Do you have a solid case?

If you've answered these questions and feel you need to hire an accident lawyer, don't run out and hire the first one you find. You need to consider some things first. Before you agree to hire a lawyer make sure:

* The lawyer you're hiring has experience in both in and out of court cases. If you case should go to trial, getting a rookie might not be the best.

* The accident lawyer only charges if your case is won. This is very important, especially if you've been out of work due to the injury. If your lawyer doesn't offer this agreement, don't consider hiring. A good accident lawyer has confidence in his or her ability to win and will therefore hold off charging until a victory has been obtained.

* Free consultation. A good accident lawyer should be willing to hear your case at no charge. Take advantage of this so you can decide if you want to work with this person. It's important you feel comfortable with the accident lawyer you're considering hiring. A good line of communication is important to help a case along.

* Check into the accident lawyer's background. Make sure he or she has proper licensing within your state and is in good standing with the bar association.

Hiring an accident lawyer is a very big undertaking. Since you're likely injured and have suffered financial loss, it's important to ensure you hire the best professional for the right reasons.
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Thursday, December 28, 2006

Understanding Accident and Injury Claims

For most people understanding and filing claims can be frustrating and confusing, mainly because there not something we usually have to deal with in our day to day lives unless we are directly involved with a mishap like an auto accident or a job injury. While we may have heard about compensation claims, accident claims or injury claims more than likely we did not pay much attention because they aren't very important unless tragedy falls upon us or a family member. If you find your self unable to work because of a job related injury or from an accident you are now faced with figuring out hat you can do to file a compensation claim for your accident.

Unless you just happen to be a lawyer, you will need to get a professional to handle your compensation claim to get all the benefits that you are entitled to receive. Fortunately you can get all the help you need when you use the professional services of a solicitor. They are the perfect solution use by thousands of people every year to handle their claims for them. Interesting enough most people are not even aware of all the types of claims for compensation that they could file and often miss compensation they are due.

Accident and injury claims are possible for; injury or death caused due to medical accidents, work related accidents, automobile accidents even on public transportation like on buses or in subways. The list is endless and can include slipping or falling down in restraints or office building due to things like a wet floor that posted to warnings. Often time people have purchased defective merchandise or products that may caused an injury and over look or miss out on benefits because they never filed compensation claim.

So what constitutes being able to file a compensation claim you may be wondering? And the answer is simple, in general claims are derived for the fact their were damages and

Compensation amounts are what an individual would receive for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity the person had to go through because of the accident injury. For you to make this claim a solicitor would have to obtain a medical report confirming your medical history in connection for what you are claiming for.

The circumstances of the misfortune, the injuries you received and further cures you have to under go have to be explained. A professional solicitor would then be able to give you an estimate as to how much money you should be awarded.

More over when you visit professional solicitor for counseling they will want you to tell them all about what happened. So it's always great and important that you made some detailed documentations of your accident that will come in handy as you can make use of these notes to explain your injury claim to the solicitor providing them with specific details of the accident or injury.

If possible, you should also hand over any photos you may have of the injury scene of the accident and a copy of your medical report, if you have one. Don't be overly concerned if the professional solicitor doesn't say too much on your first visit and don't worry if you see them taking notes from time to time. Professional solicitor do this to jog their recollections of facts they may want to ask you more about later or use against the responsible party.

No Win No Fee Accident Claims

When someone has an accident and the cause was someone else’s negligence there is the question, should I try and sue for damages? Thousands of people every year have accidents that were no their fault but they don’t claim for compensation. This is madness!

The accident may have been quite minor, like a slip on a wet floor which caused you to fall and break your leg. Your leg may have healed well so alls well in the end. You could have lost a lot of earnings and missed out on a special occasion. What about if your accident was a lot more serious, like being run over by a car and having your leg so badly damaged it had to be amputated. Either way you do have a moral and legal right to claim compensation. The trouble with all legal wrangles is that they can be very stressful, long lived, expensive and not always successful.

Up until the late 90’s Legal Aid was available for personal injury claims. If you had had an accident you could go to a solicitor and they could claim their fees and expenses by applying for Legal aid. The claimant would end up paying nothing or very little fees. Because of the amount of cases for personal injury the government abandoned this and withdrew its funding. It was replaced with conditional fees agreements or “no win no fee” agreements which is putting the risk onto the solicitor. Now solicitors will work for free under the agreement that if they don’t win the case they wont get paid. This makes solicitors only take on cases they know they have a good chance of winning. None of the winning compensation goes to the solicitor, the total award goes to the victim and the solicitor gets his fees and expenses from the insurance company of the losing party.

As much as this sounds great, there is still the issue of the trauma of a possible court case. It is a decision you have to take early on, are you prepared to go to court? What if I loose? How will I pay my solicitor if we do lose? You can obtain insurance in case you loose the case and you should find this out from the start. A good solicitor will tell you all the possible outcomes and how to be prepared for them.

Things to remember are not all “no win no fee” agreements are all the same. You need to be sure you understand the contract you are signing. Legal jargon can be quite baffling but you should not be put off. Find a solicitor who can explain everything to you in simple English.

If you can find a company that offers a consultation free of charge then make an appointment, if you not happy and don’t understand what was said, visit another. Keep looking until you are happy with your solicitor. Find one with experience in dealing with personal injury claims and maybe even a similar accident to your own. Finding a good solicitor will make the whole process less traumatic and stressful and give you some piece of mind that everything is getting taking care of and your best interests are foremost in the solicitors mind. A company that offers no win no fee is a must but you must make sure there are no hidden costs. The last thing you want to spend months going through the procedures only to loose and be stumped with a bill. Make sure you completely understand what the no win no fee agreement means.

If you are ready to put in a no win no fee compensation claim then accident consult may be able to help you. They are experts dealing in compensation claims and will give you free impartial advice.


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Why You Need a Truck Accident Lawyer

Commercial trucks are massive vehicles that can weigh tens of thousands of pounds more than average passenger cars and trucks. If you are involved in an accident with a commercial truck, the damage inflicted can be devastating.

Thousands of people every year are involved in serious truck accidents. For many truck accident victims, their lives are changed forever as a result of the injuries they have suffered. There are also many families whose lives are turned upside down when their loved one is killed in a truck accident.

Truck accidents are difficult incidents to handle without the aid of an experienced truck accident attorney. Not only are they usually much more serious than regular traffic accidents, but truck accidents almost always involve multiple parties, including:
- Truck Drivers
- Trucking Companies
- Truck Owners
- Other Car Drivers
- Insurance Companies

Commercial trucks are required to follow unique laws and regulations that can be difficult to understand and handle without an attorney who is experienced and knowledgeable about all the applicable laws. These unique laws and regulations often help prove that you are not at fault for the tuck accident.

An experienced truck accident attorney will not only be able to help you file your claim and preserve key evidence, they will work with the insurance companies and any other drivers to help you show who is at fault for the truck accident and who should be held liable for your losses.

An easy way to find customized, detailed information is by contacting a personal injury attorney in your area.

Monday, December 25, 2006

Claiming Compensation for Motorcycle Accidents

Motorcycle accidents can kill and it is hardly surprising. As a motorbike rider you are 40 times more likely to be killed than car drivers or passengers. You are more likely to be killed on a motorbike than any other means of transport. In 2004 over 500 people were killed in road accidents and over 6000 were seriously injured. These are scary statistics but they are facts and need to be addressed seriously. Another important statistic is that 80% of motorcycle accidents were caused by the negligence of another. Obviously motorcyclists are very vulnerable because of the lack of protection they have and the fact they only have 2 wheels to keep the bike on the road. If a bikes crosses a man hole or some oil on the road it is a lot more difficult to keep control of a bike than it is a car. Also the injuries you are likely to sustain will be a lot worse than a car accident.

So why are motorcycles so appealing to people when they are so dangerous? Well unless you have driven a bike this can be hard to understand. Having driven motor bikes in my youth I can understand the thrills. For me it was a case being a bit of a tom boy and not being old enough to drive a car and I needed transport to take me to work and back. It was only when my second bike was stolen from my front garden that I decided to learn to drive a car and leave my biking days behind. The cold weather in winter was another factor which convinced me to learn to drive a car. But I will never forget the feeling of being astride a motorbike with just your clothing and helmet as protection. There is nothing better to get the adrenalin going than riding a bike. To this day even though I have had a motorcycle accident I still would like to get another bike if only for the summer.

To have an accident on a motorbike is quite a scary experience. Back in the late 90’s I was involved on the back of my boyfriends motorbike when a car came out at a junction and drove straight into us, obviously not seeing us at all. We were both thrown from the bike several feet. Luckily for us we were not traveling very fast and the injuries were not too serious. It could have been a lot worse as I was stupidly wearing a short skirt. Normally I would have been wearing jeans and leathers but that night it was a warm summer evening and my boyfriend was giving me a lift just one way so I thought I would chance wearing a skirt! Big mistake! My arms and legs were badly scratched from the tarmac but I was lucky not to receive more severe injuries.

Our injuries may have been minor but the accident was not our fault and there was damage to the bike, our selves and the leather coats we were wearing. Also once you have had an impact on your crash helmet you are supposed to replace it. With all this in mind we went to see a solicitor and started proceedings. The driver of the car admitted to not seeing us at all so it was a simple case and we won a substantial amount of compensation. It took about 3 months but it was worth it as we replaced our crash helmets, fixed up the scratches to the bike and I bought some much need leather trousers.




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