Do I need a lawyer to handle my bodily injury claim?

In some cases, you may not need to hire a lawyer to resolve your auto accident injury claim. If your injuries are minor (i.e. soft tissue injury) and heal up in a week or two, you may be able to resolve the claim without a lawyer. If you are going to handle the case on your own, get a copy of the accident report. Get an itemized bill from each of the medical providers you saw (hospital bill, bill from ER doctor, bill from your primary care physician, physical therapist or chiropractor), and put a summary of those bills in a spreadsheet. Also order from the medical providers the medical records for your dates of service. Finally, keep track of your days lost from work. Get your employer to write a letter verifying that you missed X number of days from work because of the wreck. Once you have this information, forward it on to the adjuster with a "demand letter." In the demand letter, highlight the facts from the accident report that support your case (i.e. the investigating officer blamed the other driver). Summarize your medical bills (note: you should ask for the amount the provider billed, not the amount you paid in copays) and lost wages. In addition to the "specials," make a demand for your physical pain, mental anguish and physical impariment. For evidence of physical pain, talk about the sleep you lost or the pain pills you were forced to take to allieviate the pain. For physical impairment, talk about the things you like doing that you couldn't do while recovering from the wreck (couldn't do your regular jog, missed a friends wedding because you couldn't go out). Finally, end your demand letter with an offer to settle your claim for a fixed dollar sum (one that includes the appropriate figure for each of the elements of damage). The adjuster likely won't agree to pay your initial demand. Don't get discouraged--continue negotiating with the adjuster until you reach an acceptable compromise.

A few words of caution: settlements of injury claims are (with limited exceptions) FINAL. Before you start negotiating your own claim, make sure your injury has fully resolved. I have represented numerous claimants who had injuries that a few weeks in appeared minor, but the symptoms did not resolve. What were thought to be minor soft tissue injuries turned out to be more serious disk damage requiring surgery. If the clients had not been persistent in following up with their doctors, they might have been tempted to settle a serious surgery case for pennies on the dollar.

Beware of subrogation: once you settle your claim with the other driver's insurance company, beware of subrogation. If you have health insurance, your insurer may have a right to be reimbursed for the amount they paid for your medical attention. Look to your health insurance policy to determine if and how much your health insurer may be entitled to. If you had your auto insurance pay the property damage to your vehicle, also be careful about their subrogation interest. Your auto insurance company has a right to be reimbursed from the other driver's insurance company the amount they paid you. So make sure that the release you give the other driver's insurance company only releases the bodily injury claim. Make clear you are not settling the property damage claim (if you do, your auto insurer could come back against you for voiding their claim).