What to Expect When Filing a Claim

What to Expect When Filing a Car Accident Injury Claim

If you or a loved one have recently been injured in a car accident, chances are you are uncertain of the road that lies ahead and you’re looking for answers. Dawson Law Group’s Portland car accident lawyers have successfully secured millions of dollars in awards for accident victims like yourselves. (Visit our Ratings and Reviews page to see what our clients say about working with us.) Our clients come at many different stages of the process. If you have recently been in a car accident and retain our services, this is a rough outline of what you can expect in the months to come. If you need quick answers please visit our Portland car accident FAQ’s. 

Evidence Collection and Discovery

The goal for most of our clients is to receive a settlement that is close to what they would have been awarded at the end of a trial. To do this, we will build you a solid personal injury claim. If we were to compare a Portland personal injury claim to a house, then the evidence collection process is the foundation.

This stage will often take place after you’ve reached maximum medical improvement (MMI), and it is here where our Portland car accident lawyers will help you collect evidence about your case ranging from establishing the particulars of the accident that caused your injuries to documenting the extent of your injuries and the damages you deserve from how they will affect you moving forward. Learn more at our Evidence Collection and Discovery page.

Filing an Insurance Claim

For more information on negotiating with the car insurance company, please visit our negotiating with Insurance Companies page. After we have finished the evidence collection and discovery stage, we will help you draw up what is called a demand letter. A demand letter outlines the accident, its effects on your, and the damages that you think you are due. This is often based on the following criteria:

  • Cost of medical care and recovery expenses
  • Lost wages due to injury
  • Permanent disabilities or injuries that require long term care
  • Pain and suffering
  • Cost of repairing property damaged in the accident

Hiring a Portland personal injury lawyer to help you deal with the car insurance company is very valuable- we have had a great deal of success representing car accident victims, so we will be able to show you how much comparable injuries have been settled for and come up with a strategy to help you maximize your award.

Negotiating with the Insurance Company

Many who have filed a car accident claim have said that this part of the process is the most stressful, and that retaining a Portland car accident attorney was the most valuable for them at this stage. After you have sent a demand letter, an insurance adjuster will contact you with a settlement offer for your claim. Once you receive your offer, we will advise you on whether or not it’s fair, and if not, enter into negotiations on your behalf in order to maximize your award in a timely manner.

Having guidance from a personal injury lawyer in Portland will take a lot of stress out of the situation. Before the negotiation process even begins, we will talk with you about your priorities and what elements (timeliness, award amount, etc.) of a settlement are the most important to you, then do our best to get you the best settlement we can. In many cases, hiring a Portland car accident lawyer shows insurance companies that you have access to the same information that they do and that you’re serious about securing the compensation you deserve. There are often multiple rounds of negotiations and multiple offers that will come your way. We will be there next to you every step of the way making sure your best interests are protected.

Filing a Lawsuit

Should negotiations fail, the next step will be to file a lawsuit. This doesn’t necessarily mean that your case will have to go to trial; in fact, the most common outcome for civil suits is that they are settled before trial even begins. After filing for a lawsuit, we will still continue to negotiate on your behalf, but we will also begin preparing to win your case for you in the courtroom if we can’t negotiate the settlement you deserve. Court proceedings often take a long time to get started, and if the other party refuses to settle, then you may have a long wait before your case is resolved.

Still, have questions about the car accident claim process in Portland? Please give us a call at 503-919-1315 for a free, no-pressure consultation. Dawson Law Group takes its Portland personal injury cases on a contingent basis, meaning that our payment is contingent on us winning you the compensation and justice you deserve. Until we win for you, you won’t have to worry about a single penny in lawyer fees. Call our Portland accident attorneys today to get started; we’d like to get to know you, answer your questions, explain to you your legal options, and help you come up with a plan for moving forward.