Having been struck by a a car on my motorcycle, here is my feeling on a lawyer. The short answer is...do not do it.
1. If you see a decent lawyer, they will tell you this....
"If they have insurance, you do not need me. If they do not have insurance, come back and see me. I will take 1/3 of what they give you if I get involved." Insurance companines will tell you this 1/3 is inaccurate. After lots of tic tac charges get added on, you loose typically 52% of your settlement. Progressive and State Farm will tell you this.
2. Assuming they have insurance, they will pay for the vehicle damage or replacment. You can negotiate with them on this. The vehicle damage/loss is handled by a different team within the agancy and this will be settled quickly. if you have a lawyer negotiate for you, then part of what they give you for your vehicle goes to him. (see above)...which means you can't afford to get a new one since he jsut took 1/3 for negotiating a value of the vehicle. I had a check for my total motorcycle in 10 days and received more than what I paid for it. The value of the vehicle comes out of the property damage portion of their claim. Hopefully they have $100k+. If their property damage coverage is not high enough, hopefully you have "under-insured" motorist on your policy which will pay the shortfall. If they do not have enough property damage coverage and you do not have under-insured coverage, a lawyer can help you get the additional needed...but remember, he takes a 1/3...which still leaves you with not enough to replace the vehicle.
3. Go to doctor and document any injuries. Someone from the medical side of their insurance will contact you and throw an offer at you quickly for medical expenses. Do NOT take it. Let the dust settle on any injuries. If you have real injuries, doctor wil document them, treat them, etc. you have TWO years to settle the injury portion. Also, submit all medical thru YOUR medical insurance and let them know it was in an accident. They will subrogate to the truck owners insurance for anything they pay ut to recover their portion. YOU will still have to pay your deductale, co-pay etc. Why do this? Because your medical insurance will write down the medical bills just like any other medical visit. This allows more money into your pocket for pain and suffering. Example.... Say your bills before medical insurance are $20,000 but after insurance writes them down/discounts them they are $8,000. Your bills come out of what their insurance pay out for laibility. If their policy is $25,000 and they decide to pay out the max, then they cut you a check for $25,000 MINUS whatever they owe you're medical insurance thru subrogation. If you did not submit to your medical, then you only have $5,000 in your pocket for pain and suffering after you pay off the $20,000 to the hospital. If you did submit to your medical, then you have $17,000 in your pocket for pain and suffering after you pay the $8,000 in bills. If you hired a lawyer, then he takes 1/3 of that leaving you maybe not able to pay your bills in full or getting very little in pain and suffering. A lawyer CANNOT get more out of the insurance company than their limits of liability. The only way a lawyer gets you more is by going directly after the owner of the vehicle and the driver.
-Pros....you have two years. if anything lingering does not go away or pops up, well, you have 2 years. make sure to visit doctor and document. If you can keep all your paperwork straight, you do NOT need a lawyer. If you get one, you are essentially paying him to keep track of medical bills for you. He only helps if their limits of laibility are low and you WANT more (greed). If injuries are legit, the insurance will may you a sum of money that you would never imagine...up to limits of course. This is what happened to me. I got paid limits on the policy which surprised me greatly. A commercial truck copmapny will have very high limits of liability. You will NOT need a lawyer to get a decent amount for injuries if they are legitimate. The industry uses standard tables to determine the valuie fo an injury. The value is surpisingly high even for items you might think are trivial.
-Cons....if the medical claims process drags out, you have to still pay your medical bills. Most medical places will let you go 4 months with no payments before they turn you over to collections. This is one place where a lawyer can help, They can either draft a letter to the medical professional stating that the claim is under litigation and request they hold bills, or they essentially pay your bills (if they feel their will be a giant settlmnt and are feeling nice) knowing that their will be a settlement and the bills come out of that...plus the 1/3 that he is keeping. Basically, if you can afford to pay your meidcal bills out of pocket AFTER you have submitted them to your medical insurance, than do so. Skip the lawyer
Been thru 2 motorcycle accidents...the first with a lawyer, the second one without. You are paying them to organize paper work and keep bill collectors off your back if you can't pay your portion of the medical bills. It's your decision if you think that is worth 1/3 of the settlement. They only come in handy if they are grossly under-insured or there is death/severe long lasting injury....and they get the extra cash by going after the owner/driver. Once the insurance company reaches their policy limits, no lawyer on the planet can get more out of them.
If I would have NOT submitted to my medical AND used a lawyer I would have walked away with $844 after paying bills. By NOT having a lawyer AND then submitting to my own medical for injuries I walked away with let's just say...substantially more after paying bills. I was into 5 figure numbers by doing it my way.
Skip the lawyer and learn how to keep track of medical records and pay your bills. It's not that hard.
1. If you see a decent lawyer, they will tell you this....
"If they have insurance, you do not need me. If they do not have insurance, come back and see me. I will take 1/3 of what they give you if I get involved." Insurance companines will tell you this 1/3 is inaccurate. After lots of tic tac charges get added on, you loose typically 52% of your settlement. Progressive and State Farm will tell you this.
2. Assuming they have insurance, they will pay for the vehicle damage or replacment. You can negotiate with them on this. The vehicle damage/loss is handled by a different team within the agancy and this will be settled quickly. if you have a lawyer negotiate for you, then part of what they give you for your vehicle goes to him. (see above)...which means you can't afford to get a new one since he jsut took 1/3 for negotiating a value of the vehicle. I had a check for my total motorcycle in 10 days and received more than what I paid for it. The value of the vehicle comes out of the property damage portion of their claim. Hopefully they have $100k+. If their property damage coverage is not high enough, hopefully you have "under-insured" motorist on your policy which will pay the shortfall. If they do not have enough property damage coverage and you do not have under-insured coverage, a lawyer can help you get the additional needed...but remember, he takes a 1/3...which still leaves you with not enough to replace the vehicle.
3. Go to doctor and document any injuries. Someone from the medical side of their insurance will contact you and throw an offer at you quickly for medical expenses. Do NOT take it. Let the dust settle on any injuries. If you have real injuries, doctor wil document them, treat them, etc. you have TWO years to settle the injury portion. Also, submit all medical thru YOUR medical insurance and let them know it was in an accident. They will subrogate to the truck owners insurance for anything they pay ut to recover their portion. YOU will still have to pay your deductale, co-pay etc. Why do this? Because your medical insurance will write down the medical bills just like any other medical visit. This allows more money into your pocket for pain and suffering. Example.... Say your bills before medical insurance are $20,000 but after insurance writes them down/discounts them they are $8,000. Your bills come out of what their insurance pay out for laibility. If their policy is $25,000 and they decide to pay out the max, then they cut you a check for $25,000 MINUS whatever they owe you're medical insurance thru subrogation. If you did not submit to your medical, then you only have $5,000 in your pocket for pain and suffering after you pay off the $20,000 to the hospital. If you did submit to your medical, then you have $17,000 in your pocket for pain and suffering after you pay the $8,000 in bills. If you hired a lawyer, then he takes 1/3 of that leaving you maybe not able to pay your bills in full or getting very little in pain and suffering. A lawyer CANNOT get more out of the insurance company than their limits of liability. The only way a lawyer gets you more is by going directly after the owner of the vehicle and the driver.
-Pros....you have two years. if anything lingering does not go away or pops up, well, you have 2 years. make sure to visit doctor and document. If you can keep all your paperwork straight, you do NOT need a lawyer. If you get one, you are essentially paying him to keep track of medical bills for you. He only helps if their limits of laibility are low and you WANT more (greed). If injuries are legit, the insurance will may you a sum of money that you would never imagine...up to limits of course. This is what happened to me. I got paid limits on the policy which surprised me greatly. A commercial truck copmapny will have very high limits of liability. You will NOT need a lawyer to get a decent amount for injuries if they are legitimate. The industry uses standard tables to determine the valuie fo an injury. The value is surpisingly high even for items you might think are trivial.
-Cons....if the medical claims process drags out, you have to still pay your medical bills. Most medical places will let you go 4 months with no payments before they turn you over to collections. This is one place where a lawyer can help, They can either draft a letter to the medical professional stating that the claim is under litigation and request they hold bills, or they essentially pay your bills (if they feel their will be a giant settlmnt and are feeling nice) knowing that their will be a settlement and the bills come out of that...plus the 1/3 that he is keeping. Basically, if you can afford to pay your meidcal bills out of pocket AFTER you have submitted them to your medical insurance, than do so. Skip the lawyer
Been thru 2 motorcycle accidents...the first with a lawyer, the second one without. You are paying them to organize paper work and keep bill collectors off your back if you can't pay your portion of the medical bills. It's your decision if you think that is worth 1/3 of the settlement. They only come in handy if they are grossly under-insured or there is death/severe long lasting injury....and they get the extra cash by going after the owner/driver. Once the insurance company reaches their policy limits, no lawyer on the planet can get more out of them.
If I would have NOT submitted to my medical AND used a lawyer I would have walked away with $844 after paying bills. By NOT having a lawyer AND then submitting to my own medical for injuries I walked away with let's just say...substantially more after paying bills. I was into 5 figure numbers by doing it my way.
Skip the lawyer and learn how to keep track of medical records and pay your bills. It's not that hard.
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!! How in the hell are you calm enough to make this post? 
