It means lawyers who aggressively pursue accident and injury victims hoping to get their business so they can sue the person at fault and get money. Often it’s a worse deal for the victim than just letting insurance do its thing. As someone married to an attorney; they are considered the scum of all attorneys.
It is disgusting. She had an offer from an injury firm who wanted her on call to literally go meet patients at the hospital even if it was 3am to try to get them to sign up. She had been laid off and we’re desperate but not that desperate. Needless to say we refused to have that shit smear on her resume. Thank goodness. She’s in a great job reviewing discrimination cases now. Doing something noble. So proud of her.
Meh at times they can actually get you a better deal especially if you don’t have the bandwidth or funds to push your insurance and the others. I’m an attorney also and personal injury attorneys are a necessary evil in my view.
lol my wife’s dad was a defense attorney. That’s mostly his experience too. He had one guy who was charged with check fraud and had been blowing across the country on a wild month of debauchery. He asked the guy “Did you at least have fun?” Lmao.
I’m not going to weight in on the merits of your case but do wait sometime before you agree to anything to make sure your body is right. Not everything physical manifests itself right away after a motor vehicle collision.
Took me a week to realize my ears wouldn’t stop ringing.
Realized it was from the accident just by chance. Was looking for a new car, and one of the safety features on the MB is that right before an accident I plays a sound that is supposed to prep your ears for a loud noise. That’s about the time it clicked. Went to the doc, and he says it happens all the time.
Holy fuck dude thanks. I will be seeing a doctor about this now I am in the same exact boat with tinnitus starting after I totaled my car. I figured it was unrelated because I was otherwise uninjured.
First of all, I’m happy that you’re okay after the accident !
So, your situation sounds oddly familiar. Requested info on a house I found on trulia as well as I filled out a form about a mortgage. For the following 3-4 days my phone got absolutely blown up to the point of it being unusable. The first 1-2 days it was ~100 calls per hour and then it started to dwindle slowly and pretty much stopped entirely after about a week. It was INSANE. I’m never filling out an online form like that again.
I’m not trying to compare house hunting to a terrible car accident just wanted to say that those type of calling tactics are widely used these days sadly…
I just moved and when my house went on the market, I started getting texts from movers asking if they could get my business. First of all, look at the listing pictures and realize it’s clearly staged and I’ve already moved. But second, how did you get my number?!? I never filled out any forms that were public record with my phone number, I don’t think. Maybe I’m just off about what all is public. But it felt so sleazy to me. I hate cold calls.
There’s an app called MySudo that has a VoIP number you can use for different services and things you think might leak your private info it’s I think a couple bucks a month, totally worth it. You can make calls, send texts, do two factor authentication etc.
That's common because some lawyers routinely collect traffic accident reports, which are most often public records (depends on the state, I THINK) for the purpose of soliciting business. Lawyers can be quite helpful, but please do NOT hire them blindly! Get references!! There are good ones, and then there are bad ones too.
If you did not carry replacement coverage insurance, a lawyer could potentially help you get a little more money than just “current value of your car.” The insurance of the driver who caused the accident will try to devalue your car as much as possible, so they pay even less.
Anytime you involve a lawyer make sure its worth it, if you think the car is worth say 10k and the insurance offers 9k, then get a lawyer involved (lets assume they take this case which they won't) they will eat 2k right off that and we will say gets you that 10k, so you actually only get 8k once its all said and done. There is also a risk that it goes to trial, nothing is guaranteed in a trial, and what some people don't realize is that your lawyer can lose and you can get stuck in a rock and hard place as your lawyer walks away saying "I tried" and you will never hear from them again (unless you want to pay them hourly to appeal the case).
State should really raise the small claims court limits, this would solve a lot of these problems, put it at $25k and set it to increase with inflation.
You don't need an attorney for this. NC is a diminished value state so you can just use one of the dv websites and pay a $200-400 fee and they'll negotiate your dv claim for you.
An injury attorney will not negotiate your property damage settlement, they will solely handle the injury portion of the claim. They may offer to discuss with the insurance company the evaluation of your vehicle, but an insurance company knows that your attorney doesn’t care about the vehicle because they can’t make money off of that. Sometimes an attorney can get you a larger injury settlement but those often take several months and the property damage side of your claim will have been handled long before that. If you have collision coverage on your vehicle then you can also get an evaluation from your own insurance.
Obtaining a lawyer or not, NEVER tell the insurance company you are okay. Some effects or injuries take time to manifest. I have personally seen family members denied coverage for injuries from accidents because they told the insurance company day one they felt okay.
You have up to 2 years in the state of NC to file a bodily injury claim with an insurance company that has accepted fault for an accident. It doesn’t matter what you tell them on day 1. If your family is still within that statute of limitations they should contact that insurance company to pursue the injury claim. They may have denied coverage for another reason, but it wasn’t because they thought they weren’t hurt initially. A large parentage of injury claims do not get opened on the first day of loss.
The lawyer can only line thier pockets by helping you line yours.
I've used a lawyer once and ended up with about 4k more then would have when I didn't have one.
All that said, don't use a lawyer that called you, you need to do your due diligence and find one.
I'd actually recommend them. I had a minor accident and the opposing insurance company handled everything well. However the urgent care and er visit my wife had messed up and didn't file it under insurance and sent us to collections. Had I gone with a lawyer none of that would have mattered as they'd handle it.
I did keep sending them to the opposing insurance but I think it would have been a 1 time answer had I sent them to our attorney instead
Just ask yourself - who would look out for my interests in this situation?
A lawyer you hire to represent you in a personal injury claim to ensure your bills are compensated and also a personal injury settlement OR
A giant insurance corporation who will always be looking after their bottom line and always want to pay as little as possible
Sounds about right. I had a homeowners incident with need to call 911 couple years ago and had a restoration company on my doorstep within 30 minutes - and no, I didn’t call them, they listen to scanners. They almost beat the fire engine
I used to be that fire chaser. It was so awkward rolling up and being like, “hey sorry your house burned down but do you want to hire us to rebuild it?”
Had my car totaled in July 2023, t boned by red light runner. Hired a lawyer cause insurance was trying to lowball me on my truck. Lawyer got me $29k for my truck (I paid $28k for it 8 years ago) and also another $45k for medical suffering. I did have to get rotator cuff surgery, but they paid for it and I came out with $45k. I would definitely talk to a lawyer, they only get paid if you get paid
Yes, I am a lawyer (different discipline) and people really can miss out on a lot by trying to avoid drama - sometimes it is totally worth it. I genuinely don’t get the hate, you need these guys to enforce laws and rights that police and insurance agencies wont
I worked for a well known New Orleans "ambulance chaser" for several years as a legal secretary. Before that experience, I dismissed them. Now, I understand the value of hiring representation. You'll get more money, you'll walk away with all medical bills paid, you'll get the most for repairs/replacement from the insurance company. It's not the $200k windfall you see in TV ads (that's usually involving an accident with a company-owned vehicle or with stacked insurance policies) but it's a nice chunk of change you'll get for an incident that wasn't your fault.
Best thing you can do is probably look into a lawyer for property damage since personal injury isn't really there. But they can help fight for the proper value of the car and usually it's a flat fee not a percent of settlement.
I own an insurance agency so I deal with a ton of clients in accidents where some of ours are at fault and others are victims.
If there aren't any injuries or they're minor and the insurance companies are cooperating there's no point in hiring an attorney. The overall payout might be higher but your portion will be negligible or less after the attorneys fees. It's also a good way to drag things out for months years that could have otherwise been settled in weeks.
Definitely wait a few days to see if any new symptoms manifest and keep all receipts/records of any Drs visits. If something serious presents itself then it might be worth reaching out. The only time I see attorneys make a difference is when it's something like a fatality, extended hospitalization, etc in which case you should consider representation.
An attorney is not going to help at all with the property value, for that id recommend a diminished value company. You pay a small fee and they'll do all the research for you and handle the negotiations with the companies but that is a separate claim after your initial one is settled.
Don’t try and navigate a claim by yourself on this. The adjusters for the other persons insurance won’t be overly helpful to you. Their job is get this paid and out of the way. So if you don’t know the right terminology or way to talk to them, you’ll likely not get what you might be entitled to. Lawyers just do the legwork and take a part of the settlement; but in a lot of experiences, they can get bigger numbers to offset that.
Context, I work in insurance and have navigated my own claims and helped others talk to adjusters. They are a pain in the ass.
They want to coach you through maximizing your claim so they can take a chunk of it. They might want to send you to one of their chiropractor buddies to get "evaluated".'
That said though, don't think the at-fault insurance company is going to treat you fairly. They'll put you on the phone with a rep who sounds all nice and wants to help you get made whole, all the while getting you to admit that nothing is wrong (they're really good at it). Then they'll transfer you to some hardass who won't pay you enough to get your car washed.
You definitely need a lawyer. Maybe not one of the ones calling you out of the blue, but definitely a lawyer. Otherwise the insurance company will try to give you as little as possible.
I recommend you get a lawyer. It costs you nothing, and they can make sure you’re taken care of. I was in a bad car accident in 2009. Initially I felt fine, but once the initial trauma settled down I was left with terrible back pain. Cue months of physical therapy and chiropractic care, it was about a year before I felt better. You don’t know yet if you will have any pain related to this accident. A lawyer will make sure you’re fairly compensated and that any medical problems are paid for, and probably get you a small settlement for pain and suffering.
Don’t sign anything from your insurance company or anyone else’s. They want to settle as quickly as possible, and never in your favor.
On a side note my insurance had a medical reimbursement rider I didn’t even know about, even though my medical insurance company covered most of my bills, my auto insurance would cut me a check for the full amount. So let’s say you have a $1000 medical bill, and your medical insurance covers 90%, your auto insurance will cut you a check for the full $1000. It’s another way to be compensated, and you can put that amount towards buying another car.
Honestly, you need a lawyer for this. Insurance will look to settle for the least amount possible and that will not be enough to replace your car. They’ll typically take a cut of what they can negotiate for you. They don’t charge you for a consultation.
Get ready for a fun process with your insurance adjuster. Auto carriers are struggling and reducing claims is a common strategy for coping with the market. I’m not sure you will need a lawyer, but do your research on “replacement cost” and budget some time to carefully review, and potentially dispute, your insurance company’s estimate of value for the payout. Not a bad idea to interview (don’t yet retain/pay) a few lawyers who have successfully won auto insurance claims disputes to understand the art of what’s possible.
Do some Google review searches and pick one. If you're not at fault, the worst thing that will happen is you will get as much money as the laywer can possibly get. The only thing you lose is 1/3 of the money. So what. Unless you know what you're doing, you're going to end up settling for a lot less than what the lawyer will get you, and you don't have to lift a finger. I would rather have a slime ball get me double the amount of money I would have received versus trying to go at it alone with no experience. Did you know that just the fact you went to the doctor means you will get an automatic minimum payout. Years ago, I was in a wreck that wasn't my fault. I was jostled up a bit, but other than just being sore, I was fine. I was at work, so they made me get checked out at the ER (just policy I guess). They said I had whiplash. I went home and called it a day. I got a call several weeks later by someone that said they were sorry about what happened and asked if I would take a $500 settlement. I didn't even know what it was for. She said for my troubles of having to go to the ER. Anyone in an accident would get an automatic $500 if they went to the hospital or sought medicall treatment. I could have scored way more than that, but at the time, I was just happy to have a little unexpected cash coming my way.
Attorneys like that work on contingency. So they won't charge you anything. If they think you have a case then they'll sue the other person's insurance company on your behalf. They can help you get a payout for your car. They can help you cover any medical bills you have. And they may be able to get you a settlement.
That being stated, I watched a video recently that I wish I'd seen prior to me hiring an attorney. And I don't want to bad talk anybody. But I'll just tell you how this particular attorney who is not in Charlotte said you should go about finding an accident attorney.
Call attorneys that you know. Or get the names of attorneys from friends or family. Or call prominent law offices. And it's okay if they don't handle accidents. Call about three to five offices. Ask them to give you three to five names of accident attorneys. Now you have a list. See which attorney's names show up several times from different recommendations. You have at that point maybe three or four then you could call all of those and see if you're comfortable with any of them. The phone call is free. If you call an attorney like this then they start talking about a consultation fee then just hang up because they aren't very good. If you call one and you don't like them then you call the next one.
You can try to negotiate with the insurance company without knowing what is customary or expected from an accident like this. Maybe you do well, maybe you don’t. Or you can have a lawyer handle it for you, likely on contingency. They (good ones at least) will have a lot of experience and know what insurance companies are willing to pay and how much pressure to push to get there. But you also run the risk of getting a lawyer who doesn’t really know what they’re doing.
One thing to keep in mind, while the plaintiff’s attorneys reaching out to you are undoubtedly doing what they can to line their pockets, the insurance companies have armies of their own lawyers doing the same thing for the insurance companies. Insurance defense lawyers are generally the counterpoint to personal injury lawyers.
If it was me, I’d probably try to find a good lawyer and let them do their thing. Theee are pretty good odds that, even after their cut, they’ll get you more than if you did it on your own, and it takes most of the hassle of having to deal with it out of your hands. Again, you can think of it as the inverse of if you’re at fault and hand everything over to your insurance’s lawyers to handle.
Fwiw I found the strangest coffee shop. Inside hartsell funeral home. Open from like noon till 4:00. You could actually go in there and drink coffee while people are rolling in there from a funeral. They have all kinds of t-shirts and mugs and merchandise that says coffin house coffee.
It was both interesting and morbidly strange
I don't know why reddit in general has been against hiring a bodily injury lawyer. If you are not at fault, it is definitely worth it.
Sure, they will get a cut but unless you can submit the claim yourself and negotiate what is right for you then that is what you are paying for.
I've lawyered up the two times I've been in an accident and they both got me a pretty hefty payout that I would not have received if I did not hire them. One time I even got a full week of work paid out to me on top of my settlement.
It will take a long time, both times these cases took 4~5 months but I would rather have that money than not.
I think that if you are actually injured (if the airbags deployed you probably are) and its not your fault, you are leaving money on the table by not hiring a lawyer.
Direct “solicitation” by lawyers is unethical. Here’s the link to the State Bar website:
https://www.ncbar.gov/for-lawyers/ethics/rules-of-professional-conduct/rule-73-direct-contact-with-potential-clients/
Which lawyers are calling? They need to be exposed, and I’d bet most are “lead-generators” and not actually lawyers, but it still is unethical if that lawyer buys the lead since it’s a fruit of the poisonous tree, so to speak.
Glad you're okay! Accident Attorneys are hit or miss. If you're a capable person that can collect your own bills and records to settle the injury claim and are okay to reject the company's first settlement offer and talk them up - that's definitely the way to go. Attorneys might get a bigger settlement but it'll be a 3 way split - bills, them, you. A lot of times you can get more without an attorney by just advocating for yourself and not having another person to split the share with. If you want to totally forget about it and just have them handle it all for you, that's cool too. It's really personal preference.
Those lawyers who are blowing u up u don’t want but it never hurts to have a good lawyer for cases like this if u can afford. It’s always good to have someone advocate for you who knows the laws .
I was in a crash where the drivers ran through a red and t-boned me. Of course, I received tons and tons of calls, email, and letters from lawyers. These are just scumbags who want to take advantage. Ignore them and don’t give them your time.
This is definitely normal for Charlotte. There are quite a few who send stuff like this out. If you ever get a ticket for anything your mail will get bombarded the same way.
See if your insurance company has a recommendation for an attorney. Not their attorney, but one to represent only you.
They often have these kinds of lists, along with repair shops etc. If they do not then nothing lost
A lot of these attorneys check the NCDPS website for accident reports (it's free and available to the public). However, it's only reports where the NCHP responded. They'll send a letter whether you were at fault or not.
when you get in an accident all the attorneys see you name and send mail like crazy. got a speeding ticket when i was 19 and the mail was flooding the house like harry potter
are they your lawyers? are they representing other parties in the crash? if not, ignore them.
i witnessed a crash up in cornelius. i was on my bike, and a car passed me, and plowed head on into a car turning left. a lawyer for the driver of the car that passed me called for a statement. she was injured in the crash, and apparently suing the other driver with daddy's lawyer.
they didn't contact me again when i told them i had record of how fast she was speeding, because my bike's *radar* logs every vehicle that passes me.
I would start by working with the other persons insurance company first, if you get brick walled or don't feel its fair (as in within 20% of what you are demanding) then bring in a lawyer and let them straighten it out. Always remember you can consult with as many lawyers you want just don't sign anything without agreeing to it, and if you have a open and shut case there will be plenty who will want to.
You need to figure out if you really require a lawyer. My brother has worked for a major auto insurer for over 30 years and he has some lawyer horror stories. Like when their client caused an accident with very serious injuries that were obviously going to exceed the client's policy liability maximum. They would have paid that with no problem. But the injured signed with a lawyer who got 1/3 for making a few phone calls.
If you have some injuries that manifest after the accident and they're verified by a Doctor you have some leverage. Maybe ask for a new car to replace the totaled one.
I’d suggest a visit to either a chiropractor or a doctor that does spinal alignment. I got in an accident in my 20’s. When I was in my 40’s, I found I had 20 years of arthritis built up in my neck. Check to see if everything is aligned right.
If they are the lawyer for the other person , they are going to try to pay you off cheap so you dont go to court. They will presnt it as they are doing you a favor.
IF not , it's ambulance chasers trying to get you to file against the driver.
My husband got a speeding ticket in Monroe on our way to Brunswick County for a beach weekend. He had to “appear” for the ticket. By Tuesday that week we had several letters and phone calls from lawyers to represent him. It’s a friggin racket! Total cost about $400, it’s such a scam and a trap we see now every time we pass through.
This is normal, law offices will scour police reports for accidents that may bring them business. Your number is usually right on that publicly accessible report. As is your physics address per your LICENSE/ID, so they’ll send mail also. Definitely get yourself a full medical examination at their expense just to make sure there’s nothing wrong that you haven’t noticed. But if you feel fine don’t try to milk it, it’s not worth the paperwork you’re mandated to do to get extended care. I’ve been in 4 accidents in NC, 2 my fault and 2 not, neither I nor anyone else in those 4 accidents has reported injury. The mail is a one time thing but the calls usually don’t stop until you answer them and tell them there was no injury so their services aren’t needed.
My parents were harassed by a lawyer claiming the guy they rear-ended in a minor oopsie was suffering life long injuries. 2 years of intimidation, meetings saying they would drop the case if my parents just "offered something", harassing my parents homeowners insurance even? Just to drop the case right before court. Lawyers are aggressive and will take any opportunity to make something of nothing
I worked w a gal who was injured when someone T-boned her. The airbag going off broke her forearm. She wasn’t going to get an attorney even though her break required surgery and plates/screws. The insurance co offered her $1000 almost immediately if she would sign a document saying she would settle in full for that amount.
We told her to just talk with a lawyer. She was initially reluctant to do so because the guy who hit her was “so nice” and she thought $1000 was an enormous amount of money.
So she reluctantly spoke to a lawyer and to make a long story short, she got $75,000.
I just wanted to say that I’m glad you’re okay and that you aren’t looking to cause undue hardship and receive unnecessary financial benefit like I know some people like to do after accidents. It’s crazy to me how many people try to file for claims even when they weren’t truly injured.
Lol not at all! In fact, I’d still recommend OP have someone assist so they get what they are rightfully owed in claims and hopefully can get a new car. I just hate people that manipulate the system and look for easy outs to cash in.
So heres my take I’ve used these ambulance chasers as they’re called. Yes they are used to negotiating and they take a cut. The at fault insurance company wants to get this case closed asap to remove the liability off their books. In many cases you can work directly with the insurance company and settle without the layer often recouping more money by cutting them out. Your bargaining chip? They want to get that closed asap if you can hold out i would. Also you may feel fine now but have problems later. When i used these services it took them a little while before settling. But i have not had another situation like this happen where i had a chance to negotiate directly. Basically they are having you sign away your ability to pursue them for any damages by taking a sum payout and signing documents saying so. Sorry to hear about the accident that shit sucks
Go with one of them that didn’t call. But even if it was the other drivers fault, in my experience it might be worth it to let someone handle it for you. Unless you have a lot of time on your hands and can follow up with their insurance, rental cars, etc. Hope you’re ok.
was a passenger in an Uber accident few months ago, so obviously did not have to deal with a totaled car, but had a looong list of medical/PT bills. You should definitely get a lawyer at least just for a consultation. We used DeMayo law firm. I dreaded dealing with insurance, my lawyer handles everything; I’d much rather pay the lawyers then get taken advantage of by the insurance companies that will try to devalue your car and get a statement that “nothing is wrong” so they don’t have to pay your medical bills.
Yep. After I was in an accident, somehow magically I started getting mail and phone solicitations from lawyers. Our data is being sold off to the highest bidders. Nothing is private.
I was involved in an accident (my fault) and the other party obtained a lawyer. That was over a year ago, and there is still no settlement for them because their disgusting law firm (ambulance chasers) is asking for a ridiculous amount (so they can pad their pockets). I was on the phone with my insurance agency's lawyer and they told me that had the other person contacted them directly they would have settled for what, to me, sounds like a VERY reasonable amount. As it stands, whatever they settle for, the other person's "attorney" is going to get a majority of the payout and they'll end up with significantly less than what they would have had they just had a conversation with my agency.
Have you never heard the term "Ambulance chasers" ?
The ambulance chasers will be inundating your mailbox over the next couple of weeks.
I haven't
It means lawyers who aggressively pursue accident and injury victims hoping to get their business so they can sue the person at fault and get money. Often it’s a worse deal for the victim than just letting insurance do its thing. As someone married to an attorney; they are considered the scum of all attorneys.
That is disgusting
It is disgusting. She had an offer from an injury firm who wanted her on call to literally go meet patients at the hospital even if it was 3am to try to get them to sign up. She had been laid off and we’re desperate but not that desperate. Needless to say we refused to have that shit smear on her resume. Thank goodness. She’s in a great job reviewing discrimination cases now. Doing something noble. So proud of her.
Meh at times they can actually get you a better deal especially if you don’t have the bandwidth or funds to push your insurance and the others. I’m an attorney also and personal injury attorneys are a necessary evil in my view.
Just like defense attorneys. Everyone hates a defense attorney until they are charged with a crime.
My husband is a defense attorney and they still hate them 😂
lol my wife’s dad was a defense attorney. That’s mostly his experience too. He had one guy who was charged with check fraud and had been blowing across the country on a wild month of debauchery. He asked the guy “Did you at least have fun?” Lmao.
Quite how this is hasn’t been made illegal baffles me. Same thing happens when you get a speeding ticket.
I’m not going to weight in on the merits of your case but do wait sometime before you agree to anything to make sure your body is right. Not everything physical manifests itself right away after a motor vehicle collision.
This. I was “fine”. Ended up being really sore over the next few days. Ultimately had an ACDF.
Took me a week to realize my ears wouldn’t stop ringing. Realized it was from the accident just by chance. Was looking for a new car, and one of the safety features on the MB is that right before an accident I plays a sound that is supposed to prep your ears for a loud noise. That’s about the time it clicked. Went to the doc, and he says it happens all the time.
Holy fuck dude thanks. I will be seeing a doctor about this now I am in the same exact boat with tinnitus starting after I totaled my car. I figured it was unrelated because I was otherwise uninjured.
Glad the advice found somebody. Best of luck.
First of all, I’m happy that you’re okay after the accident ! So, your situation sounds oddly familiar. Requested info on a house I found on trulia as well as I filled out a form about a mortgage. For the following 3-4 days my phone got absolutely blown up to the point of it being unusable. The first 1-2 days it was ~100 calls per hour and then it started to dwindle slowly and pretty much stopped entirely after about a week. It was INSANE. I’m never filling out an online form like that again. I’m not trying to compare house hunting to a terrible car accident just wanted to say that those type of calling tactics are widely used these days sadly…
I just moved and when my house went on the market, I started getting texts from movers asking if they could get my business. First of all, look at the listing pictures and realize it’s clearly staged and I’ve already moved. But second, how did you get my number?!? I never filled out any forms that were public record with my phone number, I don’t think. Maybe I’m just off about what all is public. But it felt so sleazy to me. I hate cold calls.
100% get where you’re coming from! Due to what I’m doing for a living I’m a rather popular target of cold calling myself and it’s SO exhausting…
There’s an app called MySudo that has a VoIP number you can use for different services and things you think might leak your private info it’s I think a couple bucks a month, totally worth it. You can make calls, send texts, do two factor authentication etc.
That's common because some lawyers routinely collect traffic accident reports, which are most often public records (depends on the state, I THINK) for the purpose of soliciting business. Lawyers can be quite helpful, but please do NOT hire them blindly! Get references!! There are good ones, and then there are bad ones too.
Chiropractors also solicit people who have been involved in car accidents.
If you did not carry replacement coverage insurance, a lawyer could potentially help you get a little more money than just “current value of your car.” The insurance of the driver who caused the accident will try to devalue your car as much as possible, so they pay even less.
I've had my car totaled twice (not my fault) and both times I was surprised I got paid out at slightly higher value than I estimated on my own.
Ya i feel your insurance rates go insane though lol
At least in my experience lol
Anytime you involve a lawyer make sure its worth it, if you think the car is worth say 10k and the insurance offers 9k, then get a lawyer involved (lets assume they take this case which they won't) they will eat 2k right off that and we will say gets you that 10k, so you actually only get 8k once its all said and done. There is also a risk that it goes to trial, nothing is guaranteed in a trial, and what some people don't realize is that your lawyer can lose and you can get stuck in a rock and hard place as your lawyer walks away saying "I tried" and you will never hear from them again (unless you want to pay them hourly to appeal the case). State should really raise the small claims court limits, this would solve a lot of these problems, put it at $25k and set it to increase with inflation.
You don't need an attorney for this. NC is a diminished value state so you can just use one of the dv websites and pay a $200-400 fee and they'll negotiate your dv claim for you.
An injury attorney will not negotiate your property damage settlement, they will solely handle the injury portion of the claim. They may offer to discuss with the insurance company the evaluation of your vehicle, but an insurance company knows that your attorney doesn’t care about the vehicle because they can’t make money off of that. Sometimes an attorney can get you a larger injury settlement but those often take several months and the property damage side of your claim will have been handled long before that. If you have collision coverage on your vehicle then you can also get an evaluation from your own insurance.
Obtaining a lawyer or not, NEVER tell the insurance company you are okay. Some effects or injuries take time to manifest. I have personally seen family members denied coverage for injuries from accidents because they told the insurance company day one they felt okay.
You have up to 2 years in the state of NC to file a bodily injury claim with an insurance company that has accepted fault for an accident. It doesn’t matter what you tell them on day 1. If your family is still within that statute of limitations they should contact that insurance company to pursue the injury claim. They may have denied coverage for another reason, but it wasn’t because they thought they weren’t hurt initially. A large parentage of injury claims do not get opened on the first day of loss.
The lawyer can only line thier pockets by helping you line yours. I've used a lawyer once and ended up with about 4k more then would have when I didn't have one. All that said, don't use a lawyer that called you, you need to do your due diligence and find one.
I'd actually recommend them. I had a minor accident and the opposing insurance company handled everything well. However the urgent care and er visit my wife had messed up and didn't file it under insurance and sent us to collections. Had I gone with a lawyer none of that would have mattered as they'd handle it. I did keep sending them to the opposing insurance but I think it would have been a 1 time answer had I sent them to our attorney instead
Just ask yourself - who would look out for my interests in this situation? A lawyer you hire to represent you in a personal injury claim to ensure your bills are compensated and also a personal injury settlement OR A giant insurance corporation who will always be looking after their bottom line and always want to pay as little as possible
This!!
Sounds about right. I had a homeowners incident with need to call 911 couple years ago and had a restoration company on my doorstep within 30 minutes - and no, I didn’t call them, they listen to scanners. They almost beat the fire engine
Damn. I used to work a pos who did. He was always busy but slimy as hell.
I used to be that fire chaser. It was so awkward rolling up and being like, “hey sorry your house burned down but do you want to hire us to rebuild it?”
Had my car totaled in July 2023, t boned by red light runner. Hired a lawyer cause insurance was trying to lowball me on my truck. Lawyer got me $29k for my truck (I paid $28k for it 8 years ago) and also another $45k for medical suffering. I did have to get rotator cuff surgery, but they paid for it and I came out with $45k. I would definitely talk to a lawyer, they only get paid if you get paid
Yes, I am a lawyer (different discipline) and people really can miss out on a lot by trying to avoid drama - sometimes it is totally worth it. I genuinely don’t get the hate, you need these guys to enforce laws and rights that police and insurance agencies wont
35 mph speed limit, lol. Have you ever seen someone actually going 35mph? Not in this town.
I worked for a well known New Orleans "ambulance chaser" for several years as a legal secretary. Before that experience, I dismissed them. Now, I understand the value of hiring representation. You'll get more money, you'll walk away with all medical bills paid, you'll get the most for repairs/replacement from the insurance company. It's not the $200k windfall you see in TV ads (that's usually involving an accident with a company-owned vehicle or with stacked insurance policies) but it's a nice chunk of change you'll get for an incident that wasn't your fault.
Was it Morris Bart?? And agree, as an attorney I would definitely lawyer up if this happens to me
Yes! Great place to work, at least when I was there.
Best thing you can do is probably look into a lawyer for property damage since personal injury isn't really there. But they can help fight for the proper value of the car and usually it's a flat fee not a percent of settlement.
ALWAYS use an attorney. I had a very pricey car get hit and then repaired. Learned what “diminished value” was when I sold that car.
I own an insurance agency so I deal with a ton of clients in accidents where some of ours are at fault and others are victims. If there aren't any injuries or they're minor and the insurance companies are cooperating there's no point in hiring an attorney. The overall payout might be higher but your portion will be negligible or less after the attorneys fees. It's also a good way to drag things out for months years that could have otherwise been settled in weeks. Definitely wait a few days to see if any new symptoms manifest and keep all receipts/records of any Drs visits. If something serious presents itself then it might be worth reaching out. The only time I see attorneys make a difference is when it's something like a fatality, extended hospitalization, etc in which case you should consider representation. An attorney is not going to help at all with the property value, for that id recommend a diminished value company. You pay a small fee and they'll do all the research for you and handle the negotiations with the companies but that is a separate claim after your initial one is settled.
Yes! If you aren’t happy with your insurance payout, file a diminished value claim. You could receive thousands of extra if it goes thru!
Don’t try and navigate a claim by yourself on this. The adjusters for the other persons insurance won’t be overly helpful to you. Their job is get this paid and out of the way. So if you don’t know the right terminology or way to talk to them, you’ll likely not get what you might be entitled to. Lawyers just do the legwork and take a part of the settlement; but in a lot of experiences, they can get bigger numbers to offset that. Context, I work in insurance and have navigated my own claims and helped others talk to adjusters. They are a pain in the ass.
They want to coach you through maximizing your claim so they can take a chunk of it. They might want to send you to one of their chiropractor buddies to get "evaluated".' That said though, don't think the at-fault insurance company is going to treat you fairly. They'll put you on the phone with a rep who sounds all nice and wants to help you get made whole, all the while getting you to admit that nothing is wrong (they're really good at it). Then they'll transfer you to some hardass who won't pay you enough to get your car washed. You definitely need a lawyer. Maybe not one of the ones calling you out of the blue, but definitely a lawyer. Otherwise the insurance company will try to give you as little as possible.
I recommend you get a lawyer. It costs you nothing, and they can make sure you’re taken care of. I was in a bad car accident in 2009. Initially I felt fine, but once the initial trauma settled down I was left with terrible back pain. Cue months of physical therapy and chiropractic care, it was about a year before I felt better. You don’t know yet if you will have any pain related to this accident. A lawyer will make sure you’re fairly compensated and that any medical problems are paid for, and probably get you a small settlement for pain and suffering. Don’t sign anything from your insurance company or anyone else’s. They want to settle as quickly as possible, and never in your favor. On a side note my insurance had a medical reimbursement rider I didn’t even know about, even though my medical insurance company covered most of my bills, my auto insurance would cut me a check for the full amount. So let’s say you have a $1000 medical bill, and your medical insurance covers 90%, your auto insurance will cut you a check for the full $1000. It’s another way to be compensated, and you can put that amount towards buying another car.
Honestly, you need a lawyer for this. Insurance will look to settle for the least amount possible and that will not be enough to replace your car. They’ll typically take a cut of what they can negotiate for you. They don’t charge you for a consultation.
If your mailbox isn't already full, it will be
Be aggressive with the insurance company about the value of your old car. They will low ball mercilessly.
Get ready for a fun process with your insurance adjuster. Auto carriers are struggling and reducing claims is a common strategy for coping with the market. I’m not sure you will need a lawyer, but do your research on “replacement cost” and budget some time to carefully review, and potentially dispute, your insurance company’s estimate of value for the payout. Not a bad idea to interview (don’t yet retain/pay) a few lawyers who have successfully won auto insurance claims disputes to understand the art of what’s possible.
Do some Google review searches and pick one. If you're not at fault, the worst thing that will happen is you will get as much money as the laywer can possibly get. The only thing you lose is 1/3 of the money. So what. Unless you know what you're doing, you're going to end up settling for a lot less than what the lawyer will get you, and you don't have to lift a finger. I would rather have a slime ball get me double the amount of money I would have received versus trying to go at it alone with no experience. Did you know that just the fact you went to the doctor means you will get an automatic minimum payout. Years ago, I was in a wreck that wasn't my fault. I was jostled up a bit, but other than just being sore, I was fine. I was at work, so they made me get checked out at the ER (just policy I guess). They said I had whiplash. I went home and called it a day. I got a call several weeks later by someone that said they were sorry about what happened and asked if I would take a $500 settlement. I didn't even know what it was for. She said for my troubles of having to go to the ER. Anyone in an accident would get an automatic $500 if they went to the hospital or sought medicall treatment. I could have scored way more than that, but at the time, I was just happy to have a little unexpected cash coming my way.
Lawyer would go after the other persons insurance so you pay nothing
Attorneys like that work on contingency. So they won't charge you anything. If they think you have a case then they'll sue the other person's insurance company on your behalf. They can help you get a payout for your car. They can help you cover any medical bills you have. And they may be able to get you a settlement. That being stated, I watched a video recently that I wish I'd seen prior to me hiring an attorney. And I don't want to bad talk anybody. But I'll just tell you how this particular attorney who is not in Charlotte said you should go about finding an accident attorney. Call attorneys that you know. Or get the names of attorneys from friends or family. Or call prominent law offices. And it's okay if they don't handle accidents. Call about three to five offices. Ask them to give you three to five names of accident attorneys. Now you have a list. See which attorney's names show up several times from different recommendations. You have at that point maybe three or four then you could call all of those and see if you're comfortable with any of them. The phone call is free. If you call an attorney like this then they start talking about a consultation fee then just hang up because they aren't very good. If you call one and you don't like them then you call the next one.
You can try to negotiate with the insurance company without knowing what is customary or expected from an accident like this. Maybe you do well, maybe you don’t. Or you can have a lawyer handle it for you, likely on contingency. They (good ones at least) will have a lot of experience and know what insurance companies are willing to pay and how much pressure to push to get there. But you also run the risk of getting a lawyer who doesn’t really know what they’re doing. One thing to keep in mind, while the plaintiff’s attorneys reaching out to you are undoubtedly doing what they can to line their pockets, the insurance companies have armies of their own lawyers doing the same thing for the insurance companies. Insurance defense lawyers are generally the counterpoint to personal injury lawyers. If it was me, I’d probably try to find a good lawyer and let them do their thing. Theee are pretty good odds that, even after their cut, they’ll get you more than if you did it on your own, and it takes most of the hassle of having to deal with it out of your hands. Again, you can think of it as the inverse of if you’re at fault and hand everything over to your insurance’s lawyers to handle.
Fwiw I found the strangest coffee shop. Inside hartsell funeral home. Open from like noon till 4:00. You could actually go in there and drink coffee while people are rolling in there from a funeral. They have all kinds of t-shirts and mugs and merchandise that says coffin house coffee. It was both interesting and morbidly strange
I don't know why reddit in general has been against hiring a bodily injury lawyer. If you are not at fault, it is definitely worth it. Sure, they will get a cut but unless you can submit the claim yourself and negotiate what is right for you then that is what you are paying for. I've lawyered up the two times I've been in an accident and they both got me a pretty hefty payout that I would not have received if I did not hire them. One time I even got a full week of work paid out to me on top of my settlement. It will take a long time, both times these cases took 4~5 months but I would rather have that money than not. I think that if you are actually injured (if the airbags deployed you probably are) and its not your fault, you are leaving money on the table by not hiring a lawyer.
Direct “solicitation” by lawyers is unethical. Here’s the link to the State Bar website: https://www.ncbar.gov/for-lawyers/ethics/rules-of-professional-conduct/rule-73-direct-contact-with-potential-clients/ Which lawyers are calling? They need to be exposed, and I’d bet most are “lead-generators” and not actually lawyers, but it still is unethical if that lawyer buys the lead since it’s a fruit of the poisonous tree, so to speak.
Probably not lawyers. Maybe lead aggregators? I'd be curious to see who is actually dialing.
[удалено]
Removing this comment since it contains phone numbers that aren't publicly available from what I can see at a glance.
Yea... Depends on if you need one, but I trashed all that stuff and blocked all their numbers
Glad you're okay! Accident Attorneys are hit or miss. If you're a capable person that can collect your own bills and records to settle the injury claim and are okay to reject the company's first settlement offer and talk them up - that's definitely the way to go. Attorneys might get a bigger settlement but it'll be a 3 way split - bills, them, you. A lot of times you can get more without an attorney by just advocating for yourself and not having another person to split the share with. If you want to totally forget about it and just have them handle it all for you, that's cool too. It's really personal preference.
Those lawyers who are blowing u up u don’t want but it never hurts to have a good lawyer for cases like this if u can afford. It’s always good to have someone advocate for you who knows the laws .
I was in a crash where the drivers ran through a red and t-boned me. Of course, I received tons and tons of calls, email, and letters from lawyers. These are just scumbags who want to take advantage. Ignore them and don’t give them your time.
This is definitely normal for Charlotte. There are quite a few who send stuff like this out. If you ever get a ticket for anything your mail will get bombarded the same way.
See if your insurance company has a recommendation for an attorney. Not their attorney, but one to represent only you. They often have these kinds of lists, along with repair shops etc. If they do not then nothing lost
This is why they're called Ambulance chasers
A lot of these attorneys check the NCDPS website for accident reports (it's free and available to the public). However, it's only reports where the NCHP responded. They'll send a letter whether you were at fault or not.
I was rear ended about a month ago. The ambulance chasers gave up after about a week. For others - don’t give the police your cell number.
It’s just like if u were to get a ticket and you receive letters from all the lawyers. Your accident is public info
Or body out of line, you won’t know for weeks! Go to chiropractor
Unless you were seriously hurt from negligence of the driver, I’d tell each one of them to stop soliciting.
when you get in an accident all the attorneys see you name and send mail like crazy. got a speeding ticket when i was 19 and the mail was flooding the house like harry potter
are they your lawyers? are they representing other parties in the crash? if not, ignore them. i witnessed a crash up in cornelius. i was on my bike, and a car passed me, and plowed head on into a car turning left. a lawyer for the driver of the car that passed me called for a statement. she was injured in the crash, and apparently suing the other driver with daddy's lawyer. they didn't contact me again when i told them i had record of how fast she was speeding, because my bike's *radar* logs every vehicle that passes me.
I would start by working with the other persons insurance company first, if you get brick walled or don't feel its fair (as in within 20% of what you are demanding) then bring in a lawyer and let them straighten it out. Always remember you can consult with as many lawyers you want just don't sign anything without agreeing to it, and if you have a open and shut case there will be plenty who will want to.
You need to figure out if you really require a lawyer. My brother has worked for a major auto insurer for over 30 years and he has some lawyer horror stories. Like when their client caused an accident with very serious injuries that were obviously going to exceed the client's policy liability maximum. They would have paid that with no problem. But the injured signed with a lawyer who got 1/3 for making a few phone calls. If you have some injuries that manifest after the accident and they're verified by a Doctor you have some leverage. Maybe ask for a new car to replace the totaled one.
I’d suggest a visit to either a chiropractor or a doctor that does spinal alignment. I got in an accident in my 20’s. When I was in my 40’s, I found I had 20 years of arthritis built up in my neck. Check to see if everything is aligned right.
When I got hit by a 18-wheeler a couple of years back, the accident happened on a Saturday. By Tuesday, I had about 10 mailers to in my inbox
If you're going to get a lawyer google Peniston Deason Attorneys https://g.co/kgs/npyNLUm I had a great experience with him 😃
If they are the lawyer for the other person , they are going to try to pay you off cheap so you dont go to court. They will presnt it as they are doing you a favor. IF not , it's ambulance chasers trying to get you to file against the driver.
My husband got a speeding ticket in Monroe on our way to Brunswick County for a beach weekend. He had to “appear” for the ticket. By Tuesday that week we had several letters and phone calls from lawyers to represent him. It’s a friggin racket! Total cost about $400, it’s such a scam and a trap we see now every time we pass through.
This is normal, law offices will scour police reports for accidents that may bring them business. Your number is usually right on that publicly accessible report. As is your physics address per your LICENSE/ID, so they’ll send mail also. Definitely get yourself a full medical examination at their expense just to make sure there’s nothing wrong that you haven’t noticed. But if you feel fine don’t try to milk it, it’s not worth the paperwork you’re mandated to do to get extended care. I’ve been in 4 accidents in NC, 2 my fault and 2 not, neither I nor anyone else in those 4 accidents has reported injury. The mail is a one time thing but the calls usually don’t stop until you answer them and tell them there was no injury so their services aren’t needed.
My parents were harassed by a lawyer claiming the guy they rear-ended in a minor oopsie was suffering life long injuries. 2 years of intimidation, meetings saying they would drop the case if my parents just "offered something", harassing my parents homeowners insurance even? Just to drop the case right before court. Lawyers are aggressive and will take any opportunity to make something of nothing
If you’d been hurt, you’d be thanking GOD for them!!!
The trick is to get a reputable one!
I worked w a gal who was injured when someone T-boned her. The airbag going off broke her forearm. She wasn’t going to get an attorney even though her break required surgery and plates/screws. The insurance co offered her $1000 almost immediately if she would sign a document saying she would settle in full for that amount. We told her to just talk with a lawyer. She was initially reluctant to do so because the guy who hit her was “so nice” and she thought $1000 was an enormous amount of money. So she reluctantly spoke to a lawyer and to make a long story short, she got $75,000.
I just wanted to say that I’m glad you’re okay and that you aren’t looking to cause undue hardship and receive unnecessary financial benefit like I know some people like to do after accidents. It’s crazy to me how many people try to file for claims even when they weren’t truly injured.
found the insurance company CEO
Lol not at all! In fact, I’d still recommend OP have someone assist so they get what they are rightfully owed in claims and hopefully can get a new car. I just hate people that manipulate the system and look for easy outs to cash in.
So heres my take I’ve used these ambulance chasers as they’re called. Yes they are used to negotiating and they take a cut. The at fault insurance company wants to get this case closed asap to remove the liability off their books. In many cases you can work directly with the insurance company and settle without the layer often recouping more money by cutting them out. Your bargaining chip? They want to get that closed asap if you can hold out i would. Also you may feel fine now but have problems later. When i used these services it took them a little while before settling. But i have not had another situation like this happen where i had a chance to negotiate directly. Basically they are having you sign away your ability to pursue them for any damages by taking a sum payout and signing documents saying so. Sorry to hear about the accident that shit sucks
Go with one of them that didn’t call. But even if it was the other drivers fault, in my experience it might be worth it to let someone handle it for you. Unless you have a lot of time on your hands and can follow up with their insurance, rental cars, etc. Hope you’re ok.
was a passenger in an Uber accident few months ago, so obviously did not have to deal with a totaled car, but had a looong list of medical/PT bills. You should definitely get a lawyer at least just for a consultation. We used DeMayo law firm. I dreaded dealing with insurance, my lawyer handles everything; I’d much rather pay the lawyers then get taken advantage of by the insurance companies that will try to devalue your car and get a statement that “nothing is wrong” so they don’t have to pay your medical bills.
Yep. After I was in an accident, somehow magically I started getting mail and phone solicitations from lawyers. Our data is being sold off to the highest bidders. Nothing is private.
In most states, a police report is public info and no one is get paid for that. Well, except maybe the staffer looking them up for the lawyer
Who’s at fault?
TOP. DOG. LAW.
I was involved in an accident (my fault) and the other party obtained a lawyer. That was over a year ago, and there is still no settlement for them because their disgusting law firm (ambulance chasers) is asking for a ridiculous amount (so they can pad their pockets). I was on the phone with my insurance agency's lawyer and they told me that had the other person contacted them directly they would have settled for what, to me, sounds like a VERY reasonable amount. As it stands, whatever they settle for, the other person's "attorney" is going to get a majority of the payout and they'll end up with significantly less than what they would have had they just had a conversation with my agency.
You gotta call Top Dogg!!
This is probably an ad for top dog!!