If you were injured in a rideshare accident in Kansas, read these 6 frequently asked rideshare accident questions. Then give us a call now.
1) How Do I Choose a Rideshare Accident Attorney?
One is you want to find an attorney whose core focus is on injury cases. You may want to work with somebody that you’ve worked with in the past. Maybe you’ve had an attorney who’s represented you or helped you with a will or something like that, but you really do want to find somebody whose core focus is on injury cases to help you with your rideshare case. You also want to make sure that you find an attorney who is experienced and has success in handling rideshare cases. Those attorneys are going to know the ins and outs of the law in this area and be able to get the best recovery for you. Finally, you want to make sure that you find a trial attorney. Not all attorneys are trial attorneys. Trial attorneys are attorneys who are experienced in taking a case to trial and litigating a case in trial and they will work up your case different than other attorneys. They will work up your case in a way that if you have to go to trial, you will be prepared to do that and get the best recovery at trial.
2) What are the Common Mistakes To Avoid After a Rideshare Accident?
The law enforcement, other entities investigating these types of accidents, don’t always get all the information that you think that they will get so it is important to document this information, gather this evidence yourself, or if you’re not able to do that, to get an attorney involved quickly who can do that for you.
Another mistake this person had made that we see a lot is that people fail to go get the treatment that they need. Oftentimes, people have a lot of adrenaline after the accident itself and they don’t think they need to go get treatment, but even then, in the days following when they realize that they do have injures, they hope that they get better, they hope that they won’t have to go get treatment and so they don’t go get treatment. That is a huge mistake. You really need to get started with someone right away. Sometimes the injuries are more significant than they seem and the faster you start treating for those injuries, the better recovery you’ll have. The more time that goes by without documenting those injuries as part of the medical record, the more difficulty you will have with the insurance company in resolving your case.
Another common mistake that we see is people give a recorded statement to the insurance carrier. They think they can’t do any harm to their case. They’re just going to tell the truth; the insurance carrier’s whole goal, however, is to delay and deny your case so they’re looking to gather whatever evidence they can to help them do that. They will ask questions in a tricky way in a certain way and sometimes even in a certain order, all designed to help them gather the evidence they need to delay and deny your claim. Don’t give an insurance statement without hiring an attorney first.
Finally, one of the biggest mistakes we see is when people hire the wrong attorney. You hired someone who is not familiar with these types of cases, is not skilled in handling these cases, or is not a trial attorney and does not work the case up in your best interest from the get-go. Avoid this by getting the right attorney and getting an attorney quickly.
3) What are the Rideshare Accident Attorney Fees?
It doesn’t cost anything. You can hire an attorney to help you with your rideshare accident injury case typically on a contingency fee. Our attorneys work on a contingency fee, meaning they are paid a percentage of what they recover for you. You do not have to pay anything upfront. You do not have to pay a retainer like you will with other types of attorneys. You don’t have to pay anything as we pursue the case and handle the claim as you’re getting treatment and getting your life back. The only time that we are paid is when you are paid, and that payment is a percentage of the amount that we recover for you. You never have to come up with money out of your pocket to hire an attorney to help you with your rideshare accident injury case.
4) Should I Talk To the Insurance Company?
My advice is do not talk to the insurance carrier. Don’t ever give a statement to the insurance carrier. The insurance carriers do a great job of advertising and commercials and other ways of making us feel like they care about us and they’re going to take care of us when we’re injured in an accident, but the truth is that when you are injured in an accident, the insurance company wants to do everything they can to avoid having to pay anything on your claim, either denying your claim entirely or at a minimum delaying payment on your case. Their whole focus in taking a statement from you is to gather the evidence that will help them do that. You may feel like you are just going to be honest so there’s no harm in talking to the insurance carrier, but there are things, even though you are being honest, there are things that insurance carrier will do. They’re very skilled at doing this. They will ask questions in a certain way in a certain order in collecting evidence to help them delay or deny your claim. Do not give a statement to the insurance carrier. Hire an attorney that can help you and represent you through that process.
5) What are the Available Rideshare Accident Damages?
There are several different types of damages that you can receive. One is economic damages. Those are things like payment of your medical bills, both those that you have already incurred and as well as the payment of medical bills in the future, and loss wages, past loss wages and any wages that you may have to have in the future as a result of your injuries. You are also entitled to recover noneconomic damages which includes things like pain, suffering, maybe permanent disability, disfigurement if you have any scarring, really even all the ways in which this has affected your life, the inconvenience of having to go to doctor’s appointments, and the impact your life and your family as a result of these injuries.
6) Who Pays Your Rideshare Accident Medical Bills?
In Kansas, the first insurance carrier that will pay your medical bills is actually your own insurance carrier. They will pay your bills under what is called personal injury protection or PIP portion of your policy. That is a portion of your auto insurance policy that provides usually about $4,500 in medical coverage for injuries that you have in an accident, regardless of who was at fault. Your own insurance carrier pays the bills first and then after that limit of $4,500 or whatever the limit is on your policy is paid, then your own health insurance actually steps in and starts to pay the medical bills until you are done treating. Once you are done treating, then all of your medical bills, both those paid by your auto insurance under your PIP and the medical bills paid by your health insurance, all of the medical bills and all of the damages will be submitted to the insurance carrier of the at fault driver or the driver who is responsible for the accident and a demand will be made against them to pay those medical bills. Those are all details that we can help you with and we can make sure that all the bills are submitted to the correct insurance carrier as you’re getting treatment so that you can get the treatment and handle that for you as well as submitting that demand to the responsible insurance carrier once you are done with treatment.
Were you or a loved one severely injured in a rideshare accident in Kansas and have questions? After reading these 6 frequently asked rideshare accident questions, contact our experienced Kansas rideshare accident lawyers today for a free consultation and case evaluation.
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