Our law firm helps people who have suffered as a result of other people’s negligence. While personal injury suits do not exist to cover every accident that might ever happen, we can cover a fair number of the injuries that do occur during the Christmas holiday.
We also want people to be safe throughout the holiday, so we thought it would be a great time to cover some of the most common Christmas injuries, as well as the personal injury cases that they can create.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission and US Customs and Border Protection seized more than 1.1 million dangerous or illegal toys in 2023. Toys can provide a wealth of dangers, including:
Every year, World Against Toys Causing Harm (W.A.T.C.H.) puts out a list of toys that are hazardous. The current list includes Disney toys, disc launchers, and more. You can find the list here.
Take precautions when buying toys. Choose age-appropriate toys, follow all toy-related directions, and be wary of deals that seem too good to be true. Often, deeply discounted toys are counterfeits produced overseas in places that don’t have stringent safety standards.
If a dangerous toy has injured your child, save the packaging, take photos, get the names and numbers of witnesses, and get medical attention right away. Your child may be eligible for compensation through a product liability lawsuit.
Tis the season to cook lots of food. Cooking fires account for nearly half of the home fires that occur in America every year, and while Thanksgiving accounts for more fires than Christmas does, it’s still important to be careful.
Never leave food unattended while it is cooking.
In addition to cooking injuries, holiday lights and decorations can be a source of fires.
If you are burned this holiday season, you might be able to bring a premises liability suit against a property owner who caused a fire or who failed to exercise reasonable care. Of course, if you set the fire yourself, you’ll have to pay for your expenses out of pocket and may find yourself the defendant in an injury lawsuit. Take care.
Trimming the Christmas tree, stepping on broken Christmas ornaments, cuts from knives or scissors while wrapping or opening Christmas presents. Christmas offers plenty of opportunities for people to receive nasty cuts and lacerations.
Often, it is not possible to launch a personal injury case for these types of injuries, so be extremely vigilant whenever you’re operating around sharp objects.
It’s ice and snow season here in New York City, and that means plenty of opportunities for slips, trips, and falls.
If you slip or fall because a store or location didn’t clean up a spill or left a hazard in the aisle, you may have a premesis liability suit. If you slipped on icy sidewalks you may have a suit either against the city or against the property owner, but you’ll need to act fast. You have to file a Notice of Claim within 30 days to sue the city.
You almost always need a personal injury lawyer to launch a slip-and-fall suit, so call one as soon as you feel medically capable of doing so.
More shopping, parties, and visits with relatives mean more cars on the road, even in New York City. The National Safety Council estimates that more than 600 people die on the road in the United States between Christmas and New Years.
We’re sad to say there are a lot more intoxicated drivers on the road during this time of year. In addition, the weather is often bad and tempers are often short.
Make sure your car is roadworthy for winter driving, and slow down if you have to. Get a ride if you’ve been drinking. If you get into an accident that meets the serious injury threshold, don’t forget to call a personal injury lawfirm like ours right away.
Despite this grim list, most people have safe, lovely holidays, and we hope you do too.
Nevertheless, if you get hurt this Christmas because another party was negligent, feel free to call us.
See also:
What Are Your Options if You Were Injured On Black Friday?
]]>In some cases, you might have recourse to pursue a personal injury case if you were injured while attempting to take advantage of sales.
We see all sorts of injuries from all sorts of cases, including:
The hype, excitement, sense of scarcity, exhausting conditions, crowds, and traffic can all contribute to Black Friday incidents.
One researcher attributes Black Friday behavior to feelings of inequality. Normal store transactions are more or less equitable; the process of obtaining some of the better deals isn’t always rational or fair, especially if a consumer expended a great deal of effort to obtain the promoted item at the promoted price.
In addition, “doorbuster” prices are often limited to the early morning hours and are available only to those who are the first to enter the store. Often, people wait in line for hours prior to the store’s opening. Waiting in line with a large crowd for hours can in itself stoke aggression.
This can cause trouble, especially since some of those great deals are gone when they’re gone. Researchers also found that people who expended effort planning their Black Fridays tended to act more impulsively. Retailers, of course, go out of their way to stoke feelings of excitement and scarcity, and promotions themselves evoke more emotions than the normal shopping experience does.
In addition, all the normal injury parameters can still apply. Substances can spill and create slip hazards on floors. Snow and ice can turn parking lots and sidewalks into obstacle courses.
There are three locations where Black Friday incidents typically happen:
Walmart accounts for 70% of Black Friday injuries and deaths, but few big box stores are events.
If a rude shopper shoves you into a shelf on Black Friday, is it the shopper’s fault or the store’s fault? Are you a victim of a crime, or are you eligible to launch a personal injury case?
If you want to hold the retailer accountable, the question will boil down to whether the retailer failed to exercise reasonable care. Black Friday does not excuse retailers from their normal obligations to maintain safe conditions in their stores.
If the retailer took reasonable precautions, there may still be other parties worth pursuing. For example, if you were injured in a car accident and meet the severe injury threshold, you can sue the driver no matter what day of the year it is. If you were assaulted, you may also be able to bring a personal injury case against the person who assaulted you, in addition to making a claim with the New York Victim’s Assistance Fund.
As with any personal injury case, it is vital to avoid attempting to do guesswork about whether or not you have a case. We recommend scheduling a free consultation with one of our attorneys to review the facts of your case.
We will be happy to determine whether you have a chance of recovering compensation, as well as going over your next steps. Contact us today.
See also:
Who is Liable if You’re Injured During an NYC Parade?
How Do Negligent Security Cases Work in New York?
Can You Seek Compensation in a New York Assault Case Without a Criminal Conviction?
In 1997, a balloon swept out of control and put a woman in 24 days after a Cat in the Hat balloon caught in 40 mph winds struck a light pole, broke the pole, and sent debris into the crowd. The woman, Kathleen Caronna, suffered from a severe head injury and was awarded damages.
Parades are a lot of fun, but they aren’t always safe.
With so many holiday parades coming up, it seems like a good time to review potential parade injuries and the personal injury liability that can come with them.
We’ve seen quite a few injuries, including:
Any injury that you can imagine happening when you pack people, vehicles, giant balloons, people’s dogs, and weather conditions into narrow city streets can happen during a parade.
Balloon handlers on the parade front lines often risk injuries, but so too do people in the crowds.
You should be on your guard and exercise your own safety precautions whenever you are at a big public event like a parade.
There are a variety of ways people get injured at parades.
While the vast majority of people are safe at parades, it’s good to be aware that anything can happen.
There are several parties we can look to when determining who is responsible for your injury. We’re looking for the party or parties who are most negligent.
In the past, we’ve sued event organizers, float builders, the city, float drivers, and others. It all depends on why the injury happened and who was negligent. Was there insufficient security? Did the parade organizers fail to account for prevailing weather conditions? Was a float driver driving negligently?
If you have been injured in a parade, it is vital to move quickly. If we determine the city is the responsible party, we’ll have just 30 days from the date of your injury to file a Notice of Claim. If we don’t file with the city on time, you might never be able to recover compensation for your accident.
You should take the same steps you’d take after any accident.
Many people hesitate to contact a lawyer because they’re not sure their injury is “serious enough” or they aren’t sure they have a case. Don’t make that mistake. You don’t have to do guesswork. We’ll tell you whether it’s better to simply file a claim with the appropriate insurance company and move on, but often, you can’t even launch a claim without a lawyer’s help.
We hope you have a safe, happy holiday this parade season, and we hope you and your family have fun and don’t suffer any injuries.
Yet if something does happen, don’t hesitate to call us. We’re here to help you obtain compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, pain, and suffering.
Already been injured in an accident? Call now to schedule a case review today.
See also:
Common Thanksgiving Injuries in New York
Five for Fighting: When Fans Are Physically Assaulted at Hockey Games
]]>Our law firm helps people who have suffered as a result of other people’s negligence launch personal injury suits to recoup their losses.
But ultimately, we’d like everyone to be safe this holiday season. So we thought it would be a great time to cover some of the most common Thanksgiving injuries and how you might avoid them and stay safe.
There are a few things that can go wrong when deep frying a turkey. When done properly, the results are delicious, but when done incorrectly, the results are tragic.
Follow these tips to stay safe:
If you’re not sure you can deep fry the turkey safely, it may be time to consider cooking the turkey a different way. You can even cut up a raw whole turkey for faster roasting, which can result in a juicy, tasty turkey, and is conducive to cooking in a smaller apartment.
Carving the turkey can be hazardous in a number of ways! Yes, you can cut your hands, but you can also burn yourself.
To keep yourself safe, follow these tips:
The American Society for the Surgery of the Hand has a few other, more specific tips to avoid turkey carving injuries. You’ll find them here.
With so many dishes coming on and off the stove and in and out of the oven, you end up with a lot of opportunities for burns. Try to slow down, and don’t forget to use your oven mitts!
When you’re carrying hot dishes, stay aware of your surroundings, especially other people who are working in the room with you.
Overindulgence is a common fault at Thanksgiving, but if you know you’ve had a little too much, ask for a couch, a guest room, or a ride. Don’t get behind the wheel of a car if you’ve had too much to drink (or had too many of Aunt Marge’s “special” brownies).
If you’re driving home from your family holiday, please be careful. Even if you haven’t overindulged, there will be drivers on the road who weren’t as careful as you were and who may not even realize they’re over the legal limit. Traffic accidents increase on any holiday. The National Safety Council estimates that 485 people die on the roads every Thanksgiving.
48 million people get sick every Thanksgiving. 3,000 of them die from foodborne diseases.
Turkey is especially dangerous. You’ll kill off most of the diseases by cooking it, but cross-contamination may still be an issue.
Slow down, take your time, and watch every step of the food production chain. Wash your hands often, wash your tools often, and wipe down surfaces often. If you’re not sure whether an implement has come into contact with raw meat or eggs, wash it or get another one.
Kitchen mishaps, fryer mishaps, and even fireplace mishaps can cause major fires during the Thanksgiving season. Fire departments report roughly 1600 house fires every year.
Don’t let the holiday lure you into a false sense of security. Take more care than you normally would on Thanksgiving Day, not less.
Keep kitchen floors clean and dry, and consider adding a slip-proof mat to your floor to give yourself and your guests a little more traction inside the kitchen. It’s also a good idea to declutter your kitchen before the family arrives, just to keep walkways and counter space as clear as possible.
Given the amount of rush and bustle that can happen in a Thanksgiving kitchen, it’s also a good idea to wear slip-proof shoes while you cook, just as you would while working in a commercial kitchen.
Personal injury law isn’t designed to address every bad thing that happens. But if you get hurt this Thanksgiving because another party was negligent, feel free to call us. We’re here to help you file your lawsuit and to help you navigate it.
Contact us to get started today.
See also:
Winter Safety for New York City Drivers
]]>While we’re certainly here to help you if you get into an accident that meets the severe injury threshold at any time of year, we prefer for people to remain as safe as possible all year round.
Thus, we offer these reminders for drivers.
Right now, at the end of October, is the perfect time to get vehicular systems checked to ensure they’re in great shape before winter begins.
Use the following checklist to prepare your car.
Ensuring these systems are in top-notch shape can save your life if you hit a slippery patch on the road or need to evade a vehicle that’s spinning out of control.
The National Weather Service recommends carrying an emergency winter supply kit for your car because you don’t know when you’ll have to pull over for winter weather or encounter an emergency road closure.
The following items can be a big help if you’re stranded in your car.
Use this checklist to make sure you have everything you might need.
You should also try to keep a full tank of gas in your car at all times.
When you’re in a hurry, it can be tempting to clear just enough snow off your car to see out your front windshield. But there are important reasons to resist the urge.
First, failing to clear all the snow and ice off of every window, including the back, can limit your own visibility in dangerous ways.
Second, as you drive, those chunks of snow and ice tend to melt, then fly off and strike the front windshield of other driver’s cars. This momentarily limits their own visibility and creates a few critical seconds where they can’t adequately respond to road conditions. This could result in an accident.
If they rear-end you because you let the snow fly, it’s possible the courts will assign you a percentage of responsibility that’s so high that the diminishing returns on your potential award would make pursuing a case make far less sense than it would were you wholly blameless.
When it’s snowing or sleeting, you need to keep your lights on just as you would at night or during a rainstorm.
Snow and sleet limit visibility. Lights help. It’s as simple as that.
Don’t use snow and ice as an excuse to flip on your high beams to the point where you blind every other driver on the road. It’s not just inconsiderate. It’s dangerous.
High beams are mainly for use on rural roadways with fewer streetlights and less traffic. They also don’t help you increase visibility in poor weather conditions nearly as well as people think they do.
Icy roads mean less friction and less friction means it takes longer to slow down. Leave twice as many car lengths between you and the car ahead as you normally would.
If that’s not possible—New York City bumper-to-bumper traffic is common even in winter—leave as much space as you possibly can without creating a different kind of road hazard. Avoid tailgating.
Wake up a little earlier and leave a little earlier if you have to, but winter is no time to speed. In fact, winter is the perfect time to drive much slower, even if you go 5 to 10 miles below the speed limit.
Slowing down gives you more time to respond to sudden hazards and reduces the severity of hazards should you encounter them.
Remember the steps if you do get into an accident:
We hope you remain safe all winter long. However, if you get into an accident, we are here to help. Contact us to schedule a free consultation today.
See also:
How Weather Conditions Impact Your New York Car Accident Case
Tragic Statistics on Traffic Fatalities in New York City
Tips for Documenting Injuries During Your Personal Injury Case
]]>While we’re here for you if you get into an accident on a construction site, we’d prefer that people stay safe first and foremost. Thus, we wanted to go over some of the most common winter hazards.
Many of New York’s most tragic construction injuries and deaths happen during the colder months.
It’s important to stay warm in the winter. New York City temperatures can go as low as 10 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter. Injuries can include frostbite and hypothermia. “Trench foot” is another common injury. It is an injury that occurs when feet and socks get wet during freezing conditions, shutting down circulation in the feet.
Dress appropriately, carry warming packs, and bring extra boots and socks to the job so you can change them if you need to.
The icy conditions in New York City won’t just impact pedestrians during the colder months. Plenty of construction site workers have to worry about wet, slippery conditions on job sites as well. They can slip directly, but ladders can also slip.
Lay down plenty of de-icers, and wipe up wet spills before they freeze. Wear water-resistant boots, and be sure to wear safety lines at elevation. Carry smaller loads to avoid losing your balance. It’s a good idea to take shorter, smaller steps, too.
Falling debris is always a concern at New York construction sites. Tools, materials, and random objects fall and strike people below all the time. Winter adds additional potential for falling object injuries.
Ice and snow can fall naturally, or they can be shoveled atop an unwitting victim. Either way, the result can be injuries and death. Snow can be heavy, and so can a large icicle that hits a head in just the right way.
Mark off worksite areas where falling ice and snow hazards might be a concern or where snow removal is about to begin.
Wielding a snow shovel can be dangerous if one isn’t careful. If you’re up on a roof shoveling near power lines, there’s always a chance the shovel will come into contact with the power lines and cause electrocution.
Be sure you are very conscious of where power lines might be during the shoveling process.
In addition, if you’ll be running heaters, power tools, or other electrical equipment, make sure all cords are kept clear from melting snow, and dry.
Electrocution isn’t the only danger workers have to worry about when shoveling snow. It’s strenuous work. It’s easy to become dehydrated without noticing it, or to suffer back injuries.
OSHA recommends warming up before the activity, pushing the snow instead of lifting it wherever and whenever possible, and scooping smaller amounts of snow while using proper lifting techniques.
If you’re clearing snow from a roof, try using a long roof rake before getting up on what might be a high, slippery surface or by using the right type of equipment when rooftop work is unavoidable.
Driving injuries are more common in winter, and the potential for danger is just as high for construction equipment as it would be for cars. Roadway conditions can be hazardous.
If you’re going to be driving equipment, perform all relevant safety checks and make sure all systems are operated and maintained in accordance with manufacturer recommendations for winter weather.
Drive slower whenever possible, as it’s easier for vehicles to skid on icy roads.
Snow blowers can get stuck or jammed. When that happens, you mustn’t clean the blower by hand. You should instead turn it off and wait for all the moving parts to come to a complete stop.
You can clear wet snow and debris with a long stick instead. Always wear safety glasses while operating or clearing a snow blower.
Normal construction site hazards don’t go away when winter weather strikes. Most of them just become more dangerous.
Be sure to follow all of the normal safety procedures you’d follow during any other time of the year.
If you are injured during the winter months for any of the following reasons, you may be eligible for compensation above and beyond workers’ compensation.
Never assume you don’t have a case. We want to help you maximize your compensation. Contact us to schedule a free case review today.
In the meantime, stay careful out there, and stay safe!
See also:
What to Do If You’re Injured in a Construction Accident in NYC
When Does it Make Sense to Pursue a Construction Personal Injury Lawsuit?
]]>In both New York and New Jersey, crime victims or their surviving family members can filed lawsuits seeking compensation for their injuries and financial damages caused by the crime — and against anyone whose negligence contributed to the injuries or death. The reason the family is suing the wholesaler is their belief that, if it weren’t for the company’s negligent security arrangements, the Edison man probably wouldn’t have been killed.
According to prosecutors, three men were engaged in a conspiracy to commit this murder because, it seems, they wanted to be “goodfellas,” or at least appear to be.
One of the men, a 30-year-old, had convinced at least one of the others that he had real connections to the Mafia. The street credibility those supposed connections gave him eventually engendered aspirations in his 27-year-old associate to achieve similar notoriety by joining the mob, investigators believe.
The older man, therefore, gave the younger one an assignment — to murder an acquaintance, the Edison man. Prosecutors say he not only encouraged the murder but advised the younger man on how to do it.
Acting as the alleged Mafioso’s agent or employee, prosecutors claim, he somehow lured the Edison man to a nighttime meeting at the lot owned by Viking Terminal Marine, with whom the alleged killers had a business relationship. Presumably, that business relationship had given them some knowledge of the lack of security on the lot.
The third member of the alleged conspiracy was not named as a defendant in the wrongful death lawsuit because his involvement came later. His role was apparently to destroy the evidence and hinder the murder investigation. All three defendants have pled not guilty. No trial has yet been scheduled.
When property owners fail to provide appropriate security, they invite illegal activity onto their premises. Whether Viking Terminal Marine’s lot security was negligent is a question for the jury.
Source: New Jersey Star-Ledger, “Edison man’s estate sues man charged with killing him in 2011,” Sue Epstein, Oct. 10, 2013
]]>In the process, you get injured yourself.
Now, both you and your co-worker have a claim. What happens next?
para1
The rescue doctrine helps to establish who owes a duty of care to whom.
As you can see, rescue is complicated!
The most recent Rescue Doctrine case was the 2023 case Leonard v. City of New York
In this case, a construction accident prompted Leonard to spontaneously and instantaneously attempt to assist an injured colleague. The New York City transit authority argued that his injuries during the rescue “didn’t result from a breach of Industrial Code provisions that establish the necessary basis for a claim.”
In New York, workers are eligible for workers’ compensation law, but they are also eligible to launch a personal injury claim against an owner or contractor who breaches the safety provisions laid out in Labor Law Section 241(6).
The First Department appeals court ruled that a wrong to a coworker involving Industrial Code provisions was wrong to Leonard as well, noting that “bystanders who observe an incident that places a person in peril will be impelled to rescue that person.”
They also noted that the Labor Law’s central purpose is encouraging owners and contractors to comply with the Industrial Code.
One good example is the 1935 New York state case Zelenko v. Gimbel Bros, Inc.In this case, shop owners began giving medical assistance to a customer who was ill. In so doing, they initiated a rescue attempt.
Unfortunately, they then left the customer alone for many hours after initially rendering care, and she died.
The judge ruled: “We will assume that defendant owed her no duty at all—that defendant could have let her be and die. But if a defendant undertakes a task, even if under no duty to undertake it, the defendant must not omit to do what an ordinary man would do in performing that task.”
In this case, the defendant did not summon an ambulance or attempt to bring the customer to a doctor. If the defendant had taken these basic steps, they probably would not have been liable for the death.
The rescue doctrine may even arise in medical malpractice cases. Consider the 1982 case, Moore v. Shah
In this case, the plaintiff donated a kidney to his father. He then sued the physician, saying he was guilty of negligence in his father’s diagnosis and prescribed treatment, thus causing kidney failure and the need for a transplant.
The plaintiff was unsuccessful in this case. The courts noted that one well-defined principle of the rescue doctrine is that rescues are generally made “under the pressures and exigencies of an emergency situation.” The court felt that the plaintiff in this case had made a “deliberate and reflective” decision to help his father.
Therearecases where the courts have applied the doctrine in situations that were not spontaneous reactions, but the fact that no emergency or instantaneous decision existed still played into the decision. Spontaneous or not, in order to recover, a plaintiff must be “in the zone of danger.”
They also noted there was no way the defendant could have foreseen that the alleged negligence could hurt not only the defendant’s father but also the defendant.
Defendants will typically seize on any excuse to avoid paying a claim.
If you were hurt while conducting a rescue, you should reach out to a personal injury firm like ours as soon as you are medically capable of doing so.
If you lost a loved one to someone who purported to start rescuing them only to abandon them or otherwise negligently handle them, reach out to us.
If you got hurt attempting to rescue someone who did something reckless, reach out to us.
Any of these cases will require an experienced personal injury attorney to bring to a successful conclusion. We will help you hold all relevant parties accountable, even if, or especially if, you were injured on a construction site. You shouldn’t be punished for reaching out to help a co-worker, and the relevant parties should be held to the safety standards they are required to follow under New York law.
Ready to get started? Contact us to schedule a free consultation today.
See also:
What to Do If You’re Injured in a Construction Accident in NYC
When Does it Make Sense to Pursue a Construction Personal Injury Lawsuit?
]]>Unfortunately, Halloween is also a time when plenty of people get injuries.
Trips and falls are by far the most common injuries we see on Halloween. People walk around on uneven sidewalks, often in costumes that limit their visibility. While most trick-or-treating in New York happens when the sun is still up, some always like to indulge in the exercise until well after dark, which also contributes.
Drunk driving accidents are also very common, thanks to all the parties and bar events that happen on Halloween.
The next most common injuries are burns from costumes that turn out to be flammable and cuts from pumpkin carving.
What about candy tampering? Those incidents are extremely rare. In the United States, there’s only been one verifiable incident: a man poisoned his son’s candy to blame the crime on a stranger. Four tampering incidents occurred in Canada between 2008 and 2019, but none resulted in injuries or death. Experts say that current rumors of rainbow fentanyl in children’s Halloween pumpkins are unfounded and unlikely.
The following safety tips can help you prevent Halloween injuries.
Plan your entire Halloween route and festivities in advance so there are no surprises. Fewer surprises mean less potential for accidents.
It’s important to understand that personal injury suits don’t exist to address every bad thing that could possibly happen to another person. Accidents happen, and we must address many of them by paying for the resulting medical care out-of-pocket or using our health insurance.
In cases where another party was negligent, however, you may have grounds to ask them to pay your losses instead.
For example, if you sustain a severe injury because you’re hit by a drunk driver on Halloween night, you absolutely should contact a lawyer about launching a personal injury suit.
If you buy a costume that advertises itself as non-flammable only to discover it is flammable and you or your child get injured as a result, again, you have grounds for a suit.
If you’re not sure, you don’t have to do guesswork. We’ll look at any case for free and help you determine your next steps.
This is not to say you can’t make any mistakes in an accident to qualify for a personal injury case. In New York, you may sue for injuries even if you are partially at fault.
Remember the basic steps you should take after any accident.
Contact a lawyer as soon as you feel medically capable of doing so. We can handle insurance companies on your behalf, gather evidence, and work with you to make a strong case that maximizes the amount of money you receive. There is rarely any benefit in waiting, so call us ASAP!
Contact us to get started today. Until then, Happy Halloween!
See also:
Understanding Damages in a New York Personal Injury Case
What to Expect from a Consultation with a Personal Injury Lawyer
Tips for Documenting Injuries During Your Personal Injury Case
]]>This could be a car insurance company, a business insurance company, a property insurance company, or any other type of policy with the relevant policy. For example, in a breach of security and data loss injury case, a cybersecurity insurance company would pay. In a malpractice case, the practitioner’s malpractice insurance pays.
When you file a claim against the defendant, the insurance company will first tally up the claim’s potential value. They’ll also start working to minimize their payout amount. Here’s what you need to know.
In a car accident case, you may hear the determination of liability called the determination of fault.
Either way, the insurance company first evaluates whether their insured is potentially liable. Liable essentially means, “Could they be successfully sued for this?”
If the answer is “yes,” they begin trying to resolve the claim.
The insurance company will usually have an adjuster reach out to you, and the adjuster will ask for some information. Sometimes, the information they ask for is designed to undermine your case.
If you need a lawyer (see below), you should refer them to your attorney rather than dealing with them directly. Communication with any insurance company offers many pitfalls.
If you decide you’re going to go it alone, you should still be careful. Don’t sign anything that indicates you might bear more responsibility for the accident than you do. Don’t sign over medical records. They may try to tell you they can’t process the claim without that information, but they’re really just trying to determine if they can use a pre-existing condition against you.
Don id=”para1″’t be surprised if they delay the claim or stonewall you. They do not want to pay. You also shouldn’t be surprised if they try to downplay the injuries you sustained.
Eventually, the insurance company might cough up an offer. This is often a lowball offer that won’t cover a fraction of your expenses. Unless you know you’re about to get what you need; you should always give a lawyer a chance to review the offer before you accept. Once you accept a settlement offer, you cannot sue again and can’t press for a higher settlement offer later.
While theoretically, a New York personal injury case could result in any amount of money, pragmatically, you’re usually not going to get much more than the limits of the policy the insured is using.
There are exceptions. For example, if you’re suing a major corporation, they can afford to pay the difference between what their insurance covers and the actual value of the lawsuit.
In a car accident case, however, insurance limits place a practical ceiling on the amount of money you can receive from your injury case. This is why it’s always such a good idea to have some extra insurance of your own. For example, anyone who drives should probably take out more than the minimum amo id=”para1″unt of uninsured/underinsured motorist policy to ensure their expenses get covered.
If your injuries are relatively minor and routine, or if your accident mostly involved property damage, it’s usually okay to take their offer. Insurance case offers tend to be fair and straightforward on a smaller scale.
If you had to go to the ER, broke so much as a bone, or anticipate major medical expenses, you need a lawyer. You also need a lawyer for any claim you couldn’t launch on your own. For example, filing a malpractice claim without getting a lawyer involved is difficult.
There’s no real reason to do guesswork, though. You can have a lawyer review your case for free and can get guidance on whether you should deal with the insurance company before you begin talking to them.
Get a personal injury lawyer involved:
Yes id=”para1″, we do take a percentage of your settlement. But you are far more likely to get a settlement at all if you work with us, and your settlement is likely to be three to ten times higher than the settlement you would have gotten on your own.
We have extensive experience helping New Yorkers manage their personal injury claims. Insurance companies know who we are.
When you’re hiring us, you’re telling them you mean business.
Contact us to get started today.
See also:
Understanding Damages in a New York Personal Injury Case
Tips for Documenting Injuries During Your Personal Inj id=”para1″ury Case
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