3 Top Secrets of Accident Attorneys

You can’t go anywhere these days without seeing giant billboards from Big Box law firms promising “millions of dollars” if you sign up with them. What they don’t want to you to know is that you would never want to trade places with their million-dollar clients whose lives are tragic and nobody would want to be in their shoes. Here’s the truth about accident cases that most Queens car accident attorney don’t want you to know.

Policy Limits Reduce Most Settlements

Unless you’re suing Elon Musk, the insurance policy limits are all you can collect in most cases. In New York, the minimum policy for passenger cars is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. This means that if you’re a pedestrian hit by a car with this minimum policy, you can only collect $25,000. Taxis have a minimum of $100,000 and commercial vehicles have higher limits depending on their size and use. Multiple vehicle accidents can increase the amount of compensation available. Homeowners insurance and other types of insurance also have policy limits. Umbrella policies and other types of insurance issues can come into play, but best negligence lawyers Queens will give you the straight scoop – you can’t collect more than the policy limits.

No Insurance – No Money

If you’re injured in somebody’s modest home or in a small mom-and-pop store, there’s some chance that they do not have liability insurance. When this happens it’s virtually impossible to collect any compensation no matter how egregious the negligence. Insurance doesn’t cover intentional acts, so if somebody punches you in the face in their home, their insurance won’t cover it. On the other hand, insurance could cover getting beat up by a bouncer at a bar on theories of negligent hiring against the owner’s insurance. The best way to know if you have a claim that you can collect on is to call a Queens negligence lawyer and explain the facts of your case.

No Pain – No Gain

When clients ask the best Queens and Brooklyn traffic accident attorney what their case is worth, the likely response is that the amount they collect is proportional to how badly they are injured. If the extent of the injuries is a stiff neck that heals without treatment in a week, the case doesn’t meet the serious injury threshold and is worth nothing. Cases with serious soft tissue injuries or minor fractures can vary in value depending on how well the person eventually heals, but aren’t likely to be worth millions of dollars even if insurance coverage is available. The victims who get millions of dollars are in very bad shape physically, emotionally or both.