Common Mistakes to Avoid after a Vehicle Accident in New Jersey
It’s easy to make a beginner’s mistake after such a stressful event as an auto accident. Common errors include:
- Accepting an early offer – The insurance company is going to try to get you to take a fast offer. They are going to pay you they least amount of money they can get away with. This is a trick to reduce the overall cost of the claim and they know you need money and you are worried. Allow us to represent you and to get you the right amount of money. We will look at your overall injuries, lost wages, your damages to the vehicle, and medical costs. We go beyond that though and look at the future lost wages and the future medical bills you are likely to incur due to those injuries.
- Worrying about finances first – While we do understand you need money to pay your bills, you need to let us handle that. As your lawyer, we will be fighting for you every step of the way. We are going to take on the challenge of confronting the insurance company and telling them why they need to pay you a specific amount of money. Allow us to do this job and you can focus your attention on resting and getting better. Don’t consume yourself with phone calls that go around and around with the insurance company or the endless forms they want you to complete.
- Waiting until it’s too late – You need to contact us to consult about your vehicle injury compensation case as soon as you can. With some of the situations, the law only gives you up to 90 days to file or you can’t ask for compensation. In other scenarios, you have up to two years to file. The sooner we are on board, the more we can help.
Location Matters with Your New Jersey Auto Accident
Our clients usually don’t realize that where their vehicle accident occurred plays a role in the outcome. Once we know the location, we share with you what can be done and what we believe the outcome will be. We ask you questions and get in contact with witnesses. All of this allows us to create a powerful case on your behalf. Counties we have worked in recently include Burlington County, Camden County, Cumberland County, Essex County, Gloucester County, and Passaic County. We have handled car accident claims like yours in Marlton, Newark, New Brunswick, Paterson, Sicklerville, Elizabeth, Cherry Hill, Toms River, Trenton, Union City, Voorhees, Willingboro, Jersey City, Mount Laurel, and beyond. Because we handle cases from every region of the state, we can help no matter where your NJ motor vehicle accident occurred.
We Understand How a NJ Car Accident Affects Your Entire Life
The New Jersey car crash lawyers at Brach Eichler Injury Lawyers are compassionate professionals, and, understanding that your vehicle accident has completely changed all aspects of your life, we work hard to deliver the results you deserve. We have the skills to ensure you are fairly compensated for all your losses. We have a proven track record of success that we are proud to share with you. We want to see you get the money you need and deserve due to this terrible ordeal.
Our Responsive Attorneys Never Leave You in the Dark
As your New Jersey car accident lawyer, we realize all the legal process is new to you. While we deal with vehicle injury cases daily, most people have never been in this position before. We are patient and we answer every single question you have. We want you to have accurate information on every level throughout the case. We are candid and honest with you about what is unfolding with the case, too.
We always return your calls or emails in a timely fashion. You have enough on your plate, and we aren’t going to add to your stress. We work for you from the day you reach out to us until the day you get your settlement check. Here are some of the common questions we are frequently asked.
“How do I know if I have a case with my vehicle accident?”
Typically, you have a vehicle injury case if someone else was negligent and that led to the accident taking place. Second, you must have injuries that are the result of that accident. You may have those injuries immediately upon impact. However, many of them may not surface until days or weeks after the accident. We strongly urge you to talk to us after any vehicle accident. We can help you to determine if you indeed have a case. Some cases are more complex than others, so it doesn’t hurt to consult a professional.
“How much do I have to pay to hire you?”
You pay nothing to get your claim started. We are the best auto accident attorneys in New Jersey and we can often get you a great settlement for each client. You don’t pay us anything at all unless we win the case for you. There won’t be any lingering legal fees out there for you to worry about.
“How much will I get?”
We strive to get you the best settlement we can. However, there are quite a few variables you must take into consideration. We go through the complex calculations based on your injuries, lost wages, vehicle damage, and other factors to arrive at the amount we plan to ask for on your behalf. Once you talk to us about the specifics of your case and we evaluate the evidence, we can give you a set amount that we feel your case is worth.
“How much time do I have to file a car accident lawsuit in New Jersey?”
Car accident lawsuits are limited by “statute of limitation” laws, which vary by state. After the deadline has passed, it might be impossible to pursue a lawsuit and get compensation for your accident.
In New Jersey, you typically have two years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit. However, there are exceptions to this time limit and special restrictions depending on who you are suing. For example, if you’re filing a claim against the state or local government, you must give them formal notice within 90 days of the accident. An experienced car accident attorney can help you understand these filing deadlines and can help ensure your lawsuit is filed on time.
“How do I know who was liable for the accident?”
Multiple parties might be responsible for your accident, including the driver of the other car, the driver’s employer, the car’s manufacturer, the local government, or even an outside party such as the bar that served the driver alcohol. Since so many different parties could be held responsible, it’s difficult to know for certain who was liable without a full investigation.
“What if I am partially responsible for the accident?”
New Jersey is a no-fault state, which means your insurance pays for medical bills, no matter who was at fault. However, insurance agencies have various policies on what additional compensation and maximum amount that insurance will cover.
If you are pursuing a claim against the other driver, the amount you can recover from them could be limited if you were partially responsible for the accident. After an accident, courts and insurance adjusters will look at the evidence to determine each party’s degree of negligence and assign a percentage of fault to each party. According to New Jersey’s comparative negligence law, you can only collect from the other driver’s insurance company if you were less at fault than them. For example, if you were 60% at fault, then you are not entitled to get money from the other party.
How to Move forward after a New Jersey Auto Accident
The best way for you to move forward is to get in touch with us. We can share with you what we feel you need to do next to keep the claim moving forward. We can assist you with anything you may need to help you obtain the necessary information and documentation for the claim.
Filing a Police Report after a Car Accident in New Jersey
We advise clients to always file a police report with any vehicle accident to protect their claim. It doesn’t matter if the crash was just a minor fender bender or a major accident. It doesn’t matter if the other driver is asking you not to. By law, you need to report any such accident. If the weather is bad, there may be cold reporting status in place, but you still need to file that report as soon as you can.
If you didn’t call the police, it isn’t necessarily too late to file a police report. You can call the police now. Don’t put it off because the longer you do, the harder it becomes for us to build a case for compensation. One of the documents we use to create your claim is the original police report. It has a wealth of information that we use including whom to contact for the other party’s insurance and any possible witnesses we should speak to.
The police report should be ready within a few days and you can obtain a copy. If you aren’t able to request a copy due to your medical care needs, we can get it for you. You may be able to access it online rather than going to the police station.
Car Accident Facts and Figures
Car crashes are one of the biggest killers in America. An estimated 37,000 people are killed in car accidents in the U.S. each year and an additional 2.5 million people are seriously injured.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that one person is killed every 14 minutes in a motor vehicle accident. Nearly a third of these fatalities involve a drunk driver and 8% involved drivers under 21 years old. In New Jersey alone, there were nearly 600 fatalities from car accidents in 2018.
According to the New Jersey state police, the majority of people killed were either drivers or passengers in a vehicle, but pedestrians and cyclists were also victims. Middlesex, Camden, Essex, and Burlington Counties experienced the most fatalities from these types of accidents in 2018.
Car accidents happen daily in New Jersey; will you be fairly compensated for yours?
When a car accident happens, you may simply be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Accidents happen all over on a daily basis. They happen in good weather and adverse conditions. They happen at low speeds and high speeds. They can occur on a residential street or a busy highway. They can also happen in parking lots, at stop signs, and at traffic lights.
While you can’t always avoid a vehicle accident, you can do your best afterwards to make sure you are compensated fairly. As your New Jersey car accident lawyers, we help you to get results you can be happy about. Nothing can erase what happened, but the money we recover can help you to take care of your needs now and in the future.
Statistics show vehicle accidents are on the rise due to drivers being distracted. Distraction can be due to music, talking on a cell phone, or texting while driving. It can be hard to prove what distracted a driver, but we try to do so based on evidence. For example, there may be a stoplight camera that caught them on the phone while driving.
You have the choice to let the vehicle accident take all your power and decide your future. If you don’t fight back, you may not get a good settlement or any settlement at all. An insurance company — even your own — isn’t your friend. They strive to reduce the funds they pay out, and they won’t fight to get you what you deserve.
It isn’t fair that you are in pain, your quality of life has been changed, and you owe high amounts for medical bills. All of this happened due to another driver not doing what they should, and now you need us to help you fight the insurance company. We will do all we can to get you that money and one day, it will all be worth the fight. You will be thankful you hired us as your New Jersey car accident lawyer to resolve your case for you.
We will take the time to help you with your unique case and to get results you can trust. We will treat you well and we will help you with all the aspects of your case. Hiring us for your legal needs will make the process easier for you both now and into the future. We will always directly communicate with you and keep you informed of where the case is and the next step in the process.
