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Auto Accidents in Georgia
If you have been in a car accident in which you were injured, you should be prepared to spend a lot of time and effort dealing with insurance issues. As lawyers experienced in negligence law, our job is to handle the details, develop your medical record, calculate your losses and aggressively pursue financial compensation for you.
We hope that the following questions and answers will be useful to you and serve as an introduction to auto accident law in Georgia. If you want to discuss your case in detail with Jonathan or Jodi Ginsberg, please call us at 770-393-4985.
The Other Driver Was at Fault - How Do I Collect?
Who Pays My Medical Bills and Lost Wages?
Who Pays for the Damage to my Car?
Can I Still Recover Pain and Suffering if I Got the Ticket?
What Do You to if My Settlement Offer is Low?
What Happens After I Settle My Case - when do I get my money?
How can Ginsberg Law Offices help you if you have had a car accident?
An automobile accident can cause a great disruption to your daily routine. A damaged car, a sore neck, and missed days from work can add up to an unpleasant hassle.
As your attorneys, our job is to make sure that all of your rights under the Georgia insurance laws and the Georgia Motor Vehicle Damages laws are asserted Our goal is to properly manage your case so that you can worry about getting better, rather than worrying about dealing with insurance companies. In addition, we feel that a properly managed case will result in the highest possible settlement for you. Back To Top
The other driver was at fault in the accident. How do I collect from his insurance company?
The other driver's insurance company is called the "liability carrier." The liability carrier will pay you, as the victim of the other driver's negligent acts, for your pain and suffering and out of pocket damages. Back To Top
As your attorneys, our job is to supply the liability carrier with complete documentation about your injury, and to negotiate the highest possible settlement to compensate you for your pain and suffering and you outstanding medical bills and lost work claim. We will begin our negotiations after your doctor has released you from treatment and we have received all medical bills and reports from your doctor. Please be patient. Even if we provide the liability insurance carrier with complete documentation, they may take up to thirty days to respond to our settlement demand.
Who pays for my medical bills and lost wages?
There are many possible answers to this question. For example, if you have health insurance, you may be able to submit your medical bills to your health insurance company. Also, if you purchased “medpay insurance” from your car insurance company, it will cover the cost of your medical bills should you be in an accident - regardless of whether you were at fault in the accident.
If you do not have health insurance or medpay, no one will pay for your medical bills. You will have to look to a settlement of your claim to pay for these bills.
Many health providers will agree to wait to get paid if you sign a lien. By signing a lien, you authorize Ginsberg Law Offices, as your lawyer, to deduct from your portion of a settlement funds equal to you unpaid medical bills and to send this money to your doctor.
Similarly, no one will pay to reimburse you for wages lost as a result of your accident. (If you had purchased lost wage reimbursement coverage from your insurance company, it will pay some or all of your lost wages). You will have to wait until your case settles.
As your lawyer, we will review your insurance coverage and explain to you what type of coverage you have. If your coverage was not thorough, we will suggest changes for the future. Back To Top
Who pays for damage to my car?
By far, the most frustrating part of your case will involve the repair and payment of damage done to your car. The reason that auto damage claims are so difficult to handle is that insurance companies will try to avoid paying for anything but the most direct evidence of damage. For example, if two weeks before your accident, you had taken your car to a mechanic for a tune-up, a wheel alignment, a radiator flush, and an oil change, none of the money you spent would be reimbursable to you.
A car that is totaled
If you car is considered "totaled" because the cost of repair exceeds its value, you will discover that the insurance company only wants to pay you the "blue book" value of your car. Often, the "blue book" value is much less than what your car was worth to you. We will do what we can to increase the property damage offer, but usually you will only be reimbursed for the blue book value.
Increasing the property damage offer
One way to help increase the amount of money you will receive for property damage is to take your car to at least two reputable mechanics for estimates. You should also take pictures of the damage to your vehicle as soon as possible after the accident. These steps will help you decide whether the insurance company's estimate is accurate, and will help you prove your out of pocket loss should your case go to court.
We also recommend that you first submit your property damage claim to the other driver's insurance company for payment. If the other driver's insurer agrees to pay for your damage, they are admitting that their insured was at fault - an admission that will help us in settlement negotiations. In addition, you will not have to pay the deductible you will pay if your insurance company pays.
Collision coverage
If you have "collision" coverage on your policy, your property damage will be paid even if the other driver's insurance company refuses to admit liability. If you do not have collision coverage, and the other driver's insurer refuses to admit liability, you will probably have to wait until the time of settlement before your car is fixed.
Contact with the insurance company
We recommend that you handle your property damage claim as quickly as possible. Neither wrecker yard storage fees nor rental car bills are usually paid by insurance beyond a few days. Please call us if you have any questions about this area.
We often find that our clients can settle their own property damage claims faster than we can. If you do choose to handle your own property damage claim, remember to be careful about what you say, and do not discuss your physical condition or your version of the accident with the property damage appraiser. Back To Top
What happens if I got the ticket?
Unfortunately, if you were at fault, we cannot help you. Under Georgia law, you cannot win a negligence claim if you were more at fault that the other driver. Sometimes, the circumstances of your accident are unclear and it is impossible to prove that the other driver was at fault. In some circumstances, we may be able to prove who was negligent by hiring an engineer or accident reconstruction expert. However, it does not necessarily matter if you got the ticket. A police officer’s decision to give you a ticket is not binding on a Judge or a jury in a lawsuit for money damages. If you are not sure about whether you can pursue a claim, we invite you to call us at 770-393-4985 to discuss your case. Back To Top
How much is my case worth?
While every case is different, here are some of the important factors that influence our negotiation with the liability carrier:
a) was the other driver clearly at fault?
b) did the police come to the scene? was the other driver cited?
c) was alcohol a factor in this accident?
d) was the weather a factor in this accident?
e) did an ambulance take you to the emergency room?
f) did you go to the doctor within a day or two following your accident?
g) did you treat with a medical doctor or chiropractor?
h) did you miss days from work?
I) do you have any permanent injuries or scars?
j) how bad was the damage to the car you were in?
k) how much were your medical bills?
l) did you keep a daily diary of your pain and suffering?
m) do you have pictures of your bruises or scars?
You can help us by keeping accurate records of all of your out of pocket expenses and keeping a diary of your daily pain and inconvenience.
You may wonder exactly how much your case is worth. We do not feel that it is proper for us to guess about this until we have had a chance to review all of the facts of your case, speak to your doctor, and speak to the insurance company. We will present all settlement offers to you along with our evaluation of your case. The final decision in regard to your settlement is in your hands. Back To Top
What happens if the settlement offer is low?
If we cannot settle your case, we may decide to file a lawsuit for money damages. If we file suit, we will probably not get a Court date for many months. The prosecution of a lawsuit is draining and expensive. You will be asked many personal questions about your background, and your integrity will likely be called into question. Before we file a lawsuit, we will sit down with you to make sure that you fully understand what to expect.
Sometimes, we can agree with the liability carrier to go to mediation or arbitration. This will allow us to conduct a mini-trial before a trained arbitrator or mediator. It has been our experience that arbitration (which is usually binding) or mediation (which is not binding) can be effective means to resolve auto accident cases. Back To Top
What happens when my case settles?
When your case is settled, the liability carrier will send us a release and an insurance draft for the full amount of the settlement. The release is a document that prevents you from ever filing suit against the other driver for injuries caused by this accident. The insurance draft is made payable to both you and to Ginsberg Law Offices, P.C., and will be deposited into our trust account. Usually, the bank will not release the funds to our account for up to seven business days. When the funds are released, we will write you a check for your portion of the settlement from our trust account. Please do not ask us to write you a check before the insurance draft clears. We feel that it is ethically improper for our firm to loan clients money. Back To Top
How much do I have to pay the lawyer?
We handle most auto accident cases on a “contingency” basis, meaning that we only get paid if we recover money for you. Our fee is one-third of your recovery. For example, if we settle your
case for $9,000, our fee is $3,000 and you get $6,000. If we have to file a lawsuit and go to Court, we may ask for a higher contingency, depending on the complexity of your case. Under State Bar rules, file expenses (such as deposition costs) and out of pocket costs (such as the cost of medical records) must be paid by you, although our standard practice is to pay for these items as they come due, then recover them from settlement proceeds. In most cases, a contingency fee is a good way for you to obtain the services of an experienced lawyer without having to come out of pocket. In a contingency fee arrangement, we, as the lawyer, share the risk that your case will not generate any money or very little money. Our goal is to make you happy, to have the privilege of serving you as a long term client and to count on you for referrals. If you ever have a question about our fees, you should call Jonathan or Jodi Ginsberg (770-393-4985), e-mail us, or contact us by AOL Instant Messaging (JonathanG678).
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