Ohio Personal Injury Lawyer

Generally in Ohio, you have two years to file a lawsuit after an automobile accident. Now, there are plenty of exceptions to that rule. If you have a minor involved or if there’s an intentional action, there’s a variety of things. So not every case is to yours. So please contact us and we’ll talk through it and let you know what it is.

You should consult an Ohio personal injury attorney immediately after sustaining injuries in a car accident. If you wait too long, crucial evidence could go missing, witnesses’ memory of the events may diminish, and strict deadlines could pass. You could jeopardize your chance of recovering compensation if you don’t seek the necessary legal representation and guidance needed to pursue a case against the at-fault driver.

Amourgis & Associates, Attorneys at Law helps accident victims in Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, and surrounding areas in Ohio. Contact us for your free consultation and to learn more about your legal rights and options.

A personal injury lawyer in Ohio can explain your options if you are having trouble paying your medical bills. For example, your lawyer may be able to prepare a letter of protection to your doctors. This is a written document between your attorney and medical providers promising payment of your treatment once there’s a settlement from the insurance carrier or favorable jury verdict.

If another driver is at fault for the accident, their auto insurance company should compensate you for your incurred costs. However, that does not happen until you reach a settlement agreement. Most medical providers require payment for their services upfront.

You could avoid these bills going to collections by having your health insurance carrier pay first. Your health insurer may be reimbursed for their coverage following your settlement. Your auto insurance company could also pay for medical treatment and other expenses if you have MedPay or UM coverage.

An Ohio personal injury attorney can review the circumstances of the accident to determine who is at fault and the potential value of your claim. A PI attorney will also investigate the crash, gather evidence, file a claim, and pursue a fair settlement on your behalf. They can also file a lawsuit and take your case to court if necessary.

Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage is a type of auto insurance that accident victims can turn to if the at-fault driver does not have sufficient liability insurance to cover their damages. State law does not require drivers to purchase this type of coverage. However, it could protect you if you are severely injured in the accident and the other driver only has minimum liability coverage. If you file a UIM claim, you make the claim with your own insurance provider.

If you weren’t at fault for the traffic accident you were involved in, the negligent motorist’s auto insurance carrier should cover your medical bills, but they will only do so if you make a claim with them and they approve the claim.

Liability coverage is required by state law and covers a range of losses suffered by motor vehicle accident victims. It covers present and future medical expenses, such as hospitalization, physical therapy, prescription medications, and surgery that are necessary because of the crash.

However, neither the at-fault party nor their insurance provider is required to directly pay your medical bills as you incur them. Instead, you file a claim with the insurance and a portion of any settlement you receive goes to cover your medical expenses. A car accident lawyer in Ohio can file the insurance claim and negotiate for the maximum available settlement on your behalf.

Motor vehicle owners and operators in Ohio are not required to obtain PIP insurance.  However, if you are involved in an accident in another state where PIP insurance applies, you may be eligible for this coverage.  Nearby states Michigan, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and New York have PIP coverage. If you are an Ohio resident involved in an accident out of state, PIP coverage may apply under your policy. Please contact us to provide an analysis of your situation.

Personal injury protection (PIP) is a type of auto insurance that pays for expenses stemming from a car accident, regardless of who is at fault. It covers the accident victim’s reasonable and necessary medical expenses up to the limit listed on the policy, as well as lost income and substitute services if you are unable to perform everyday tasks at home.

The value of your claim is based on two things, the nature of your injuries and the extent of your treatment. If you’re injured and you don’t get the appropriate treatment for your injuries, you’re not going to get the appropriate outcome for your injuries either.

Everybody wants to know; “what do I do after an accident”? The first thing you need to do if you’re injured is; go to the emergency room and get treatment. After that, we can worry about other things like who’s responsible for the accident, and what the police report says. Once we get those, we’ll be able to evaluate the claim and contact the necessary parties in order to help you out and get your case started.

That’s the biggest question we have. And that’s what we’re here for to answer that question. In order to have a case you need three things, you need an accident, you need an injury, and you need insurance coverage. When you contact us, we’ll go through all of those things to make sure all those boxes are checked and to take care of you.

A lot of times people will call us soon after the accident, and they’ll tell us they’re not feeling any pain. Well, it’ll take 24 to 48 hours sometimes after an accident to really feel those injuries. So, if you’re injured in the accident, please give us a call. Another time people worried that they’re not injured in the accident if they had a pre-existing condition. You have to remember that, you can get a recovery for aggravation of that pre-existing condition. That’s different than what you had before the accident.

Unfortunately, no magic formula exists to determine the value of your injuries. We must consider various factors – for example, the nature of the injuries, the extent of the medical treatment or the available insurance coverage – before we can start discussing the value of a claim.

As an example, we had a client who was in an accident and broke her arm. She required a cast, but after the cast was put on, she disappeared and did not communicate with our office. When she finally resurfaced, we found out she had not seen any other doctors to examine her injury. In fact, she took the cast off with a hacksaw. Unfortunately, that case did not resolve for the amount it could have because the client didn’t get the proper medical treatment or stay in touch with us.

That is why we always follow up with our clients about their medical treatment. We want them to get better. We want to present the best case we can and obtain the best result.

When an adjuster calls, the most important thing to do is listen, get their name, get their telephone number, get the claim number and the policy number. Remember, the insurance adjuster works for the insurance company. They’re in business for the insurance company. They’re not in business to help you get the information you need from them, then relay that when you speak to your personal injury attorney.

There are two main types of damages in automobile accidents. There’s property damage, that’s the damage that’s done to the vehicle. And then there’s bodily injury damage. That’s the damage that’s done to you. What that means is you’re entitled to recover for your injuries, as well as your pain and suffering. Those are called economic and non-economic damages, which we can get into deeper, but that’s how they break down. You’re entitled to your medical bills, as well as your pain and suffering.

You also may be entitled to things like lost wages for when you couldn’t go to work, or if you had to hire someone at your house to do jobs that you normally had to do like mow the lawn or get the leaves out of the gutters. There’s a lot of things that you’re entitled to recover for that the insurance company is never going to tell you about.

I get asked; “If I had a pre-existing condition to my back and I’m in an accident and I hurt my back. Does that eliminate any chance of recovery?” The answer is no. The best way to explain it as this is if you were a 5 out of 10 in pain before the accident, and after the accident, you’re an 8 out of 10. The other party is responsible for the 5-8, so you are entitled to recover. It’s our job to figure out what your injuries were at before and to find out what level you are now after the accident.

Well, what if I’m partially responsible for the accident? Does that eliminate my opportunity to recover? The answer is no. As long as you’re not more than 51% responsible for the accident in the state of Ohio, you’re not subject to what they call comparative negligence. If you’re more than 51% negligent, then you get no recovery.

When you sign a release, that’s it. Adios. So long… Farewell! You’ve given up your rights to pursue the other party for anything they did wrong in the event of an accident. Beware, sometimes insurance companies will send you a check that acts as a release. Don’t sign it, don’t cash it, call us and we’ll talk you through it.

It used to be that you had to come into the office and sign the papers and we had to photocopy them and give you the check, etc. Now with technology, we can do a lot of things over the internet and direct deposit your check right in your account. So you don’t need to come into the office in order to get your money.

This is where we can really help you. There are a lot of tools available to you to pay your medical bills, your health insurance, your automobile insurance, medical payment benefits, letters of protection. No one case has one solution. There’s a lot of different solutions for a lot of different injury cases and we can help you out in getting those medical bills addressed by using the best tools that you have to do it.

When you’re in an accident you’re entitled to recover for the time you’ve missed from work. However, it’s very important you let us know that at the beginning of the case so we can put the necessary people on notice. A lot of times people own their own business and they don’t do such a good job of keeping records. That’s why it’s important for us to know that at the beginning of the case, so we can create the paper trail in order to get you the necessary compensation for your lost wages.

A lot of times automobile accidents happen while you’re working for your employer. What happens then? Well, you’ve actually got two claims. You’ve got a workers compensation claim, and you got a personal injury claim. Although these claims are not the same, they’re almost like cousins. They sound alike, but they’re not the same. We can help you find the necessary representation for a worker’s compensation claim, if necessary.

Well, no, you don’t need a lawyer if you’re comfortable dealing with multibillion-dollar corporations that are in business to pay you as little as possible. Otherwise, hire a lawyer. When you hire a personal injury lawyer, I work on a contingency fee which means I don’t get paid unless you get paid. So you understand I’ve got some skin in the game. I want you to get as much as possible.

You should hire us because we have the knowledge, experience and resources in order to get the get you the resolution you need. We’ve been practicing law since the 20th century and we’ve grown to understand that we need to provide real solutions for real people. And that’s exactly what we want to do for you.

When we work for you on a contingency-fee-basis, we do the work upfront. We get all the information. We front all the expenses to get the medical records. We hire the experts, pay the court fees and cover other costs of your case. If we are successful, we receive a percentage of the total compensation we obtain for you as our fee. If we are not successful in getting compensation for you, we don’t get paid at all.

That’s why we ask our clients so many questions upfront. We want to determine if they have a good case. Remember, it costs nothing to call us and find out.