What is my next step if I was injured in an automobile accident?

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What is my next step if I was injured in an automobile accident?

The other driver was at fault and ticketed. I’m on short-term disability due to a fractured sternum and broken hand. I’ve received my settlement for my totaled car. Am I entitled to compensation for lost wages (disability pays me 60%), pain and suffering, etc.?

Asked on November 18, 2013 under Personal Injury, Colorado

Answers:

S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 10 years ago | Contributor

Your property damage settled case is separate from your personal injury claim.  I assume that the at-fault party's insurance carrier has been informed that you were injured in the accident.

When you complete your medical treatment and are released by the doctor or are declared by the doctor to be permanent and stationary which means having reached a point in your medical treatment where no further improvement is anticipated, obtain your medical bills, medical reports, and documentation of wage loss.  Your personal injury claim filed with the at-fault party's insurance carrier should include those items.

Compensation for the medical bills is straight reimbursement.  The medical reports will document the nature and extent of your injury and will be used to determine compensation for pain and suffering which is an amount in addition to the medical bills.  Compensation for wage loss is straight reimbursement.

If the case is settled with the at-fault party's insurance carrier, NO lawsuit is filed.

If you are dissatisfied with settlement offers from the at-fault party's insurance carrier, reject the settlement offers and file a lawsuit for negligence against the at -fault party.  If the at-fault party is someone other than the registered owner of the vehicle, include the registered owner of the vehicle as a defendant in your lawsuit for negligence along with the at-fault party.

If the case is NOT settled with the at-fault party's insurance carrier, your lawsuit for negligence must be filed prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations or you will lose your rights forever in the matter.


IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.

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