Car accidents can be devastating, leading to a wide range of physical, emotional, and financial consequences. Auto accidents can lead to a variety of serious injuries, including traumatic brain injuries, broken bones, and spinal cord damage. These injuries can require extensive medical treatment and long-term rehabilitation, affecting a person's ability to work and maintain their quality of life. The aftermath of an auto accident can be overwhelming, making it crucial for victims to seek experienced legal assistance to navigate the complexities of their claims and fight for the compensation they deserve.
If an auto accident occurs due to a drunk driver, the at-fault party can be held liable for the injuries and damages sustained. Drunk driving is a reckless and preventable act that puts everyone on the road at risk. Victims of such accidents have the right to pursue legal action to cover medical expenses, lost wages, and other related costs. In these cases, an attorney can help gather evidence, such as police reports and witness statements, to build a strong case against the negligent driver and hold them accountable for their actions.
In tragic cases, auto accidents may result in the loss of life, leaving family members to pursue a wrongful death claim. Losing a loved one in a car accident is an unimaginable loss, and families not only face emotional grief but also financial burdens, including funeral expenses and lost future income. A wrongful death claim can provide the family with financial support and a sense of justice for their loss. However, these cases can be complex, requiring thorough investigation and understanding of both personal injury and wrongful death laws to ensure the responsible party is properly held liable.
Hit-and-run accidentspresent unique challenges, as the responsible party may not be easily identified, complicating the claims process. Victims in these situations often have to rely on their own insurance policies for coverage, which can lead to disputes with their insurer.Insurance companiesinvolved in auto accident claims often try to minimize their payouts, leaving victims with insufficient coverage for their losses. This is why having legal representation is crucial; an attorney can negotiate with insurers, challenge low settlement offers, and ensure that victims receive the compensation they are entitled to for their injuries, property damage, and suffering.
A car accident in Denver can leave you with serious injuries and economic losses. While you may be struggling with catastrophic physical injuries, your mental and psychological recovery can also take time. And then there are the repairs, medical bills, and lost income that can make it especially challenging to pick up the pieces after a devastating crash.
As the leading car accident attorneys in Denver, we know the difficulties accident victims can face after traffic crashes, and we are here to help you navigate the legal process so you can recover the compensation you may be entitled to. From start to finish, we will be your trusted advocates, always working to get you the best result for your accident case.
Choose a Bell & Pollock, P.C. car accident attorney because you want unparalleled representation, compassionate support, and experienced personal injury lawyers who can set your case up for success. Here’s what our law firm brings to the table and why car accident survivors in Denver can always turn to us when it’s time to pursue their best legal options:
If you’re still wondering why or whether to choose us, check out our testimonials. Or contact a Bell & Pollock, P.C. car accident attorney for a free, no-obligation consultation to experience our excellence first-hand.
Yes, you do if you are serious about having a strong case and the best chances of obtaining the full compensation you may deserve. The reality is that your crash may not be the first time you’re victimized after a wreck if you don’t have an experienced Denver car accident lawyer on your side.
You could become a victim of an insurance company’s underhanded tactics. The insurers’ jobs are to look for ways to not pay out money so they can protect the company’s bottom line. For you, that means you cannot rely on an insurer to tell you the whole truth about your rights and options. It also means that you cannot count on insurance companies to:
With a Denver car accident lawyer, victims can gain a better understanding of their rights and options while getting an essential ally against insurance companies and/or any other parties who may try to undercut their rights, claims, and/or compensation.
Accidents can be caused by so many different things. Some are obvious; many aren’t. Most of the time, however, some type of negligence is involved. When it is, it usually takes one of the following forms.
Identifying all causes and contributing factors to an accident is pivotal to determining all parties who are at fault and liable for it. This is just one of the many ways an attorney can be crucial after an accident.
The injuries that commonly result from motor vehicle accidents run the gamut from minor and passing to severe, permanent, life-threatening, and deadly. Most commonly, accident injuries tend to include:
Whether car accident injuries are catastrophic or latent, it’s crucial to get immediate medical attention and the necessary follow-up care. While this can help victims achieve better outcomes in terms of their physical recoveries, it can also be important to a accident case and a potential financial recovery.
You never expect an auto collision to happen. When it does, knowing what to do can make all the difference in how you’re able to recover later. To that end, here’s what you should do if you’re involved in a crash (and if you are not terribly injured):
If you are severely injured, the only step you need to take is #10. An attorney can take care of everything necessary to help you recover whenever another’s negligence has harmed you.
You can report an accident in Denver by either calling the police immediately after the wreck so they respond to the scene, or you can report a collision after the fact. Generally, it’s best to try to call the police immediately so they can do things like:
If that’s not possible, however, you can report an accident online to the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV). You can also use this online reporting tool to revise or change collision reports, within a certain timeframe, and to obtain a copy of a accident report.
The numbers on Colorado car accidents tell a grim story about how often preventable wrecks happen. Here’s what the latest data from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) reveals:
Minimum auto insurance coverage is set by Colorado law and is required for all motorists in the state. It requires 25-50-15 coverage for bodily injuries and property damage. The table below breaks down what that means.
| Minimum Coverage Amount | Coverage Type |
|---|---|
| $25,000 | Bodily injury or death to any one person in an accident |
| $50,000 | Bodily injury or death to all persons in any one accident |
| $15,000 | Property damage in any one accident |
While you can find more on minimum car insurance requirements in Colorado here, it’s usually best to get more than the minimum whenever possible. It’s also smart to expect other that drivers will only get the minimum and, if you can afford it, get some supplemental coverage that could be a lifesaver if you’re hit by an uninsured or underinsured motorist.
In terms of car accidents, Colorado is a fault-based state. That means proving fault is necessary to being legally entitled to crash damages. It also means that, after a car accident, victims typically need to pursue damages via insurance claims and/or civil lawsuits.
Insurance claims are generally the first avenue for seeking accident compensation. These can be filed with third-party insurers and/or your own insurance company, depending on how the accident was caused, the type of insurance other parties have, and the type of coverage you have.
When claims cannot be settled with insurance companies or out of court, they will then move forward to a lawsuit. Bringing cases to court is always more expensive and time-consuming than settling out of court, so it’s usually in all parties’ best interests to try to resolve cases before the lawsuit phase. Nevertheless, sometimes it is necessary to battle it out in court.
If you are hit by a motorist who does not have insurance, you may still be able to recover compensation for your crash-related damages IF you have uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage as part of your own policy. In these cases, you would file a claim with your own insurance company.
With UM/UIM claims, it’s essential for Coloradans to understand that:
When you are ready to file an insurance claim after a car accident, take these steps:
Every accident case is unique, so there is not a set “average” for car accident compensation amounts, settlements, or awards. In general, the average value of a claim will depend on several factors, like:
To clarify the strength and value of your potential claim, contact Bell and Pollock, P.C.
Typically, damages for accident cases are focused on compensating victims for the losses they have suffered as a result of a crash caused by another’s negligence. As such, these compensatory damages can include economic and non-economic damages. While Colorado law does have damage caps for civil cases, like crash claims, the courts do have the discretion to award damages exceeding these caps in some situations.
Easily quantifiable, economic damages can include compensation for (but not necessarily limited to):
More difficult to quantify, non-economic damages cover the non-pecuniary losses crash victims can experience, like pain, suffering, impacts to their quality of life, and permanent impairments.
While economic and non-economic damages will never erase the harm victims may suffer from a crash, this type of compensation can be crucial for helping the injured get treatment and put their lives back together after a wreck.
Colorado Department of Transportation – Road Safety Tips: Essential road safety tips to prevent accidents and ensure safe driving practices in Colorado.
