How Vehicle Insurance Lawyers Help Insured Drivers After Accidents

Important: We updated this article in April 2025 after reviewing current insurance industry and court case data. You just got into a car accident and feel sore, but aren’t particularly worried. After all, you have car insurance; even if the other driver doesn’t, you think you should be okay. So why would you contact an attorney to handle your car insurance claim after a motor vehicle accident? Surprisingly, insurance industry data shows 50% of people hurt in car accidents do hire vehicle insurance lawyers.

And it isn’t just people who get hit by uninsured drivers, either. That same report also shows just 36% of people filing personal injury protection (PIP) claims also hire an attorney. We’ll explain why an auto accident attorney is often necessary to get a fair settlement from your car insurance company.

Hiring an Auto Accident Lawyer for Your Car Insurance Claim: Key Takeaways

• Vehicle insurance lawyers understand best how to navigate the complexities of insurance policies for accidents that involve bodily injury claims. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, insurance companies only covered about 54% of accident costs in 2015. That leaves you covering the remaining 46% of those bills out of your own pocket.
• IRC data also shows victims who hire insurance attorneys receive up to 3.5x more cash than those who settle claims without legal help.
• Automobile insurance companies famously try to lowball initial offers to settle in order to protect their bottom line. An attorney can be especially helpful in resolving a claim dispute with your insurance provider.
• If you only have property damage but aren’t hurt, then you do not need to contact a lawyer. You will likely receive the full value of your vehicle repair costs from the at-fault driver’s insurer. But if you’re in a serious accident and have medical bills, experienced representation can help you get just compensation for things like lost wages, pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life.
• You can always get a free consultation about your car insurance claim from a local personal injury attorney before you make a decision. If you choose not to move forward with that attorney or want to settle directly with insurance, you have the right to do so.

4 Key Benefits of Working with a Lawyer After Your Injury Accident

1. Insurance attorneys will fight to get you the best possible outcome and maximize your settlement offer.

If you never filed a car accident insurance claim before, you probably have no idea what to expect. In some cases, it’s pretty straightforward. You call your insurance provider and say you were in a motor vehicle accident. Then, you find a repair shop, get your vehicle fixed, and the insurance provider pays for the damage.

But if you’re injured when a car accident occurs, things can go in a very different direction.

Many people hire legal representation because of the financial burden involved. Here’s one example: I broke my leg while on vacation in Detroit in 2019. I needed emergency surgery to fix two broken bones. Imagine my surprise when the hospital informed me I owed $96,000 after four days. And most states have laws that require automobile insurance policies to pay $25,000-$50,000 for such claims. Yikes!

Thankfully, vehicle accident lawyers got all my medical bills and car repair costs covered. And I still walked away with a decent settlement for my pain and suffering.

Vehicle insurance attorneys use special calculations to figure out both current and future costs that go into your payout. This can include things like:

• How much money you lost from taking unexpected time off work. This might be unpaid time off, depending on the job you have and whether you’re salaried or hourly.
• Pain and suffering. They cut my clothes off to perform surgery after my accident, and we couldn’t fly home on time. My settlement covered things like replacing those items, a train ticket home for myself and my husband, etc.
• Physical therapy. It took 10 weeks of PT after my accident for me to learn how to walk again. I scheduled that in Texas (where I lived), not Michigan (where I got hurt). My attorney got those costs covered, too.

2. Legal representation makes auto insurance adjusters less likely to engage in bad faith practices during the claims process.

You may be surprised to hear a very low initial settlement offer on your car insurance claim if you work directly with the adjuster. Why does this usually happen? Because their job is to protect the profitability of the car insurance provider. And if you cannot produce a receipt for an expense related to your accident, legally, they can refuse to pay it.

But some claims adjusters also engage in outright bad-faith conduct to avoid paying the true amount your injury deserves. Some common bad faith tactics might include:

• Dragging out the claims process in order to delay or outright deny your payout. Some states have statutes of limitations that give you as little as one year to settle your auto accident claim. If they can run out the clock, then legally, they can pay you nothing (or very little money).
• Failing to properly investigate your accident. This can mean things like refusing to pay a valid claim without a reasonable explanation, refusing to accept evidence you provide, or not collecting statements from people who saw the accident happen.
• Refusing to issue a check to cover car damage repairs unless you use their preferred vendor. This makes it impossible for you to shop around for the best price to get your vehicle fixed without paying out of pocket.

When insurers engage in bad faith practices — acting unfairly and without proper justification — it becomes easier for them to avoid paying you a fair settlement. Vehicle insurance lawyers can step in to protect accident victims from being taken advantage of. Guaranteeing clients understand what their coverage entails while fighting to secure appropriate payment is what lawyers train for their whole lives.

Hiring an insurance dispute attorney shows the insurer that you’re serious about getting compensation for your accident.

3. Many states have negligence laws that make it nearly impossible for drivers without attorneys to receive full compensation after an accident.

Maybe you think that there are federal laws that force insurance companies to pay settlements to car accident injury victims. Unfortunately, that’s not quite how it works.

Every U.S. state has different requirements for how much car insurance coverage drivers need when purchasing policies. Those rules limit how much money policyholders get when filing a personal injury protection claim, for example.

But negligence laws also have a huge impact on how much money you can get after your accident to cover medical bills:

• Contributory negligence. These laws state if you are 1% responsible for your car accident, then you cannot file a claim against the driver who injured you. Only four states have contributory negligence laws:
  • Alabama
  • Maryland
  • North Carolina
  • Virginia
• Comparative negligence. The remaining 36 states set a certain cap of responsibility when deciding who caused your accident. Falling above or below that cap determines who can file a claim for compensation or how much money they can legally receive from insurance. But comparative negligence also falls into two sub-categories:
  • Pure comparative negligence. This law says if you’re 20% responsible, then the at-fault driver’s insurance company only has to pay 80% of your accident costs, for example. Currently, 13 U.S. states use pure comparative negligence laws to decide your car insurance claim payout.
  • Modified comparative negligence. In 33 states, you only get a cash settlement if you are less than 49-50% at fault for your car wreck. That means if you’re both 50% responsible because of black ice on the road, neither driver can seek compensation from the other’s insurance policy.

An attorney knows how to best minimize your percentage of fault in these situations in order to secure fair compensation.

4. Attorneys understand how to stop you from accidentally hurting your own auto insurance claim, which might result in a low (or no) payout at all.

You don’t need to understand exactly what a lawyer does to understand that you, the victim, are not an attorney. How much do you know about your state’s automobile insurance law and how it applies to your injury case?

Unfortunately, what you don’t know can hurt you when it comes to legal language. Say certain words while talking to your insurer, and it implies you take responsibility for causing the wreck. Are you sure you can avoid doing that when you call? If not, you could accidentally ruin your chances of getting a settlement that pays for your medical and vehicle repair costs.

How Much Do Vehicle Insurance Lawyers Cost? Won’t I Keep More Cash from My Settlement without Legal Representation?

Every lawyer who handles automobile insurance claim settlement negotiations and disputes for injured victims works on contingency. That means you pay $0 in legal fees if the attorney cannot secure a cash settlement for your injuries.

And if your lawyer is successful, then you only pay a percentage of your final award to the law firm that you agreed on in advance. In most cases, that amount is anywhere from 25%-33% if you settle out of court, depending on which state you live in.

However, if your claim goes to trial, you could pay as much as 40%. We should stress that very few auto accident claims for injury victims ultimately to trial. Since 96% of claims with attorneys settle without ever going to trial, you will likely pay a smaller contingency fee amount.

Get more details about the average auto accident settlement timeline you can expect with an attorney fighting on your behalf.

How to Get a Free Consultation on Your Automobile Insurance Claim

Still not sure whether vehicle insurance lawyers are worth it for your particular case? You can request a free, no-obligation case evaluation with an attorney who specializes in handling claims like these in your state. To get your free consultation, simply click the button below whenever you’re ready.

An attorney can tell you whether or not you have a legitimate claim, how much your injury could be worth, and explain what to expect. If your claim isn’t successful, then you pay $0 in fees for your legal representation. And if you do win a cash settlement, then you only pay a percentage of your final award.

Our national network includes hundreds of vehicle insurance lawyers are ready to take legal action to protect your rights. Click the button below now to connect with one for a free consultation: