A single injury can be a life-changing event. You may find yourself living with pain every day, or unsure whether you will ever regain the full health you had before the injury. Severe cases may mean a disability, being unable to work, or even the loss of someone you love.
If you were injured in Macon and it wasn’t your fault, you may have a legal right to recover money – and it’s often much more than the insurance company offers. You need to talk to a Macon personal injury lawyer to make sure you don’t settle for less than you deserve.
How Do I Know If I Need a Personal Injury Lawyer?
If you were injured and it wasn’t your fault, you should talk to a lawyer. This is the single smartest thing you can do after any accident or injury. In the City of Macon and statewide, victims have a right to recover money for their injuries from the person or business who caused them.
Many victims aren’t sure whether they have a case, or wrongly blame themselves for their own injury. As a result, every year victims go without money that they could have used for medical bills, missed income and more – even though they had a legal right to that money.
That doesn’t mean every injury victim has a claim. But it means it’s worth sitting down to talk to a lawyer, especially when the consultation is free. You can get a legal opinion in less than half an hour and know for certain whether you qualify for a claim.
What Are Examples of Valid Personal Injury Claims?
Personal injury is a broad field of law with many subspecialties. Examples of valid personal injury claims include:
- A driver changes lanes in front of you without using their turn signal, causing an accident that involves your car.
- A building owner doesn’t change a burnt-out lightbulb in their stairwell and you fall on the stairs.
- A nursing home increases the number of patients they accept by 20%, but doesn’t hire more staff. Your parent or relative is a resident in the nursing home and rolls out of bed one night, breaking a hip. It takes staff 4 hours to notice, and the injury has gotten substantially worse.
- A car manufacturer sold cars that have a faulty airbag. The airbag goes off suddenly when you are stopped at a red light, injuring your face.
All of these situations are very different. But they have one thing in common. The injury would not have happened if someone had acted differently. You can apply this same rule to your own injury. Was your injury preventable?
Would it still have happened if someone had acted differently – taken an extra precaution, or been more careful? If so, your injury is a result of negligence and you have a right to recover money.
Macon Personal Injury Lawyer Near Me 478-400-4000
How Much Money Could I Recover for a Personal Injury in Macon?
Personal injury settlements range from about $10,000 for many minor, temporary injuries to $100,000 or more for severe injuries. We have successfully helped many clients recover more than $1,000,000.
The amount is always based on how severe your injury is and how much it affects your life. Under state law, the Macon-Bibb County Courts allow you to recover two main kinds of money:
- Money for the costs of your injury. Your recovery should pay for all your medical costs, all your lost wages, all ongoing care or physical therapy, and any other costs you have.
- Money for the personal impact of your injury. Your recovery should also include money in consideration of suffering or changes to your life. This includes physical pain, mental anguish, or developing a disability or other limitation. It also includes being unable to do the activities you once loved.
Your financial recovery is supposed to offset the effects of your injury on your life. That’s why personal injury recoveries often involve so much money. You could be eligible for much more than you think, and your personal injury lawyer in Macon can tell you how much after a consultation.
What About the Insurance Company? Can I Just Settle My Claim With Them?
Many personal injury claims are ultimately paid by an insurance policy. And usually, at some point the insurance company will approach you with an offer. This is especially true early in the process if you haven’t gotten a lawyer yet.
There’s nothing wrong with taking this money – as long as it’s the full amount you have a right to. Insurance companies will often try to pay less than they think you would get if you negotiated through a lawyer. For example:
- They may make the offer before you know how well your treatment is working, and whether you’ll need more treatment than expected.
- They may not include money for your missed work time/wages.
- They may not include much or any money for the pain and suffering you endured.
In general, insurance companies make an offer that will cover your immediate medical bills and a little more – just enough to get you to say yes. But that’s only a fraction of what you may be entitled to. Our advice is to talk to a lawyer first, and take the money if the lawyer thinks it’s a good deal.
For a free legal consultation with a personal injury lawyer serving Macon, call 478-400-4000
What Types of Personal Injury Cases Do You Accept?
Thanks to our 20 years of experience, we have worked with a wide variety of personal injury case types. Our most common cases include:
- Vehicle accidents
- Trip and fall
- Medical malpractice & nursing home neglect
- Faulty products & harmful medications
- Workers compensation claims
No matter what kind of injury you have suffered, John Foy & Associates is here to help. We understand what it’s like to face a serious injury, and our mission is to make it as easy and stress-free as it can be. Click here for a full list of our practice areas.
What Happens if I’m to Blame?
Many people who get hurt will automatically blame themselves. They may even be right, but that doesn’t mean they cannot get compensation. It depends on the law and how much fault you contributed to your blame.
Georgia personal injury law uses a “modified comparative fault” model for claims. Your amount of blame is compared to the other party. As long as you’re under 50% responsible for your accident, you can get compensated.
However, if it is equal or if your fault exceeds the other party, you may not be entitled to compensation. Part of the job of your personal injury lawyer is to convince the court that this is not true for your case.
What Happens if We Go to Trial?
Going to trial in a personal injury matter is less likely than you think. Many insurers will settle quickly once you have a lawyer, or once the lawyer starts a lawsuit and they see just how much the evidence is stacked against them.
If we must go to trial to get you what you deserve, you will likely not have to get involved. Our team will handle the case for you. If we do need to get a sworn statement from you for the court, we will work with you to minimize disruptions to your schedule.
Talk to a Macon Personal Injury Lawyer for Free
For over 20 years, John Foy & Associates has worked exclusively with victims of injuries and accidents. In that time we have become respected as one of Georgia’s leading personal injury law firms. Let us put our experience to work for you and give you a FREE consultation.
Call or text 478-400-4000 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form