Car Accident Repair and Compensation: What You Need to Know

Getting involved in a car accident can result in sustaining one or more serious injuries. From fracturing an arm to suffering damage to an internal organ, it can take weeks, if not months, to recover from one or more injuries sustained from a vehicle collision. Although injuries receive much of the attention after an auto crash, you also might have to worry about damage done to your car, which eventually prompts you to ask an important question.

Where Can I Find a Business That Provides Body Collision Repair Near Me?

Car accidents can cause a wide variety of damage to a motor vehicle, including damage to a car’s engine and suspension system. To receive the compensation you deserve from an insurance company and possibly a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages, you have to make copies of every receipt generated by an auto body repair shop. You also need to submit copies of medical bills and records to receive just compensation for your injuries.

The first step to receiving compensation involves filing a car insurance claim. A car accident lawyer helps you submit the right documentation to boost your chances of getting a claim approved. Without the legal support of a car accident lawyer, your insurance company might take advantage of you by denying your claim or offering you a value for compensation that falls well below what you deserve. A car accident lawyer also helps you file a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages if you can prove another party committed one or more acts of negligence.

At Morgan and Morgan, our team of personal injury attorneys provides clients with legal support by gathering persuasive physical evidence and interviewing witnesses. We also ensure that you file a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages before the expiration of the statute of limitations. With more than 30 years of experience litigating personal injury cases, Morgan and Morgan has recovered more than $14 billion in monetary damages for our clients. A large percentage of the compensation awarded to our clients came from car accident cases.

Be proactive today by scheduling a free case evaluation with a car accident lawyer from Morgan and Morgan.

What Are the Most Common Types of Auto Repairs After a Collision?

After you answer the question, “Where is the nearest business that provides body collision repair near me,” the next step is to take your vehicle in for repair work. After an auto crash, your vehicle can require significant repairs for the following most common types of damage.

• Paint Damage

Even a minor fender bender in a parking lot can chip a substantial amount of paint on your motor vehicle. Some types of paint repair jobs require just a light touch-up that doesn’t cost you much time or money. However, any impact more severe than a minor fender bender often leads to paint damage that costs a substantial amount of money. In many cases, the auto repair shop where you take your car fixes underlying damage first, before addressing damaged paint on the body of your vehicle.

• Dents

Dent damage can be as minor as popping out a few small dents and repainting the surface or as serious as replacing entire sections of metal to restore your car to pristine condition. The impact of a car accident that causes dents is much more than addressing cosmetic changes to your vehicle. Dents, especially large ones, frequently indicate much more severe damage done to the structural integrity of a motor vehicle. 

• Frame Damage

Frame damage is one of the worst consequences of an auto accident that can generate repair bills that run into thousands of dollars. Straightening the frame of your car requires extensive work that can lead you without transportation for several weeks. If the repair shop where you take your automobile cannot repair the damaged frame, you have to write off your vehicle as a total loss when you file an insurance claim.

• Compromised Bumper/Fender

A damaged bumper and/or fender reduces the visual appeal of your vehicle, but the damage also can cause more serious operational issues. A damaged bumper or fender might fall off your car while you navigate traffic, which might result in you losing control of your vehicle. If you damage a bumper and/or fender, there is a good chance that your car also sustained damage to the headlights and/or brake lights.

What Are the Most Common Causes of Car Accidents?

To demonstrate another party committed one or more acts of negligence, your car accident lawyer must discover the cause or cause of the collision. Several factors represent the most common causes of car accidents that can produce significant damage to a motor vehicle.

• Distracted Driving

Digital technology has a negative impact on car accident statistics. From checking a social media account on a laptop to texting a friend by using the latest Smartphone, distracted driving might be as dangerous as operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. Texting is an especially dangerous act because a driver trying to send or read a text message does not have any visual contact with the road or highway in front of the automobile.

• Reckless Driving

Reckless driving involves any activity that places drivers, passengers, cyclists, and pedestrians in harm’s way. Speeding exacerbates the injuries and property damage produced by an auto collision. The faster a car travels, the more forceful the impact on another motor vehicle or a stationary object. Running through a red light or stop sign is another serious traffic violation that can cause severe injuries, particularly if the infraction led to a side-impact crash. Other common types of reckless driving include failing to yield and not using a signal when making a turn.

• Driving Under the Influence of Drugs and/or Alcohol

The consumption of drugs and/or alcohol creates two negative consequences. First, drugs and alcohol impair the judgment of drivers, which is critical when trying to gauge the distance a driver has between two motor vehicles. Impaired judgment also inhibits the ability of a driver to make reasonable operating decisions, such as driving under the speed limit and not passing other cars in a no-passing zone. The second bad outcome of using drugs and/or alcohol involves a much slower reaction time.

• Bad Weather

If you sustained injuries and property damage as a result of a car accident caused by bad weather, your only legal recourse is to file an insurance claim to receive just compensation. Bad weather conditions can include gale-force winds blowing from the San Gabriel Mountains overlooking Los Angeles to a potent nor'easter that ravages the New England coast. One of the most important documents to submit with a bad weather car accident insurance claim is a copy of the weather conditions at the time of the vehicle collision.

What Steps Should I Take After a Car Accident?

Getting involved in an auto crash can shake you both physically and mentally. However, you must shake off any issues that cause confusion by following a series of steps.

• Call 911

No, you do not have to call 911 after a minor fender bender at the local grocery store. Nonetheless, a vast majority of auto collisions require the involvement of a law enforcement agency to conduct an exhaustive investigation, as well as provide traffic control at the scene of a crash. After completing a thorough investigation, the law enforcement agency that responded to the accident provides your car accident lawyer with a copy of the formal police report.

• Seek Medical Attention

Without copies of medical bills, you cannot expect to receive compensation from an insurance company or the monetary damages awarded at the end of a civil lawsuit. This means you must seek medical care even if you believe you can take care of your injuries. You undergo diagnostic tests to determine the severity of your injuries, as well as discover if you sustained an injury that is not readily apparent to the naked eye. As part of the response to your 911 call, a team of medical professionals should respond in addition to the nearest law enforcement agency.

• Conduct Your Own Investigation

Although law enforcement personnel conduct an extensive investigation, you can help your car accident lawyer by taking photographs of the damage done to your vehicle and the area surrounding the accident scene. Photos of the damage done to your automobile help the insurance company processing your claim to verify the value of the receipts detailing the total cost of property damage. You also should obtain the contact information of every witness to the crash, as well as the contact information of the other drivers and passengers.

• Contact a Car Accident Lawyer at Morgan and Morgan

Working with a car accident lawyer at Morgan and Morgan significantly boosts your chances of getting an insurance claim approved. Not only does an experienced personal injury attorney determine the cause of your injuries, but your lawyer also ensures you file a convincing insurance claim. Because of our vast experience spanning more than 30 years, the personal injury attorneys at Morgan and Morgan have developed positive professional relationships with insurance adjusters from across the United States. This means you benefit from the close monitoring of your insurance claim to get it processed in a timely manner.

Take Action Today by Contacting Morgan and Morgan

A car accident lawyer from Morgan and Morgan provides several types of legal support, including helping clients find the answer to the question, “Where can I find a business that provides body collision repair near me?” The most important type of legal support we offer our clients is getting them the compensation that they deserve.

You have the right to request three types of monetary damages: Economic, non-economic, and punitive. Economic damages cover the costs associated with tangible expenses, such as medical bills and the repairs completed for body damage. You have the right to ask for compensation to pay for diagnostic tests, treatment programs, and physical therapy sessions, as well as for prescription medications and the use of an assistive device.

Non-economic damages represent the value of pain and suffering, which typically involves proving a car accident caused you a considerable amount of mental and emotional distress. Punitive damages penalize the plaintiff for committing one or more acts of negligence.

Learn more about the compensation a car accident lawyer from Morgan and Morgan can help you get by scheduling a free case evaluation today.