If you were hurt because of another party’s negligence, you may qualify for personal injury compensation. Financial awards can pay for medical treatment and provide needed monetary resources to help get your life back on track.
At Christensen Law, we know how vital securing compensation is to protecting your health and future. Since 1991, we have aggressively fought for clients in Michigan with one primary objective – delivering results. Our Rochester Hills personal injury lawyers can stand by your side and advocate for you through every step of your case. Contact us online today or call our number for a free consultation.
Do You Have a Personal Injury Claim?
Accidents happen every day, and sometimes, no one is at fault. However, in other instances, the actions of a careless, reckless, or wrongful party may be to blame. When victims suffer injuries caused by negligence, they can seek compensation from liable parties.
Our firm handles many types of personal injury cases, including those involving:
- Car accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Truck accidents
- Pedestrian and bicycle accidents
- Slip and fall accidents and premises liability injuries
- Construction accidents
- Wrongful death
Our experienced and compassionate personal injury attorneys serving Rochester, MI, will help you navigate insurance claims or take legal action to get financial justice for your accident. We will identify liable parties, prove negligence, and aggressively seek the maximum settlement or verdict possible.
We have experience with claims involving severe and catastrophic injuries, including spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, head trauma, amputation, and internal injuries.
How To Seek Compensation for a Personal Injury in Rochester Hills, MI
Many personal injury cases begin with an insurance claim. Depending on the type of accident you were in, this could be an auto insurance claim, a property insurance claim, or a business insurance claim.
Understanding No-Fault Insurance
According to the National Safety Council (NSC), motor vehicle accidents are a leading cause of preventable injuries and accidental deaths in the United States. If your personal injury resulted from a car accident in Michigan, your claim will involve the state’s No-Fault insurance system.
Under this system, drivers must have personal injury protection (PIP) insurance to pay for medical treatment, lost wages, replacement services, and death benefits after an accident, regardless of fault. How much PIP you can recover depends on your policy limits.
Severely injured parties with expenses exhausting their PIP may qualify to step outside the No-Fault system and seek compensation from a negligent driver with an auto liability insurance claim. Our Rochester Hills personal injury lawyers assist with first-party no-fault claims and third-party claims against at-fault drivers.
The Michigan Assigned Claims Plan
The Michigan Assigned Claims Plan (MACP) can provide benefits to parties who do not have no-fault insurance. For example, a bicyclist who does not have a vehicle and is not covered by a family member’s policy may qualify for MACP coverage.
The MACP will match claimants with a participating insurance company that can provide compensation for medical care, recovery, and rehabilitation. Our attorneys will help you navigate the MACP and seek fair compensation for available benefits. We can also help with a third-party claim.
Contact Christensen Law or call us today to learn more about your options for financial recovery after a personal injury in Michigan.
Recoverable Personal Injury Damages in a Rochester Hills Case
Recoverable awards will vary from case to case. In general, our personal injury lawyers can seek compensation for the following:
- Medical expenses. Medical treatment for severe and catastrophic injuries can be expensive and ongoing. Our lawyers will work with your doctors and other experts to determine current and future costs so we can pursue a sum that will cover your medical care – now and in the future. Medical damages may include emergency transportation and treatment, hospital and doctor bills, rehabilitation, physical therapy, long-term care at home or in a facility, and medical devices and equipment.
- Lost income. An injury can cause you to lose a significant amount of income, especially if you face a lengthy recovery or have a permanent or disabling injury that prevents you from working or returning to your previous job. Our attorneys will pursue awards for your lost wages, employment benefits, lost future earnings, and lost earning capacity.
- Miscellaneous losses. Our team will review your claim and identify various damages you may be owed, including compensation for a damaged vehicle or personal property, household expenses, medical travel, or medically necessary home and vehicle modifications.
- Pain and suffering. These cases can affect a victim’s physical, mental, and emotional health. Pain and suffering damages, a form of noneconomic damages, compensate for intangible losses related to your overall well-being. We will seek monetary awards for severe and chronic pain, disfigurement, scarring, mental anguish, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment, and diminished quality of life.
- Wrongful death. In the event of a fatal injury, we know that no amount of money can take away your loss. What financial compensation can do is help you stave off financial hardships that may result from your family member’s death. Winning awards from an at-fault party can also provide you with a measure of justice. Our wrongful death lawyers will pursue medical bills, funeral and burial expenses, and loss of your loved one’s financial support, services, care, companionship, and other intangible benefits.
Factors That Can Affect a Personal Injury Claim in Rochester Hills
Your age, your wages at the time of the accident, the severity of your injury, and the involved insurance policies are all factors that can affect how much your personal injury claim is worth. There are also Michigan laws that can influence your right to recover compensation, including:
Modified Comparative Negligence
According to Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 600.2959, the courts will reduce a victim’s compensation according to their degree of fault for a personal injury. Therefore, if you have $100,000 in damages but are 15 percent responsible for an accident, you would recover $85,000. If the court finds you more than 50 percent at fault, you can still receive economic awards, but you cannot recover noneconomic damages.
Because of modified comparative negligence, it is financially beneficial for insurance companies and opposing counsel to blame you for your accident. Our Rochester Hills personal injury attorneys can defend you from these tactics and represent your best interests.
The Statute of Limitations
According to Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 600.5805, the statute of limitations for personal injury and wrongful death is three years. If your case involves a no-fault insurance claim, Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 500.3145 allows one year to take legal action to recover PIP benefits.
The court will likely throw out your case if you do not file your lawsuits before these deadlines expire. You could end up with little to no compensation and no other options for pursuing awards.
How Can Christensen Law Help With Your Personal Injury Case?
When you work with Christensen Law, you get a team of experienced and compassionate legal professionals who will put your needs front and center. We know you and your family have been through a lot, and we want to hear your story. The more we know about you and your goals, the better we can tailor our representation to suit your needs.
We provide powerful legal advocacy and put our firm’s full resources behind every claim. We prepare each case for trial and value securing fair compensation over achieving speedy resolutions. Our dedicated and tenacious approach has led to multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements and record-setting outcomes for our clients.
While you focus on your well-being or that of a loved one, you can rest assured our team is building your case and fighting for you. Our Rochester personal injury attorneys can:
- Investigate your accident and identify liable parties
- Gather evidence to support your claim and prove negligence, including police reports, medical records, surveillance video, and eyewitness testimony
- Hire and consult with case experts if needed
- Identify and calculate your economic and noneconomic damages
- Prepare and file insurance claims and case paperwork
- Handle phone calls, meetings, emails, and texts
- Aggressively negotiate for the maximum compensation possible
- Stand up to insurance agents and opposing attorneys, reject lowball settlements, and shield you from bad-faith tactics
- File a lawsuit and represent you at trial if necessary
The aftermath of an accident can be a scary and confusing time, but you are not alone. Our team can answer your questions, prepare you for what’s ahead, and stand by you through every stage.
Contact Christensen Law About Your Personal Injury Case in Rochester Hills
Christensen Law can put decades of legal experience behind getting the money you need and deserve. If you or a loved one suffered an injury caused by negligence, we will work tirelessly to build your case and ensure liable parties pay what they owe.
Insurance companies know our reputation, and they know that we mean business. We will not allow them to take advantage of our clients or pressure them into accepting a lowball settlement. Our Rochester Hills personal injury lawyers will fight for your rights. Contact us online or call us for a free, no-obligation consultation. Connect with a lawyer near you today.
