Vehicle collisions are an all-too-common cause of serious bodily injury, leading to weeks in the hospital, followed by months of limited mobility and pain. You may even be temporarily or permanently disabled, impacting your ability to work and provide for yourself and your family. In many cases, your personal injury protection (PIP) benefits won’t cover all your financial losses, and they never cover the emotional suffering you’ve experienced following a crash caused by negligence.
Working with a Sterling Heights car accident lawyer from Christensen Law can give you the opportunity to recover compensation to pay for all you’ve lost after getting seriously injured. Call us today for a free consultation.
Our Sterling Heights Lawyers Can Answer Your Car Accident Questions
You were left reeling—it’s natural not to know what to do next. When you come to the personal injury lawyers at Christensen Law, we provide you not only with answers, but ones that can help set up your case for success.
Some of the common questions we can answer include:
- What are Michigan’s car accident laws?
- How much will your losses cost?
- What happened to cause the accident?
- Are there deadlines for your case?
- What evidence is required to prove your case?
- How long will it take to receive damages?
- What resources are available until then?
We make sure you understand the requirements and timeline of your case, as well as ways to protect your right to compensation. By applying our knowledge of Michigan’s laws and thoroughly cataloging your losses, we can then capitalize on opportunities to maximize that compensation.
Where to Start?
You may feel so overwhelmed by the process that you feel paralyzed to take even the first step. Our lawyers can guide you over that threshold to get you started, answering questions like:
- Will insurance cover your accident losses?
- Should you file for personal injury protection (PIP)?
- How do you file an insurance claim?
- Is a personal injury lawsuit an option for your case?
Some of the answers depend on your accident, so our attorneys take a personalized look at your situation. We listen to the details of your case, including your fears and concerns, to help determine the path to compensation that is right for you.
In most cases, you’ll file a claim with your insurance company and collect your PIP benefits. However, when a crash is due to negligence and you’ve been seriously hurt, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit for additional compensation. We can help you determine if this applies to your case and start the process of pursuing damages through a claim or suit.
Who to Pursue?
Many factors can lead to auto crashes. In some cases, the other driver’s negligence will have caused the collision, but sometimes other parties you might not have considered are involved in the cause of your accident.
If someone’s negligence caused serious injuries, our car wreck attorneys can launch an investigation into your case to distinguish who was responsible. We can analyze debris, talk to witnesses, review traffic camera footage, evaluate photo evidence, and go over police reports to piece together what occurred. This can then lead us to one or more liable parties:
- Poor mechanical work – The mechanic or auto shop may hold responsibility.
- Faulty parts – The manufacturer of the defective auto parts can be held liable.
- Problems with cargo – A trucking or cargo company is liable for failing to properly load, store, or warn about cargo.
- Speeding – The speeding driver is liable.
- Drinking and driving – The driver is responsible, both civilly and criminally.
- Distracted driving – A driver who texts, eats, daydreams, or is otherwise inattentive is responsible.
- Negligent hiring – A trucking company, taxi service, or other company is responsible for failing to vet or train drivers.
- Poor road conditions – The government agency or property owner responsible for the road’s upkeep could be sued.
What to Pay?
The answer is nothing. Until we recover your compensation, you don’t pay Christensen Law anything for our services. We don’t surprise you with unexpected costs. In fact, we work to help you avoid the unexpected.
We’re upfront with you from the beginning, offering free consultations so that you have the opportunity to ask about your case, Michigan law, and our track record.
Who Are the Car Accident Lawyers at Christensen Law?
The car collision attorneys at our firm who represent Sterling Heights cases are:
- Compassionate – You aren’t just seeking legal help but also struggling with the consequences of an accident, so we treat you with respect and patience.
- Experienced – Since 1991, we have upheld the rights of Michigan accident victims, providing us with decades of training.
- Team players – Our firm works together with you, our staff, and experts, combining our knowledge to obtain justice.
- Engaged – You never have to worry about not getting a hold of us—our team is available and accessible.
- Competitive – We are in this to win you the damages you deserve, not settle for what’s only “good enough.”
- Litigators – Our lawyers treat each case like it’s going to court and prepare accordingly, making sure the other side knows we won’t back down.
When you hire our law firm, you get a team that protects your rights, your interests, your damages, and your future at every turn.
Who Our Clients Say We Are
You can look through our testimonials and learn about our lawyers in our clients’ own words:
- “If it wasn’t for Christensen Law, I don’t know where I would be today.” – Timothy Taylor
- “Their staff is very friendly and easy to work with. They were able to answer all of my questions and concerns, and they always made me feel like they had my best interests at heart!” – Jelly Ann Candido
- “This law firm is fantastic. They are very helpful and insightful about different types of lawsuits and the best firm to call.” – Cassady Commette
Our Injury Attorneys Search for All Compensation Options After Your Car Crash
According to the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS), the state’s No-Fault laws make it so that your insurance companies will cover you in the event of a collision, regardless of who was at fault. Your PIP can help with certain medical expenses and lost income.
This coverage works well for minor collisions, but for serious ones, it may be necessary to take your case out of Michigan’s No-Fault system. Your injuries could be so severe that your insurer won’t cover your losses. Moreover, PIP does not include compensation for losses related to pain and suffering.
By filing for personal injury compensation through a lawsuit, you may be able to recover all your losses—not just some of them.
When Are No-Fault Benefits Not Enough?
Hospitalizations can cost tens of thousands of dollars, even just for a few days of care. Some injuries, like spinal cord injuries, can rack up lifetime costs in the millions, as the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC) can attest.
Severe injuries don’t just cost more. They can have long-lasting damage on your personal life and mental health, causing chronic pain, depression and anxiety, or even PTSD. CNBC reports that major depression can cost an average of almost $11,000 annually. Outside of the monetary cost, injuries affect your relationships, hobbies, and quality of life—all of which isn’t covered by No-Fault benefits.
Furthermore, even if your PIP benefits should cover your losses, many insurance companies will deny your Sterling Heights car accident claim altogether or deny the full amount, paying you less than you’re actually owed for your injuries. Our attorneys will work to make sure this doesn’t happen, as well as determine if your serious injuries qualify for a lawsuit to seek additional damages.
What Damages Are Possible?
Serious injuries could qualify you to seek damages for:
- Medical care, both past and future
- Mental health support, including prescriptions and therapy
- Pain management
- Changes to your home or car to accommodate injuries
- Lost income from all sources
- Reduced ability to earn income
- Training for a new job if you can’t continue with your old one
- Pain and suffering and emotional distress
- Compensation for scarring or disfigurement
- Reduced enjoyment of life
While your No-Fault insurance coverage can help with some losses, the extent of what you experienced from your car accident could exceed that. We seek compensation that matches everything you lost, not just what insurance will cover.
Our Attorneys Represent Fatal Car Accidents in Sterling Heights
If you are seeking legal help after losing someone to a car accident in Sterling Heights, our wrongful death lawyers can offer counsel and compassion.
In the same way we would investigate an injury case, we can investigate your loved one’s crash to determine if negligence played a role. Even if another vehicle was not involved, mistakes made by a mechanic or dealership, lack of road maintenance from a property owner, or a similar negligence could make someone liable.
Our attorneys can help you recover damages for your family member’s medical care and funeral services, as well as additional compensation for pain they suffered, what your family has experienced due to the loss, and gaps in income you now face.
Car Accident Insurance and Lawsuit Deadlines in Michigan
The literal deadline for an insurance claim can vary based on your insurance policy, but you should try to report your motor vehicle accident to your insurer sooner rather than later. This inspires confidence in you and your version of events, showing that you acted responsibly by notifying them.
Creating a record of the crash can also help you down the line. While you don’t have to provide a lot of information—in fact, we encourage you to only provide the basics or let us handle all communication—the simple act of notifying your insurance helps solidify that it occurred and that you were hurt.
Beware of Factors that Can Change Lawsuit Deadlines
Under Michigan Compiled Laws § 600.5805, you generally have three years to file a lawsuit for personal injury or wrongful death following a car accident.
That doesn’t always mean you have three years. If it was hit-and-run, we can potentially pause the clock until the driver is found. On the other hand, other factors can shorten how long you have.
For that reason, don’t assume the statute of limitations is three years in your specific Sterling Heights case. Check with our car accident lawyers to make sure.
Talk to Us as Early as Possible
Time is a crucial factor in personal injury cases like this, so much so that it can dictate whether you can get any damages at all. If you wait too long to seek compensation, an insurer could question your claim or refuse it outright. Likewise, once the statute of limitations is up, Michigan might not allow you to recover damages from a lawsuit even if your serious injuries qualify.
This is why our car accident legal team encourages you to reach out to our firm right after your accident. With us on your case immediately, we can:
- File claims or lawsuits on your behalf
- Talk to insurers for you
- Identify the timeline of your case
- Preserve evidence before it’s lost
Early action means we have more time to review your case, negotiate for comprehensive compensation, and build a case for court if necessary.
With all these advantages to reaching out right away, what are you waiting for?
Let a Sterling Heights Vehicle Wreck Attorney Help You
Car crashes are a leading cause of serious injury and are more common than they should be due to reckless behaviors that need to stop. When a careless driver seriously injures you, the driver must be made to learn from his or her mistakes.
More than that, you deserve compensation for the physical and mental suffering you’ve had to endure at the hands of a driver who failed to take your safety seriously. A Sterling Heights car accident lawyer from Christensen Law fights for just that. Complete our contact form or call us to schedule a free consultation.
References:
- Healthcare.gov, “Protection from high medical costs”
