After an accident, you may wonder whether you really need an attorney. You might think your injuries are minor, the insurance company seems helpful, or the claim looks straightforward.
In some situations, people handle injury claims on their own. You have the right to do so. However, handling a personal injury claim without legal representation means you take responsibility for every part of the process.
That includes gathering evidence, requesting medical records and bills, communicating with insurance companies, calculating your losses, negotiating a settlement, and understanding important legal deadlines.
Before deciding to handle your claim alone, it helps to understand what that choice can involve.
You Become Responsible for Your Claim
When you do not hire an attorney, you become your own advocate.
You will generally communicate directly with the insurance company and its claims adjuster. The adjuster may ask about the accident, your injuries, your medical treatment, and your losses.
This process can require significant time and attention.
You may need to:
- Report the accident and provide claim information
- Gather evidence from the accident
- Request medical records and billing information
- Document your injuries and treatment
- Collect photographs and witness information
- Track missed work and lost income
- Communicate with insurance adjusters
- Review settlement offers
- Determine whether an offer covers your losses
- Meet applicable legal deadlines
A mistake or missed detail can affect your claim.
The Insurance Company Is Not Your Advocate
One of the biggest things to understand is who the insurance adjuster represents.
The adjuster works for the insurance company, not for you. The insurance company’s goal is to investigate and evaluate your claim, not to determine the maximum amount you could potentially recover.
That means you should be careful about what you say during the claims process.
Insurance companies document their communications with claimants. Statements you make about the accident, your injuries, your treatment, or your recovery can become part of the claim file. A statement that seems harmless in the moment could later be used to challenge your injuries, dispute responsibility, or reduce the value of your claim.
For example, an adjuster may ask how you are feeling. You might say that you are having a good day or that your pain has improved. Later, that statement could be used to suggest that your injuries are less serious than you reported.
You may also be asked questions about the accident that appear routine. However, an answer could be interpreted as an admission that you were partially responsible.
This does not mean every insurance adjuster acts improperly. It means you should understand that the adjuster is gathering information to evaluate the claim from the insurance company’s perspective.
When you handle a claim without an attorney, you are responsible for protecting your own interests during these conversations.
You Must Request and Review Your Medical Records
Medical treatment is often a significant part of an injury claim. If you handle your claim yourself, you may need to request your medical records and bills from every provider involved in your care.
That can include:
- Emergency rooms
- Hospitals
- Primary care physicians
- Orthopedic specialists
- Neurologists
- Physical therapists
- Chiropractors
- Imaging centers
- Other medical providers
You may need to contact each provider separately, complete authorization forms, and follow up to obtain the records and billing information you need.
You also need to review those records carefully.
Medical records can contain information that goes beyond the amount of a bill. They may document your diagnosis, symptoms, treatment, limitations, prognosis, and whether additional care may be necessary.
You should also keep track of when you received treatment, what treatment you received, and what you paid or were billed.
Without a complete picture of your medical treatment, it can be difficult to understand the full value of your claim.
You Must Consider Future Medical Treatment
One of the most important questions in an injury claim is whether you are finished treating.
If your injury requires ongoing care, future medical expenses may be an important part of your potential claim. You may need additional physical therapy, injections, surgery, medication, follow-up appointments, or other treatment.
Valuing future medical care can be difficult.
You may know what your medical treatment has already cost, but estimating what you may reasonably need in the future requires more than guessing at a dollar amount.
Your medical providers may need to explain your prognosis, recommended treatment, and expected future care. Depending on the injury, additional professionals may also be needed to evaluate the anticipated cost of that treatment.
This becomes especially important when an injury is permanent or may require treatment for months or years.
If you settle your claim before understanding the full extent of your future medical needs, you may be accepting compensation without knowing the true cost of your injury.
Once a claim is settled and the appropriate documents are signed, you generally cannot return later and demand additional compensation simply because your medical expenses turned out to be higher than expected.
You Must Determine the Value of Your Claim
Another difficult part of handling an injury claim alone is determining what your claim is actually worth.
Your losses may include more than your current medical bills.
Depending on the circumstances, a personal injury claim may involve:
- Past medical expenses
- Future medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning capacity
- Property damage
- Physical pain
- Emotional distress
- Other losses related to the injury
Some losses are easier to calculate than others.
For example, you may know exactly how much you have already paid for medical care. It can be much harder to understand the potential cost of future treatment or the long-term impact of an injury on your ability to work.
An insurance company’s settlement offer may not account for every loss you have experienced or may experience in the future.
You need to understand the full scope of your damages before deciding whether an offer is fair.
You Could Settle Too Soon
An insurance company may make a settlement offer before you completely understand your injuries.
That offer may look attractive, especially when medical bills are arriving and you are missing work.
However, accepting a settlement generally means resolving the claim. Once you sign a release, you may lose the ability to seek additional compensation for injuries or losses covered by that agreement.
This is why you should understand what you are agreeing to before accepting a settlement.
A quick payment is not necessarily the same as a fair recovery.
You should consider whether you have completed treatment, whether your doctors expect you to need additional care, whether you understand your future medical expenses, and whether you have accounted for all of your other losses.
You Must Preserve Your Evidence
Evidence can become harder to find as time passes.
If you handle your own claim, you are responsible for preserving the information that may support it.
This can include:
- Accident photographs
- Surveillance footage
- Police reports
- Medical records
- Medical bills
- Employment records
- Witness contact information
- Insurance information
- Correspondence with insurance companies
- Photographs showing the progression of your injuries
- Documentation of your treatment
You may also need to determine who is legally responsible for your injuries. That is not always as simple as identifying the person who was involved in the accident.
For example, another party may also have legal responsibility depending on the circumstances.
You Must Understand Legal Deadlines
Handling your claim yourself does not eliminate legal deadlines.
In California, the general statute of limitations for a personal injury claim is two years from the date of the injury. Certain circumstances can create different deadlines or requirements. Claims involving government entities, for example, can involve much shorter deadlines and additional requirements.
Arizona also has its own statutes and procedural requirements. Certain claims against public entities have particularly strict requirements, including a one-year deadline for filing a lawsuit and additional notice requirements.
Missing a deadline can seriously affect your ability to pursue compensation.
That is one reason it is important to understand the laws that apply to your specific claim.
You May Have to Negotiate on Your Own
If the insurance company offers less than you believe your claim is worth, you may need to negotiate.
That means explaining why the offer does not adequately address your losses and providing documentation to support your position.
You may need to prepare a demand package, organize your medical records, document your financial losses, and respond to questions from the insurance company.
The insurance company may also dispute the severity of your injuries, question whether all of your treatment was necessary, argue that a pre-existing condition contributed to your symptoms, or claim that you share responsibility for the accident.
Both California and Arizona use comparative fault rules. This means your compensation can be reduced if you are found partially responsible for causing your injuries. The specific rules differ between the states, so understanding which law applies to your claim is important.
If liability becomes disputed, your claim may require more than simply documenting your medical bills. You may need evidence showing why another party is responsible and why your own actions should not reduce your recovery.
Your Claim Could Become a Lawsuit
Not every injury claim ends with an insurance settlement.
If negotiations fail, you may need to decide whether to pursue a lawsuit.
At that point, the process can become considerably more complicated. You may need to understand court procedures, filing requirements, evidence rules, deadlines, discovery, legal arguments, and other requirements.
Representing yourself in court is possible in some circumstances, but it requires you to take responsibility for navigating the legal process yourself.
You would also be responsible for presenting evidence, responding to the other side, meeting court deadlines, and following applicable rules.
Does Every Injury Claim Require an Attorney?
No.
Some people may have relatively straightforward claims with limited injuries and clear responsibility. They may feel comfortable communicating with an insurance company and handling the process themselves.
However, an attorney may be particularly valuable when the injury is serious or long-term, the potential damages are significant, fault is disputed, or multiple parties may be responsible.
The decision depends on the facts of your case.
You should also consider the time and effort involved. Handling your own claim may mean spending hours requesting records, organizing documents, communicating with adjusters, calculating losses, negotiating, and learning the legal requirements that apply to your situation.
Consider Your Options Before You Decide
Choosing not to hire an attorney is a personal decision. You should understand what that decision means before moving forward.
Ask yourself:
- Do I understand who may be responsible for my injury?
- Do I know what my claim may be worth?
- Have I requested and reviewed all relevant medical records and bills?
- Do I understand whether I will need future medical treatment?
- Do I know how to value my future medical care?
- Have I documented all of my financial losses?
- Have I considered the impact of my injury on my ability to work?
- Do I understand the applicable deadlines?
- Am I comfortable communicating and negotiating with an insurance company?
- Do I know how to respond if the insurance company disputes my injuries?
- Do I know what to do if the insurance company denies my claim?
- What happens if I need to file a lawsuit?
If you are unsure whether handling your claim yourself is the right choice, you do not have to figure it out alone.
At Fielding Law, we offer free consultations to help injured people understand their options. Speaking with an attorney does not obligate you to hire the firm. It gives you an opportunity to discuss your situation, ask questions, and learn more about what may be involved in pursuing your claim.
Every injury claim is different. A free consultation can help you better understand your rights and options before you decide how to proceed.
If you have been injured because of someone else’s negligence, contact Fielding Law at 833.88.SHARK for a free consultation. We have two convenient locations in Irvine, California, and Phoenix, Arizona.
We proudly serve Orange County and its surrounding areas:
Fielding Law, APC – Irvine, CA Office
505 Technology Dr Ste 250
Irvine, CA 92618
(949) 288-5484
Fielding Law, APC – Phoenix, AZ Office
2 N Central Ave Ste 1800
Phoenix, AZ 85004
(859) 578-4444
