Your drunk driving accident claim likely will settle out of court as most injury claims do. However, you can still bring an action forward if an impaired driver hits your car and injures you.
While many injury claims settle outside of court, this does not guarantee that your case will settle without the need to go to trial. But chances are far higher for an out-of-court personal injury settlement versus a settlement determined at trial.
Insurers Try to Avoid Going to Court in a Drunk Driving Case
When a drunk driver hits and injures you, you likely will miss work and end up with medical bills. You also may suffer from emotional trauma, including nightmares or fear of riding in a car.
Your personal injury car crash attorney can help you try recovery reimbursement for these items by bringing a claim against the drunk driver. In most cases, the drunk driver’s insurance company will be responsible for paying any injury claim in a case like this.
The Insurer May Acknowledge the Facts in the Case
If the other driver received a drunken driving charge after the accident, the insurance company may admit fault on its client’s part. This means the insurer will not dispute the facts in the case as to how the accident occurred.
Because proving fault on the impaired driver’s part is an essential element of winning a claim, this helps your case. It does not guarantee you will win a big settlement, but it gives you a better chance of recovering the award you should have.
Insurers do Not Want to Go in Front of a Judge or Jury
When a drunk driver causes someone’s injuries, a judge or jury likely will be unsympathetic to that driver’s position. The court system will tend to favor the victim. Drunk driving carries a significant stigma, and this affects the decisions and attitudes of juries and judges.
Insurers know this, so they often will try to settle during negotiations out of court when the case’s facts are undisputed. Insurers know that a trial can be an expensive undertaking for them, which provides the additional incentive to avoid a trial.
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Some Insurers May Appreciate Going to a Trial
There are a few drunk driving cases where an insurer may want to go to trial. Most of the time, this involves a case where the facts are in dispute, at least from the insurer’s perspective.
The Insurer May Believe Your Driving Actions Played a Role in the Crash
As mentioned earlier, part of the process of winning a personal injury settlement after a drunk driving accident involves showing fault on the impaired driver’s faults. If our car accident lawyers cannot prove the drunk driver was at fault, you cannot win a settlement.
The insurer may be willing to go to trial if it thinks you made a mistake behind the wheel that caused the crash. In a situation like this, the insurer may believe that its client’s level of impairment did not play any role in the crash, especially if the driver’s BAC (blood alcohol concentration) level was below the legal limit of 0.08%, according to the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission.
Perhaps the insurance company believes you ran a stop sign or were texting while driving, fully causing the crash. In a situation like this, the insurer may prefer going to trial, as it does not believe you deserve a settlement offer because of your mistake.
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Benefits of Avoiding a Trial in an Injury Case
It is common for the insurance company to contact you and attempt to negotiate a settlement soon after the crash, especially if the case’s facts are not in dispute. The insurer will contact you well before the one-year statute of limitations deadline approaches, as outlined in CC Art. 3492.
If you hire our team to represent you in your drunk driving personal injury case, we will take over the negotiations with the insurance company on your behalf. This allows you to focus on your family and your recovery while taking advantage of our experience in negotiating with insurance companies.
Through Negotiations, You Receive a Settlement Amount
The biggest advantage of you in accepting a negotiated settlement before your case reaches trial is that you will receive an exact amount in an award. You do not have to take a chance of losing in a trial and receiving nothing.
You also have the benefit of receiving a settlement much faster through negotiations than you would receive after a potentially lengthy trial.
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The Team at Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers Is Ready to Help You
Our DUI accident lawyers in Lafayette and throughout Louisiana take pride in helping the victims of impaired drivers. You did not do anything to deserve the situation you are facing with mounting medical bills and missing time at work or school.
We will defend your right to seek a settlement either in negotiations or in a trial after your drunk driving accident. Contact us at (337) 777-7777 today for a free review of your case.
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