You’ve just had a car accident in Nebraska, and you want to recover money for your costs. Your car is damaged and you have medical bills. You’ve also heard of other people being awarded thousands of dollars after accidents and you wonder if you could get the same kind of money from your case. So, do you have a “good case,” really? A case that will allow you to pay all of your bills, replace your car and have some money left over for your future?
Keep reading below to see what goes into determining if you have a good case or not, and what you can do to pursue compensation if you do.
The Different Elements That Determine Whether or Not You Have a Good Case After a Car Accident in Nebraska
1) Liability – Who Was at Fault?
Determining the fault of the other driver, known as “liability,” is usually pretty straight forward. The most obvious situation would be when the other driver pleads “guilty” to a traffic violation or you’re the victim of a rear end collision.
A violation in a “controlled intersection,” (stop sign, yield sign, or traffic light) usually locks in liability.
A car accident in Nebraska in an “uncontrolled intersection” (no stop sign, no yield sign, and no traffic light), usually ends up with some shared liability assigned to both drivers. This is called “comparative negligence,” and the other driver must be more than 50% negligent, or you won’t receive any compensation for your vehicle damages or your injuries.
If you can’t prove the other driver is more than 50% liable for the car accident in Nebraska, you don’t have a good case.
2) Damages – What Were Your Injuries?
Once liability is established, the value of your case is dependent on the seriousness of your injuries, when you’re all done with medical treatment, and have reached “maximum medical improvement.”
While there is a long list of factors to be considered, the major ones are:
- your total medical bills
- the type of medical treatment received
- pain-and-suffering
- scarring
- lost wages
- permanent restrictions
If you have minor injuries, involving less than $5000 in medical care, you don’t have a case that our Nebraska car accident attorneys can add much value to. However, with a few tips from us, you can probably settle the case on your own – meaning you’ll have more money in your own pocket.
3) Insurance Coverage – How Much Coverage Does the Other Driver Have? Will There Be Any Money Available for Resolution?
Nebraska requires that all auto owners carry a minimum of $25,000 in liability coverage, and the same amount in underinsured motorist coverage.
It’s important to know the policy limits for the other driver’s liability insurance, and your own underinsured policy limits. There may not be enough insurance money to pay for your medical expenses. If not – you really don’t have a “good case.”
For example, the other driver could be clearly liable, and you could have very large medical expenses, but if there is little or no insurance money available to resolve your case, there is little or nothing to collect. Quite often, the driver with little or no auto insurance doesn’t have any assets to collect in a lawsuit either. So suing the other driver will not get you a large award - they will just file bankruptcy and erase the debt.
Contact Our Personal Injury Attorneys if You've Been in a Car Accident in Nebraska
Hopefully, this has answered some of your questions as to whether you have a “good case” or not after a car accident in Nebraska. If you are still not sure, or have other questions about this topic, we offer a free case analysis! Contact us online or give us a call at (308) 872–8327 to find out more about whether or not yours is a “good case.”