A Guide On The Compensation Process

Compensation lawyers specialise in handling claims for people who suffer personal, workplace or car accident damages. The primary benefit of having a lawyer handle your compensation claim is that they understand the law and have the skills and resources required to compel a negligent party to compensate you. Below is a guide detailing the work of compensation lawyers once you hire them to follow up on your injury claim. 

Assessing The Validity Of Your Claim

The lawyer's first task is to determine whether you qualify for claims. For example, in Australia, compensation claims become invalid after six months. However, special conditions could supersede this condition and extend the statute of limitations. For instance, if you were in a comma. The lawyer will also want to know whether you were responsible for your injuries. For example, if you were intoxicated when operating a workplace machine, you could be exempt from compensation. 

Contacting The Negligent Party

If the negligent party had an insurance policy to cover your injuries, the lawyer will file a claim with the insurance company. On the other end, the insurance will send an adjuster to examine the incident and assess your injuries. 

If the negligent party did not have a cover, the lawyer will trace them and issue a demand letter. In some cases, negligent parties go into hiding. If this is the case, the lawyer will engage the services of a private investigator or process server. 

Initiating Negotiation

Once the insurance establishes that their client was negligent, they will send an offer to settle your claim. More often than not, this offer is way lower than what the lawyer sought when filing the claim. In this case, the lawyer will initiate compensation negotiations. Typically, the lawyer needs to justify why you need more than the insurance offered.  

Exploring Other Settlement Approaches

There are instances when there is a breakdown of communication during the negotiation stage, or the other party denies your compensation claim. In this case, the lawyer will assess alternative means of securing your compensation. For example, they could engage the services of a court-appointed barrister. Alternatively, the lawyer could move to court to seek the ruling of a judge. 

Claim Settlement

The compensation claims process ends once the other party agrees to reasonably compensate the injured party. In this case, you will be required to file a settlement agreement that prevents you from making more claims for the compensated injuries. If the court finds that the other party was not negligent, you will pay for their legal costs. 

As observed, the claims settlement process can be long and nerve-wracking. It is for this reason that you should allow an experienced and qualified compensation lawyer to handle the process.