You have probably heard the term 'ambulance chaser' tossed around in reference to them. The idea of this term is that car accident lawyers are money-grubbing and greedy and chase people down in their moments of weakness to get them to do things they wouldn't otherwise do.

This is absolutely not true. You may think you're protected by the auto insurance you've been paying for, and to some extent you are, but insurance companies primarily want to keep their money. The government is not going to march people into their office and make them payout to you, even if you are owed by the terms of your agreement. You may get a polite letter about why they can't pay you. Then you have two options- one is to make as much of a pest of yourself as possible. This may yield some results, of course, but unless you are extremely good at being obnoxious and cutting through the layers they have in place to protect themselves from obnoxious clients, you won't get anywhere.

The other option is to sue.

You may not want to. You've heard all these news reports and read all of these news articles about how overly litigious Americans are, and you don't want to be lumped into that.

But you don't really have many options, because (contrary to popular understanding) this is how law in the United States is designed to work. If you've ever watched a police procedural you have likely heard the term 'precedent', but you may not be aware of how important it is to the law in this country. It applies to both civil and law enforcement, and it means 'we have already settled this particular idea in a previous case, please refer to this case when answering questions like this in the future'. It's, more or less, what the court system hinges on, in order to function. Now, whether or not this is ideal is an entirely different article, the point is that this is how it functions.

Car accident attorneys have studied the case law regarding car accidents. They have the ability and the knowledge base to refer to these precedential laws that will help them settle your case and get you the payout that you are owed.

It is also worth noting that most, if not quite all, car accident attorneys do not get paid unless you get your payout. Which means they are extremely motivated to get the win, they're not just looking for clout or billable hours, they want you to get what you deserve so they can get their money, too. (And most of these lawsuits include legal fees, so it won't cut into what you need to pay off your medical bills.)

Car accident lawyers work for you and want you to win, and they're often the best and only option for getting the payout you deserve. So if you get into an accident and you're struggling with your insurance company, do not hesitate, go directly to an attorney who specializes in car accident cases.