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Becoming the victim of a hit and run accident is a very scary and sudden incident that will change your life. Being injured, sometimes severely, and then just left there can shake the very foundation of a belief in the good in people.
A hit and run can create a great number of problems in someone’s life as well, especially if the driver cannot be found by the police. If this is the case, you will be having to beg your insurance agency for even the slightest amount of help in your situation. However, if you have immediately hired an experienced Ely attorney, they will be able help you tremendously when it comes to the insurance agencies.
Hit and runs happen all the time in Nevada, and even here in our little town of Ely Nevada. Even if it was a family member that was injured, having a lawyer on your side to look out for your interests is vital.
Proving Liability If the Driver is Apprehended
After an injury causing hit and run, the police will conduct a thorough investigation to find and arrest the suspect. The police will conduct eyewitness interviews and obtain any kind of video surveillance of the accident. With any luck the diver will be arrested, and your Ely attorney can file a civil suit naming you as the plaintiff against them.
Unfortunately, just because the suspect of the hit and run is convicted of the crime, that is not enough to prove liability in civil court. In civil court, proving liability is a legal process which requires a skilled and experienced lawyer. If all of the legal requirements and civil procedures have been met to prove liability, that opens up the door to getting a settlement.
Assembling and Providing all the Evidence
One of the first things your Ely lawyer will do is gather all of the evidence that shows that you were in fact injured in the hit and run. This includes all of your medical records and doctor and hospital bills. Other evidence that your lawyer will assemble is the police report from the hit and run and any evidence used by police to convict the suspect.
Both the courts and the insurance agencies will need this evidence before they consider a ruling or compensation. If you do not have a complete accounting of evidence that proves without a doubt that not only you were injured in the hit and run, but that it was the insured that was liable for the injury, you can be denied compensation.
You Can Be Denied Compensation Due to Statute of Limitations
In Nevada you only have a certain amount of time to file a claim after you are injured. If you fail to file before the Statute of Limitations has expired, the insurance agency will deny your claim and will not have to pay you anything regardless if you hire an Ely Nevada lawyer to help you at that time. This is why finding and retaining an injury lawyer immediately after a hit and run is vital.
What Can an Ely Attorney Do for You if the Driver is Not Located?
After the accident the Ely Police department will do everything possible to locate the driver and arrest them. While many hit and run drivers are found, not all of them are. Its possible that the driver will never be found and arrested. Without finding the driver, there is no way your Ely lawyer will be able to sue their insurance agency. So, does this mean you will never recover any compensation from the hit and run? Not necessarily. You can actually lean on your own insurance agency to recover compensation.
If you are driving legally on the road in Nevada, you will have at least the basic auto insurance coverage. This means that if you are in an accident, your insurance agency will cover a certain amount of damage to your own vehicle in of case of a crash. This is called collision coverage, and this may assist you with damages after a hit and run. However, you will have to pay the deductible before this coverage kicks in.
If you opted to pay extra for uninsured motorist coverage when selecting your insurance plan, you will be eligible to collect a certain amount of compensation in the case of a hit and run. This coverage will be paid by your insurance agency in case the liable driver is uninsured or underinsured, or in the case of a hit and run, absent.
The problem with all of these possibilities is the insurance companies are notoriously difficult to work with in these situations. It is in the insurance agencies best interest to not pay you anything in case of a hit and run. The insurance agencies employ entire departments filled with lawyers whose sole job is to reduce the amount of money they pay out on insurance claims.
When you hire a Lawyer it sends a crystal-clear message to the insurance agencies that you intend that they pay you the maximum amount possible. If you are represented by an experienced Ely lawyer, you can file a claim against your own insurance agency of they try to shortchange you on your compensation.
Justice Law Center is Here for the Ely Nevada Community
Our professional personal injury attorneys at Justice Law Center have been fighting for the people or Ely Nevada for over 25 years. If you have been injured in a hit and run, you can go hire just any Ely attorney, but they will not fight for you like our lawyers here at Justice Law Center. We have lawyers on staff who are expert trail attorneys, which means they have a tremendous amount of experience taking cases all the way to trial and winning.
If you have been the victim of a hit and run, your whole life has been turned upside down. The pain from your injures and the fear of not being compensated can be overwhelming. Let Justice Law Center take over so that you can focus on healing.
Call us today for a free consultation.
Josh is writer and paralegal, with over 10 years of experience in family law, personal injury, criminal defense and more.