Insurance companies like to tell you that they provide “peace of mind.” Knowing that your health insurance will cover medical expenses if you suffer an ailment or injury is reassuring. Having homeowners’ and car insurance also provides support if your home is damaged or you get into an accident. Of course, life insurance offers benefits to your family when they will need it the most if a loved one unexpectedly dies. What insurance companies don’t tell their customers is that they will do everything in their power not to pay benefits.
Despite their desire to deny claims, insurance companies in South Carolina paid out $8,824,621 in property and casualty claims and another $2,895,281 in auto accident claims in 2023, according to data collected by the Insurance Information Institute.
Compelling an insurance company to pay fair compensation for a claim can be a challenging task if you were to take it on yourself. That is why you want to enlist the services of a skilled Aiken personal injury lawyer to assist you. At The Solomon Law Group, LLC, we bring our years of negotiating and courtroom experience into every case with the goal of getting insurance carriers to pay what is due if you’re hurt.
If someone else’s negligence left you injured, be sure to reach out to us to schedule a free initial consultation to share details about your potential case so an injury lawyer can advise you of your rights to take legal action.
Understanding How South Carolina Injury Claims Work
When you file a personal injury claim in Aiken, you allege that negligence occurred that caused you harm. This is also the type of claim you file in the aftermath of an Aiken car crash or truck accident that was not your fault. An insurance adjuster will be assigned to your claim. They will look at the evidence they independently secure or that you provide them with and balance that against the damages you seek. The best-case scenario is if an insurance adjuster agrees that the damages you seek are fair and they cut a check.
Unfortunately, there are many times when the adjustment will attempt to undercut your losses or shift some of the responsibility for the Aiken injury accident onto you. They can do that because South Carolina law allows for comparative negligence in personal injury cases. That means you could be held responsible for a portion of the accident, and your final settlement would be adjusted accordingly.
However, just because an insurance adjuster decides how much they are willing to pay does not make that the final word. You can submit a counteroffer. Getting support from an Aiken personal injury lawyer can make a difference.
At The Solomon Law Group, LLC, we can help you make that initial insurance claim and ensure that you’re presenting the right documentation to support it. We will also handle all future communication with insurance adjusters on your behalf. If they reject a fair settlement amount demanded of them, we can discuss the option of accepting their offer or whether you should consider taking your case to trial.
Building a Case With an Aiken Personal Injury Lawyer
When you file a personal jury lawsuit, you become a plaintiff. That means you have the burden to prove any allegations of negligence and establish that the damages that you’re seeking are reasonable. In a criminal case, the burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt. However, in a civil matter like Aiken personal injury cases, you only have to prove your case by a preponderance of the evidence. That is a fancy legal way of saying that you need to provide “clear and convincing evidence.”
Any evidence you use to substantiate your claim needs to establish the following four elements of negligence, including:
How the Defendant Owed You a Duty of Care
A defendant has a duty of care to provide a safe environment for any licensee or invitee that comes into their property in the context of a premises liability case. For example, a store owner needs to ensure that the floors in the store are safe to walk on. Similarly, a fellow motorist owes you a duty of care to share the road safely with you.
The Defendant Breached Their Duty of Care
Using the property injury example above, a breach of duty of care means that the property owner dropped the ball, leading to a hazardous condition. To continue the example, the store owner didn’t mop the floors after a spill or rain was tracked in. And in terms of the car accident example, a motorist got behind the wheel of their car while intoxicated. That drunkedness caused the motorist to have impaired judgement which led to a crash.
The Breach Caused Your Injury
You need to tie your injury to the breach of duty of care. Following the initial example above, you may be able to show that a business owner’s failure to clean their floors after the spill led to you slipping and falling on their wet floor. Likewise, you may be able to establish a connection between a motorist driving under the influence and how that caused you to suffer catastrophic injuries in a motor vehicle collision.
You Sustained Damages
The damages are the end result associated with the breach of duty. Damages can be economic (medical bills, lost wages, etc.) or noneconomic (pain and suffering, mental anguish).
While most personal injury cases in Aiken settle during the pre-litigation phase, some do not. You and the other party could still reach a mutual agreement if the case ultimately went to trial all the way up until the last minute before a jury reached a verdict. If this were to happen, it would effectively close the claim and allow you to recover compensation more quickly.
Get the Right Help from The Solomon Law Group, LLC
Going up against a large insurance company can be intimidating. That is why many auto accident or slip and fall accident victims in Aiken take the first offer an insurer offers, thinking it will be their only or best one. If you are the victim of a personal injury accident, you owe it to yourself and your family to discuss all the options available to you under South Carolina law with The Solomon Law Group, LLC.
We offer a free case evaluation to learn more about your accident and answer questions. That can provide you with the best way forward. Call our offices to schedule a consultation with an Aiken personal injury lawyer today.
