OAK LAWN PERSONAL
INJURY LAWYER

Oak Lawn Personal Injury Lawyer

Oak Lawn is known for its hundreds of acres of parks and recreational areas, but it’s hard to have a good time when you’re dealing with a serious injury. Pain and discomfort, staggering medical bills, lost income, and more difficulties often accompany an injury.

As you face these challenges, you may also have to fight an insurance company to compensate you fairly.

At The Personal Injury Lawyers™, we’re here to help. If another party’s negligence caused your injury, please contact us for a free consultation to learn your options.

We’ll review the details of your case, answer your questions, and explain the possibilities for pursuing damages.

Can an Oak Lawn Personal Injury Attorney Help You Prove Fault?

Proving fault is a frequent concern for those who have been injured, especially if the other party or their insurer blames the injured person (which is common). If you have concerns about proving your case, the best next step is to talk to a personal injury lawyer.

Our investigative team will immediately go to work gathering evidence in your case. We’ll start with the police report if there is one—these are typically available for car accidents and sometimes other incidents.

While the police will do their best to learn how an accident or injury occurred, they often have limited time and resources. In many cases, the accident report is based on witness interviews and other evidence available at the scene, which doesn’t always tell the full story.

However, our team can investigate more thoroughly, talking to witnesses and canvassing the area for others who may not have been present when the police arrived. We’ll also note any doorbell or security cameras in the area, which are sometimes a source of video evidence.

If your injury did not involve a police report, we’ll begin with whatever documentation you have—medical records, photos or video from the accident scene, lists of people who were present, etc. In many cases, we’re able to locate additional evidence to strengthen your case.

Although we will make every effort to find the evidence necessary to win your case, our chances of success decrease over time. Memories become fuzzy, some witnesses may leave the area, photos or videos get deleted to free up hard drive space, and so on.

For this reason, we encourage you to contact a lawyer as soon as possible if you have concerns about proving fault.

What Happens if There Just Isn’t Enough Evidence to Prove Your Case?

First, check with an attorney to be sure this is true. Sometimes, people tell us they can’t prove the other party was at fault, but we acquire more evidence to support their account of the accident.

It’s also helpful to know that you don’t necessarily have to prove another party was 100 percent at fault. Many accidents and injuries are matters of shared responsibility.

If you and the other party both made mistakes, we may still be able to recover some of your damages so long as you are less than 50 percent at fault. Under Illinois law, your settlement will be reduced by your percentage of fault.

For this reason, it’s advisable to seek legal advice if you suspect you might be responsible.

If we’ve exhausted all efforts to locate the evidence you need and there simply isn’t enough to prove the other party was at least primarily responsible, we will consider other options. In car accidents, for example, you can sometimes recover from your own insurance carrier if you have optional policies like Medical Payments (MedPay) and Collision.

Occasionally, we might be able to show that a third party was negligent in your accident. If there is any way to recover compensation in your case, we’ll find it.

Should You Accept That Offer From the Insurance Company?

If the insurance company makes you an offer, that’s a good indication they accept their client is all or mostly at fault. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are making you a good offer. In fact, the insurance company’s initial proposal is often much lower than your claim’s full value.

Here’s what you need to know about insurance company settlement offers:

• Settlement offers are made by insurance adjusters, who will work to settle your claim as inexpensively as possible.
• After you accept the offer, the insurance company’s responsibility in the matter is complete. In other words, you can’t seek more damages later.
• It’s difficult to discern if an offer is fair when you don’t know what your claim is worth. Your attorney will analyze your damages—medical bills, lost income or earning potential, pain and suffering, property damages, and more. Once we’ve added up these numbers, you’ll know the approximate value of your claim so you can compare it to the insurance company’s offer.
• You don’t have to accept the insurer’s first offer. If it isn’t relatively close to the full value of your claim and you want to fight for a better deal, we can negotiate with the insurance company for you.
• In most cases, it’s better not to settle before your medical treatment is complete. You don’t want to find out that you need another expensive treatment after you’ve settled your claim. For this reason, we generally recommend waiting until you’ve fully recovered to settle your claim. One exception is if you have extremely severe injuries that will require long-term care for years or even the rest of your life. In that case, we will estimate your likely future costs so you can settle the claim.

Any time you receive an offer from an insurance company, you should review it with an attorney so you can make an informed decision. We will answer your questions and illuminate any deficiencies in the offer, such as failing to account for some damages or underestimating the value of others.

Is There a Limit or “Damage Cap” to How Much You Can Recover in a Personal Injury Case?

In most situations, no. Illinois does not place strict “damage caps” on personal injury claims, except in some lawsuits against the state, which are limited to $2 million.

In general, economic damages like medical bills or lost income are not capped, so in theory, you can recover any economic losses you have. However, this may not always be possible for several other reasons we’ll discuss shortly.

Non-economic damages include pain and suffering, loss of consortium or companionship, and other intangible losses that are hard to place a value on. These are not capped either, although the insurance company may try to minimize your suffering and argue for a lower amount.

Punitive damages are different from economic and non-economic damages, which are considered compensatory—they exist to make up for the injured person’s losses. By contrast, punitive damages exist to punish the negligent party.

However, unlike the first two categories, punitive damages will only apply in very specific situations where the at-fault party’s behavior was extremely reckless, intentional, or malicious. Even in these uncommon cases, you will not necessarily receive punitive damages.

That said, on the rare occasion that punitive damages are awarded, they are capped at three times the economic damages in the case.

What Else Can Limit Your Settlement Amount?

Aside from a reduced final payout due to shared fault, there is another concern that may limit your recovery: The insurance policy limit. If your injuries are severe and your claim’s total value is high, it could outpace the policy limits.

For instance, many homeowners insurance policies cover several hundred thousand dollars in liability. This is usually sufficient for slip-and-fall accidents and other premises liability situations.

However, if you fell, hit your head, and suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI), you could be left with permanent impairments, such as difficulties with memory, movement, cognition, or speech. Your damages might be much higher than the policy limit in this situation.

With car accident cases, the policy limit issue can arise at much smaller claim values. Illinois only requires $25,000 per person in bodily injury liability ($50,000 per accident), and even more moderate injuries can lead to expensive medical bills, lost income, and noneconomic damages of over $25,000.

This is not necessarily a problem in every car accident, as some motorists may buy a higher amount of coverage, but if the at-fault driver only has the minimum amount, it may be a challenge.

When insurance coverage is insufficient, your attorney will seek alternatives to recover your remaining damages. We may consider a lawsuit against the responsible party if they have enough assets to cover the judgment.

Otherwise, a lawsuit is not in your best interests.

In a few cases, we might be able to pursue damages from a third party who contributed to the accident or injuries, such as a manufacturer of defective safety equipment.

With motor vehicle accidents, we may also be able to recover from your underinsured motorist coverage, which is required with higher amounts of uninsured motorist insurance. However, if you have only the minimum uninsured motorist policy and did not purchase underinsured motorist coverage, you will miss out on a reliable way to recover additional damages.

For this reason, we recommend buying both types of coverage.

How Long Does It Take to Settle a Personal Injury Claim?

The answer varies widely based on several factors in your situation. Your attorney can provide a loose timeline for your case, but sometimes unexpected issues could slow the process.

Here are some reasons why a claim may take more or less time:

The Severity of Your Injuries and the Total Claim Value

These two factors tend to be related—more severe injuries lead to higher claim values. Insurance adjusters often scrutinize claims extensively, but they will devote more time to those with higher values.

Additionally, it takes more time to understand the full extent of your damages after a more severe injury, and as discussed, you don’t want to settle before all your medical costs are known.

The Insurance Adjuster’s Efforts to Avoid Paying Your Claim or Reduce the Payout

They may attempt to shift blame for the accident, dismiss certain medical expenses, or even question the legitimacy of your injuries. When this happens, we will spend more time responding with arguments that you were not at fault, your medical costs are valid, your injuries are real, etc.

Generally, you can expect any case with a fault dispute to take longer than one in which the insurer accepts their client’s culpability.

Going to Trial

Fortunately, this is only necessary in rare situations where the insurance company simply refuses to settle for a fair amount. The odds are that your case can be successfully settled out of court, but in the event that it isn’t, going to trial can add months to the timeline.

The Insurance Company’s General Willingness to Respond in a Timely Manner

Whether or not they dispute fault or the validity of your damages, sometimes the insurance company will simply stall for time, taking weeks to get back to us. We will stay on top of the case and follow up as needed, but sometimes, we can’t do anything else until we hear back from the insurer.

Permanent Effects of Your Injuries

Claims involving permanent disabilities or impairments may take longer to resolve. To seek compensation for lasting injuries, medical experts must confirm that your condition is unlikely to improve.

This determination often takes months and may require exhausting all possible treatment options and taking multiple tests.

How to Get Help From an Oak Lawn Personal Injury Law Firm

At The Personal Injury Lawyers™, our mission is to answer your questions, guide you through your legal options, and work tirelessly to obtain the highest possible compensation for your injuries. Established by attorney Robert S. Fakhouri, our firm is passionate about standing up for injured individuals and their loved ones.

With a proven track record of securing millions in settlements and verdicts, we are here to support you. Please contact us today at 312-999-9990 for a free consultation to review your case and explore your legal paths forward.