If you've been injured in an auto accident in Hawaii, you should hire a Hawaii car accident lawyer as soon as possible. Although insurance companies do their best to make you think they are on your side and ready to help you in any way possible, their true intention is to pay out the least amount possible for your injury claim. Friendly sounding adjustors will want to take your recorded statement as soon as possible. They want to do this before you have the chance to get legal advice from a Hawaii injury lawyer. They also know that some injuries don't manifest themselves until a day or two after the collision. Therefore, if they can get you to give a recorded statement before those injuries are known, than they will be able to avoid compensating you for those injuries.
Hawaii injury law is very complicated. It's critical that you hire a lawyer as quickly as possible in order to start your injury case off on the right foot. If you try to handle your injury claim on your own, but change your mind a few weeks later, it can be more difficult to find a lawyer willing to take your case. This is because they will be concerned that you may have messed up your case before trying to hire an attorney.
Hawaii is known as a No-Fault State. Many people who have been injured in accidents don't understand what this means. Basically, when you've been injured in an auto accident in Hawaii, the car insurance for the vehicle that you are riding in is the insurance company that will pay the first $10,000 in medical coverage. This type of medical coverage is called No-Fault insurance because it doesn't matter whose fault the accident was, either way, the car insurance for the vehicle that you're traveling in will pay the first $10,000 in medical bills. This type of insurance coverage is also known as Personal Injury Protection (PIP).
Just because Hawaii is a No-Fault state doesn't mean that fault doesn't matter. The driver who caused the accident is still liable for the damage and injuries that he/she cases. Once you have completed all of your medical treatment, your attorney will order all of your medical records and bills and send them to the car insurance company for the at-fault driver. You will then receive a settlement offer from that insurance company. Normally, the first offer is not the maximum amount that the insurance company is willing to pay. Your lawyer will have to negotiate with the insurance company to get them to raise their offer as high as possible.
When you've been injured in an accident, you should not worry about how you will pay a lawyer. Nearly all personal injury lawyers in Hawaii work on contingency. This means that you will not have to pay them until the case is settled. Once the is settled, then the lawyer will receive a percentage of the settlement amount. The percentage will be set forth in the contingency contract that you will sign when you hire the lawyer. Most lawyers charge about 33-40% as the contingency fee. You should not feel obligated to hire any certain lawyer. You should feel free to call different lawyers and wait to hire the one that you feel comfortable with.
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