Best car accident lawyer for you in Bowling Green, KY – How to Choose

When you are in a car accident in Bowling Green, KY, there is one law firm to keep in mind – Hughes & Coleman. We’ve been in your community, helping your friends, neighbors, coworkers, and family for over 30 years. Control Starts With A Call – 800-800-4600.

After any car wreck, life can start spiraling out of control. You may have suffered serious injuries; you may be unable to work, that’s on top of losing the use of your vehicle. When medical bills start piling up and you’ve lost wages, you need an experienced personal injury lawyer.

A Bowling Green car accident lawyer can assist you from the start until the end of a car accident claim. But how can you know which car accident lawyer you should hire?

For additional information on this subject, watch Partner Lee Coleman describe what Hughes & Coleman can do for you.

Experience Matters in Personal Injury Claims

When you’re looking to hire the best car accident lawyer for you, it is important to remember that experience matters. You should hire an auto accident attorney with years of experience handling personal injury claims.

The expertise you need on your side only comes from handling real auto accident cases for real injury victims.

Our law firm has a team of personal injury attorneys with years of experience handling hundreds or even thousands of personal injury cases. We have a proven track record of getting motor vehicle accident victims full and fair compensation.

Success in personal injury claims starts with your choice of legal representation. You need a car accident lawyer that understands the law. You need a lawyer that understands what evidence to gather and preserve. You need a helping hand to guide you through the claims process.

Dealing with the various insurance companies involved in your personal injury claim can be tedious, frustrating, and downright confusing. A Bowling Green, Kentucky car accident lawyer can help alleviate much stress with your personal injury case.

At Hughes & Coleman, the collective experience of our lawyers is an asset to your claim. Our team has successfully handled nearly every type of personal injury claim. We know that you probably don’t want to be involved in complex litigation – that’s ok. Most car accident cases settle out of court.

But do not be mistaken! If the insurance company does not offer a fair and reasonable settlement to compensate you for the damages the at-fault driver caused – WE WILL FIGHT FOR YOU IN COURT!

Our litigation department regularly handles complex lawsuits involving many different areas of legal expertise. And they can also be there for you in your time of need.

Hiring a lawyer for a personal injury claim is an important decision. One that you should not take lightly. The choice of lawyer can impact not only the outcome of the claim but can be a huge factor in determining how smoothly and stress-free the claim process is for you. You’re already injured, don’t make matters worse by hiring a lawyer that won’t be there to guide you through the process. So what are the things you should pay attention to when trying to decide which personal injury law firm is the best fit for you?

Local Lawyers are Key in Cases Involving Car Accidents

Another major thing to consider when hiring car accident lawyers is – Where are they?

You want a law firm with a local law office, and you should hire a local car accident attorney. At Hughes & Coleman Injury Lawyers, we’re right down the road; we’ve been here, right in your community – in Bowling Green, Kentucky. We’ve been handling automobile accident claims, motorcycle accidents, car wrecks involving a wrongful death claim, and any other type of personal injury for over three decades.

Our personal injury lawyers are experienced in handling claims in your community. They are local, they can investigate the accident scene, and take photographs, and they are available to meet with you when necessary. Do you want to hire an attorney using Google Maps to see where your wreck occurred? Or do you want your lawyer to understand what you mean when you say “at the intersection of Lovers Lane and Cemetery Road?” Though, clearly you don’t need your lawyer to reminisce about how good Clark’s Dairy Dip was back in the day, you should want your lawyer to understand the roadways and traffic patterns of the area where the wreck occurred.

Understanding the local traffic patterns and roadways can help the attorney counter terrible arguments that the insurance adjuster will make when trying to convince the client to accept something less than top-dollar value for their claim.

At Hughes & Coleman, you get local lawyers, local to you, and local to your community – and that is what you are looking for when trying to decide which lawyer is right for you.

When to Call a Lawyer

If you have been injured in a car crash, that is the time to call a lawyer. Any delay in hiring an attorney can harm your case’s outcome. Evidence gets destroyed or goes away, and deadlines pass. At Hughes & Coleman, we know that the days, weeks, and months following a collision and injuries can be some of the most difficult of your life. Simply finding the motivation to contact an attorney can be difficult.

But law school teaches students a valuable lesson – the client is the master of their claim. With great power also comes, well you know the rest. All joking aside, as the injury victim, the first and most important step is the only step we cannot do for you – simply picking up the phone and giving us a call. Once you hire us we can carefully guide you through the process. But the initial choice to contact us is a choice that we cannot make for you. But we have made it as easy as possible. Toll free calling and online web submissions are all free, all available twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and sixty five days a year. Control starts with a call to Hughes & Coleman.

800-800-4600

Time is of the Essence

In any car accident case, an experienced lawyer can help you navigate the tricky dealings with your insurance company or the insurance company of the at-fault driver. Car accident injuries have a way of complicating your life beyond pain and suffering. Medical expenses, lost wages, loss of use of your vehicle are all issues that can arise after motor vehicle accidents. If you’ve suffered a serious injury, you must retain an experienced lawyer as quickly as possible.

Consistent Medical Care

Treatment early in your claim is also crucial to prevent the insurance company from arguing that your injuries were not sustained in the collision. It is common to hear insurance adjusters say that due to a gap or delay in treatment, they believe that the injuries the car wreck victim is suffering were sustained after the collision.
An experienced auto accident attorney can help you find the doctors that can treat your injuries. They can help schedule diagnostic exams when your doctors recommend that you have diagnostic exams. They can help sort out health insurance issues that arise when auto insurance is also a factor.

Why Do I Need to Hire an Attorney Quickly?

There may be evidence related to auto accidents that need to be collected soon after the wreck to avoid the risk of losing the evidence entirely. Photographs can make a huge difference in proving car accident claims, and they can help an accident reconstruction expert prove that the accident wasn’t your fault.

Proper Notice in Government Entity Claims

In certain injury claims against governmental entities, proper notice must be submitted, and if it is not, you may lose the right to bring your claim altogether.

Don’t Lose the Data!

In big truck wrecks, it is crucial to preserve driver logs and data, as the trucking companies are only required to keep that information for a certain period – and you better believe they are aware of when they can get rid of it.

Statutes of Limitation for Accident-Related Expenses

A Statute of Limitations also governs every case related to an auto accident in Kentucky. This means you only have a certain amount of time to settle your claim or file a lawsuit. Once the statute of limitations has passed, there is almost never anything that can be done to revive the claim.

How Does Auto Insurance Really Work?

After a car accident, there are going to be a lot of issues swirling through your mind. You may be aware that you are injured, you may be aware that you are losing income, and you are probably aware that the necessary medical treatment you are receiving will cost a lot of money. Medical bills are going to pile up. These are things that you know.
But you may not be aware of just how complicated auto insurance can be.

Different Types of Insurance in Kentucky

After the collision, the one that hurt you and is threatening to ruin your life, you know the one, several different sources of financial compensation can come into play.

Automobile Insurance

In Kentucky, car insurance comes in essentially five different flavors – liability insurance, collision coverage, uninsured motorist coverage, underinsured motorist coverage, and PIP coverage.

Liability Insurance

Under Kentucky Law, only two types of insurance coverage are legally mandated – they are both liability insurance, the first is referred to as bodily injury coverage, and the second is property damage coverage. These particular coverages you must purchase to pay for damage you cause to someone else. Liability coverage can compensate injury victims for their injuries (bodily injury coverage) or their loss of property (property damage coverage). It is important to note that carrying liability coverage will not compensate you if you are the driver in your vehicle accident.

This coverage will protect you to some extent from damage that you may cause to someone else if the collision is your fault. It does this by providing a level of payment to the injured party up to the policy limits you have purchased.

But what if the other driver has no insurance at all?

Collision Coverage

Collision coverage is property damage coverage, but it is there to compensate you for the loss of your vehicle after the collision. Importantly, suppose the other driver’s insurance company has sufficient policy limits to pay for your vehicle or to repair the damage to your vehicle. In that case, this coverage should not come into play during the claim; however, this coverage can help repair or replace your car if the at fault driver does not have insurance.

Uninsured Motorist Coverage

Another type of coverage that can be crucial to your possibility of financial recovery is uninsured motorist coverage, referred to as “UM”. This is bodily injury coverage that you purchase through your insurance company in case you are in a collision and the other driver does not have insurance.

This coverage does not compensate you if you are at-fault for the wreck.

This type of coverage only applies if the at-fault driver has no insurance coverage and will not be available if the other driver simply doesn’t have enough insurance coverage to fully compensate you for your injuries. The coverage depends on what you have purchased through your insurance company.

Underinsured Motorist Coverage

On the topic of the at-fault driver not having enough coverage to fully compensate you for your injuries, underinsured motorist coverage, often referred to as “UIM,” can be purchased to deal with this shortfall.

If, say, your claim is worth $80,000, and the at-fault driver has bodily injury liability coverage for $25,000 and you have purchased $25,000 of UIM coverage, theoretically, you would receive a settlement offer of $25,000 from the other driver’s insurance company, and your own insurance company pays a settlement of $25,000.

In this scenario, you would be able to settle your case for $50,000. Not the entire $80,000 value of the claim, but much better than $25,000.

*Important Note*

The above-mentioned settlement values are discussed in ‘gross’ terms, not ‘net’ terms. These settlement amounts do not reflect attorney’s fees, case expenses, liens or any other monies that must be paid from the settlement.

Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Coverage

Earlier, I mentioned two mandatory insurance coverages in Kentucky. While technically correct, PIP, or personal injury protection coverage, is coverage you must opt not to carry for any vehicle other than a motorcycle. For this reason, nearly all insurance policies will have PIP coverage.

What Is PIP?

PIP is a form of no-fault insurance coverage governed by the Kentucky Motor Vehicle Kentucky insurance carriers are required to provide $10,000 of this coverage in every policy unless you opt out. PRO TIP – DO NOT OPT-OUT!

PIP is a form of no-fault coverage, so this money can cover medical bills and/or lost wages regardless of whose fault the collision was. This means you can get paid $10,000 of medical bills even if you caused the collision. For this reason, PIP coverage is unique compared to the other forms of insurance coverage.

Attorneys Can Help You Maximize The PIP Benefits You Have Purchased

PIP coverage is one of the only means of financial compensation that an injury victim may have access to while their case is ongoing. Using it wisely can help save you a lot of money and stress in the long run.

If you are in a car accident, you may have been transported to the emergency room, even if you do not appear to have serious injuries. The hospital knows you were in a collision, and knows how PIP works. PIP carriers pay on medical bills dollar for dollar, not at the discounted rates that health insurance pays.

Delay in Hiring an Attorney Can be Bad News

If your hospital medical bills are $10,000 or more, your PIP carrier may send all $10,000 to the hospital. This is tragic for a number of reasons. First, all that money is gone, so if you have lost wages, you may not get compensated for them until your personal injury claim concludes. Secondly, if PIP pays on the bill, but the bill is over $10,000, you may be left with a balance, AND your health insurance may not pay on that balance, leaving you in financial jeopardy.

What Can A Lawyer Do For Accident Victims?

An experienced personal injury lawyer can take action to protect your benefits. The MVRA specifically allows insured persons, or their attorneys, to reserve the benefits and direct their use.

There are some limitations on how those benefits can be directed, but an experienced attorney can ensure that they are used efficiently.

Your medical bills aren’t going to wait – you shouldn’t wait to call a lawyer

However, if you hire an attorney after the $10,000 of PIP money is gone, almost nothing can be done to undo the action. So, long story short, hire an auto accident law firm as soon as you can after the collision.

Insurance Provider Policy Limits and what Insurance Covers

Remember, the level of your protection and financial resources after a collision depends greatly on each coverage you purchase. Kentucky law requires $25,000 of Bodily Injury Liability coverage and $25,000 of Property Damage Liability Coverage. Each of these can be increased. Kentucky Law requires $10,000 of PIP unless you opted out, which can be increased in increments of $10,000. The first $10,000 of PIP coverage is considered “Basic Reparations Benefits” or “BRBs,” and any additional PIP coverage purchases are referred to as “added reparations benefits” or “ARBs.”

I know this can be complicated, but understanding the ‘lingo’ can help you understand your policy’s coverage.

Another Note

I quite frequently have clients tell me that they purchased “full coverage.” It is crucial to understand that “full coverage” does not necessarily include all available coverages and may only include the state-mandated minimums.

To fully understand the coverages that you have paid for, contact your insurance company and see what specific coverages you have on your policy.

An Attorney Can Help!

If you are unsure about which coverages or what amounts of insurance limits you have purchased, an experienced Bowling Green car accident lawyer can help you understand the lay of the land.

Free Consultation!

At Hughes & Coleman law firm, we provide our legal services on a contingency fee basis. This means you only pay us if we recover money for you. You will never be out of pocket any money if we are unsuccessful. This includes case expenses and money we spend investigating and working on your claim. You will not owe us anything if we cannot recover money for you.

In addition to providing our services on a contingency fee basis, we also offer a free case evaluation to every potential client.

If you have suffered personal injuries in a car accident, call us today and find out what we can do for you.

Attorney Client Relationship

One of the most overlooked yet crucial aspects of your relationship with your attorney. Your legal counsel is the buffer between you and the harsh realities of the auto insurance industry.

Our passionate and dedicated team of personal injury lawyers is ready to help any car accident victim in their time of need. Our lawyers have years and decades of experience handling every type of personal injury claim.

The team at Hughes & Coleman will begin immediately gather evidence, medical records, obtain a Bowling Green police report, photos, and expert opinions to ensure the best possible outcome for your claim.

We will also work for you to handle the basic aspects of your claim. Who is paying for your medical bills – health or auto insurance? We are here to guide you through the process to put the most money in your pocket after the claim.

Make sure that you hire an attorney that you can trust and one that will have your best interests at heart. The relationship that you have with your attorney is crucial in the outcome of your case. There is no need for you to stress about the claim when you hire our law firm.

Types of Cases We Handle at Hughes & Coleman

When thinking about hiring an attorney after a car wreck in Bowling Green, it’s important to understand that every crash is different. Being rear-ended in Bowling Green is very different than if you were sideswiped on I-65. Additionally, if you are a victim of a hit-and-run accident in Bowling Green, the steps a personal injury attorney will take to help you may be very different.

If you were T-boned or hit from the side in Bowling Green, these types of wrecks can cause serious injuries, and potentially require you to have long-term care.

At Hughes & Coleman we handle all types of car accidents to help injured victims and their families. We have over 35 years of experience and have a dedicated team of attorneys that will help you recover all of the compensation you deserve.

Who We Are

We are Hughes & Coleman Injury Lawyers. We are a law firm with experienced Bowling Green car accident attorneys handling car accident claims daily.

We represent real clients in our community. We fight to get you the maximum compensation after a car accident. We have a proven track record of success in Bowling Green car accident cases. We know Kentucky Law.

We’ve been representing clients in Bowling Green; clients just like you, for more than 30 years. We will be here for you – here to FIGHT FOR YOU.

All you have to do is call, message us through our website, or pop into the office if you prefer a more personal touch. We are here to serve you in your time of need, it’s just what we do.

Free Consultation in Bowling Green

We represent clients on a contingency fee basis, so you only pay if we get you a financial recovery. And there is always a free consultation. Let our legal team fight for you – it’s what we do!

Where our Law Office is Located

We are conveniently located at 1256 Campbell Ln #201, Bowling Green, KY 42104. Our phone number is 800-800-4600. There is no risk and no fee to call for your car wreck case consultation.

Remember – Control Starts with a Call!