Car Accidents
As a car crash victim, you have rights.
Northern Colorado’s Car Crash Attorney • Ready to go to Trial for You
It is not your fault that someone ran into you.
Don’t get stuck with the bills or let the at-fault driver shift responsibility.
Get the full compensation you deserve. Our firm has the experience to take on opposing parties and insurance companies whose goal is to minimize their losses—and, as a result, maximize yours!
Attorney David M. Sargent has two decades of experience helping clients get fair compensation in a timely manner. Let our firm get you the maximum reasonable settlement as soon as possible from the insurance company. If they won’t pay, allow us to represent you in trial where we let the community decide how to value your case.
We handle the legal matters so you can focus on getting your health and your life back on track.
No Fees Unless We Win Your Car Crash Case
We build strong claims that take into account your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. And our services require no upfront payment. We only get paid if your case results in compensation.
How We Value Your Car Crash Claim
Getting money for your losses is the only way to compensate you for what the other driver took from you. We go after compensation for all relevant categories of damages, including paid and outstanding medical bills, anticipated future medical expenses, non-economic damages like pain and suffering, and the impacts on your work and personal life.
We work closely with you throughout the process and take the lead in all negotiations along the way. If the defense does not provide reasonable value for your injuries, and you want to proceed, we will go to trial.
Colorado Car Crashes Cause Countless Injuries
Over 100,000 car crashes occur in Colorado every year. Thousands are injured or die in these incidents. We all know at least one person who has been affected by a car crash in some way.
In some instances, a victim’s injuries are immediate and obvious. However, whiplash and concussive injuries often are not immediately recognized or understood. That’s why we encourage and can guide our clients to get medical evaluations and treatment promptly after a car crash. Further, there are many primary care providers who do not like to be involved in medicine related to car crashes. Fortunately, we can help you should you find yourself in such a situation.
The High Cost of Hidden Injuries
It’s understandable to believe you have not suffered an injury if there are no outward signs. However, it’s common to have internal physical damage even with little or no visible injury.
For example, having your head strike the headrest in an accident can cause your brain to contact your skull and can also damage the discs, vertebrae, and muscles in your neck. These types of injuries can also occur due to the abrupt halt of your forward momentum as your seatbelt restrains you.
In the past, hidden injuries went undetected, and victims were denied fair compensation for them. The good news is that increased awareness by healthcare providers and new technology now helping doctors detect serious but unseen injuries that can have a significant, long-term effect on a victim’s health and well-being. This helps to document and show why you deserve compensation for cognitive, functional, and emotional trauma you suffer as a consequence of someone else’s actions.
Common Car Crash Causes
There is no excuse for causing a car crash, but there are many reasons that incidents occur. We all know them and likely have witnessed them many times:
- Distracted driving: A driver causes an accident because they are focused on texting, adjusting their heat or air conditioning, using their sound system, or looking away from the road.
- Excessive speed: A driver causes a car crash because they’re exceeding the speed limit or driving too fast for conditions, such as when there is limited visibility or slick roads.
- Driving under the influence or while impaired: Drugs and alcohol play a role in many collisions.
- Vehicle Failure: Another common assertion is that a car crash is the result of “vehicle failure.” Vehicle problems are rarely the cause of an accident, and when they are, the driver is typically guilty of negligence in how they maintain the vehicle.
Top 10 Reasons to Hire Counsel in a Car Accident Case
- Peace of mind. We advocate on your behalf in communications and correspondence for you, so you can focus on healing.
- Assistance in dealing with insurance providers. Insurance companies have a list of tactics that victims often don’t know about. Fortunately, we’ve seen them. They may try to get you to settle quickly for a lesser amount, switch adjusters or go “radio silent” to frustrate you. They say you must provide information to which they are not entitled, or conversely, refuse to provide information to which you are entitled, etc. It can be exhausting, but our team happily takes on that challenge so you can attend to other matters.
- Protection from unfair or illegal requests. Research has shown that injuries from car crashes evolve, often being mild initially and then getting worse before they get better over several months or more. Insurance companies try to get you to make a statement about how you are feeling right after an accident. Colorado law prohibits this, but it still occurs. We shield you from unethical practices like this.
- Help with property damage claims. Colorado law makes it challenging to get fully compensated by the at-fault party for property damage suffered in a car crash. Most personal injury law firms will not take on that aspect of a case. Our team is happy to help you achieve a reasonable property damage settlement when you are injured. It is still your property damage claim, but we can help you work through the process.
- Guidance when an insurer admits liability. It’s great if an insurer admits their client is at fault, right? Maybe not. When insurance companies admit liability immediately, what they are typically saying is that there is some serious evidence against their insured driver that may be critical to getting full compensation in the case. They want to put an obstacle to the disclosure of information which may lead to other direct claims or punitive damages. Be wary. Admitting liability does not mean that they will pay you in full for your damages. Nor does it mean they won’t say you were not also partially at fault. It is just an insurance legal and evidentiary tactic.
- Help understanding “insurance reserves.” Insurance companies allocate a budget to the settling of claims in a particular area. This can affect their willingness to settle. We force insurance companies to disclose policies, provide insights on how this may affect your claim, and work in litigation to get past the disclosed range to secure the compensation you deserve.
- Claim valuation. Creating a “claims settlement package” takes skill and thorough documentation. We build a package that uses codes for necessary medical treatment, value enhancers for aggravating factors, describe the non-economic value points, references the expertise needed to bolster claims, and point out legally relevant facts that impact your claims. In cases that go to trial, this same information gives a jury what they need to understand how an insurance company did not properly value the claim. The jury can then choose a fair and reasonable award.
- Records ordering. Obtaining the necessary medical records necessary for your case can be challenging. Our firm has extensive experience interacting with the many departments within hospitals and can handle information requests efficiently and effectively on your behalf.
- Proper medical evaluation and treatment. Emergency and urgent care providers are commonly directed by their organizations to provide the trauma evaluation and critical treatment and then encourage you to see your primary care physician. This highly abbreviated care is designed to determine immediate life-threatening conditions, like swelling in the brain. It is not designed to give the information you need to understand that actual injuries. In order to pursue fair compensation, you need to fully develop the diagnostic and therapeutic parts of treatment. This is done through specialized providers. Often, after emergency treatment, many insurance plans, whether private employer plans through an administrator, workers compensation, Medicare or Medicaid have criteria and guidelines which limit your access to care. They are imposed as cost control mechanisms for the payor of benefits. So, what do you do when you need medical care? We will help you navigate the healthcare system to get the treatment and information you need promptly following a crash.
- Assistance from someone who cares about your case. Dealing with the consequences of a car or truck crash on your own can leave you feeling isolated and intimidated. But with a skilled attorney who focuses on injuries as a primary practice, actively advocating you your behalf, the experience is entirely different. You will feel more empowered and confident that you’ll get through the process and closer to the compensation you deserve.
Level the Post-Crash Playing Field with Help from an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney
You will feel more empowered and confident that you’ll get through the process and closer to the compensation you deserve.