In America, there are people who lament the fact that society has become increasingly litigious, with people looking for frivolous reasons to file a lawsuit. Unfortunately, this belief is often based on partial truths and is the result of an organized campaign by big business or lobbyists obscuring true facts about injury cases.
Because of these misperceptions, it is common for those who are injured to be hesitant to file an injury lawsuit. This is especially true in circumstances where you were hurt by someone you know, like being injured by a fall at a friend’s house or by an accident as a passenger in a friend’s car.
The reality, however, is that you can and often should file an injury claim if someone hurts you. Accidents can cause serious damage that is very expensive to treat and that will affect you for the rest of your life. Someone needs to pay for the harm that you have experienced because of the accident and it should not be you.
Why You Shouldn’t Hesitate to File a Personal Injury Civil Claim
You should never hesitate to file a lawsuit after a negligence-induced injury, because there is an entire system set up specifically to ensure that victims don’t face serious financial harm.
Laws in Nevada and throughout the U.S. specify the circumstances under which a defendant is considered legally responsible for certain actions (or inaction). Drug manufacturers, product makers, doctors and hospitals, dangerous drivers and negligent property owners are among those who have obligations under the law and who can be held liable for injuries if they fail to live up to those obligations.
Individuals, companies and professionals know about the risk of a lawsuit and understand their legal obligations. As a result, they buy insurance to protect themselves in case they are sued. Property owners have homeowner’s insurance, drivers have auto insurance, doctors have malpractice insurance and most companies have blanket “liability” insurance policies that protect them from a variety of lawsuits.
These individuals and companies pay premiums month after month, year after year, in case something happens. Insurance companies are paid handsomely for this. According to Property Casualty 360, one insurance company—Geico—made an underwriting profit of $680 million in 2012 and the profit would have been $410 million more if accounting rules hadn’t changed. This is just one of many insurers who make hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
When you don’t make a personal injury claim after you get hurt, you end up stuck with medical bills and uncompensated losses for missed work, pain and suffering, emotional distress and wrongful death while insurers get to walk away with premiums and not pay claims that they should. Who is better able to afford the cost of serious injuries—you, or a company that makes millions in profits?