Lafayette Car Accident Lawyer

Being injured in a car accident can completely upend your life.  While not every case is so severe, every case deserves professional, experienced legal representation.

Our attorneys can help you fight insurance companies, trucking companies, and anyone else responsible for your injuries.  We can advise you on what your case is worth, help collect evidence, and build your case while you focus on getting better.

For help with your claim, call our car accident attorneys at Schoenfeld Law Firm at (337) 674-2099.

Is Louisiana a No-Fault Car Insurance State?

Louisiana is not a no-fault state and instead uses an “at-fault” system.

What is a No-Fault System?

In a no-fault system, every driver has their own insurance to cover their injuries, and they cannot sue the other driver unless their injuries meet certain seriousness requirements.  In that system, it can be hard to get full compensation or hold the at-fault driver responsible.

What is an At-Fault System?

Instead, we use an at-fault system that forces the driver who caused the crash to pay for the damages.  They usually do this through their own liability insurance.

Getting coverage means either filing a third-party claim against their liability insurance or suing in court – or pursuing both courses of action.

How Long Do I Have to File a Car Accident Claim?

Car accidents are subject to a strict deadline for filing your case.  If you miss this deadline, your case is over; you cannot sue, and insurance will have no reason to pay you anymore.

Under Louisiana law, car accident victims get 2 years to file.  This deadline was extended in 2024; before that, people had only 1 year to file injury claims.

What Damages Can I Claim?

Car accident victims are entitled to two types of damages:

1. Economic damages to pay for expenses and monetary losses
2. Non-economic damages to cover intangible losses.

These break down into these following subcategories:

Medical Bills

Medical expenses can bankrupt everyday families in serious injury cases.  Medical bills are so expensive that they are one of the most important economic damages in your case.

Lost Wages

Even if the accident was unrelated to your work, you might be left unable to go back to work because of your injuries.  Whether that is a temporary or permanent issue, you can seek reimbursement for all lost earnings as part of your economic damages.

Vehicle Repairs/Replacement

If they damaged your vehicle, they pay for the repairs.  If the cost of repairs is more than the remaining value of the vehicle, it is “totaled,” and they pay for the remaining value of the vehicle instead.

Other Economic Damages

Along with the damages above, you can seek payment for other incidental costs such as hospital parking, childcare, and other expenses.

Pain and Suffering

Physical pain and mental suffering make up your non-economic damages.  These harms can be given different names, such as emotional distress and mental anguish, but they essentially cover the same mental, emotional, and physical effects regardless of their name.

What to Do After a Car Accident

In the aftermath of a car accident, take the following important steps:

Call 911

Report the accident to the police and request an ambulance right away.  The police will write up an accident report, and the ambulance crew will be able to treat any injuries they can and transport you to the hospital for further care.

Get Medical Care

Get any medical care you need at the hospital, rather than going to an urgent care clinic or your primary care doctor.  Hospitals are equipped to treat a wider range of injuries, and they can take X-rays and run other tests to make sure your injuries are taken care of, while other doctors might not be equipped and might even turn you away.

Medical care also creates medical records of your injuries.

Collect Evidence

If you can stay at the scene of the accident, get the names and contact info for all drivers and witnesses.  Also take photos of the scene, note the location and time, note weather and lighting conditions, and look for any road imperfections and traffic signals that might have affected the case.

Call a Lawyer

From there, do not hesitate to call a car accident lawyer.  We can help with the next steps, fight for compensation for your injuries, and advise you every step of the way.

Common Car Accident Injuries

Car accidents can cause a wide range of injuries, but you deserve compensation no matter how minor or how severe the injuries are.  Common injuries include

• Broken bones
• Concussions and traumatic brain injuries
• Cuts and lacerations
• Bruises and abrasions
• Whiplash
• Back, neck, and spinal cord injuries
• Traumatic amputation
•  

If a loved one was killed in a crash, our lawyers can also help you file a wrongful death claim.

The Car Accident Claim Process

Car accident cases involve a few stages:

Investigation

At the beginning of your case, our lawyers need to investigate to build a strong case.  This might involve talking to witnesses, getting security camera footage, and retrieving a copy of the police report.

Insurance Claims

Next, we can help you file insurance claims with your insurance and the at-fault driver’s insurance.  Your insurance policy might have coverages that can help you:

• Medpay can cover medical expenses
• Collision coverage can pay for vehicle damage
• Uninsured motorist coverage can pay if the other driver had no insurance
• Underinsured motorist coverage can pay if the other driver’s insurance is too low.

However, the crux of the case will be a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance.

Negotiations

If they do not accept your claim at full value, we can negotiate to try to reach a better settlement.  If they refuse to cooperate or pay what you are owed, we can take them to court.

Lawsuits

Many expensive cases and cases with complex facts end up in court.  Insurance companies would rather deny the case than pay up, meaning the only way to get damages is through a trial.

We can continue to progress toward trial and, if they agree to settle, we can still settle once the case is filed.  Otherwise, we take them to trial and try to win your case before a judge and jury.

How Do I Know if I Should Settle or Go to Trial?

Insurance carriers often seem very confident and final when offering you a check to pay for your case.  However, you should never accept the money they offer without reviewing your case with a lawyer.

Initial Offers

Insurance carriers typically pay low-dollar settlements up front, which would get nowhere near covering your accident in full.  It is only through negotiation with our lawyers that they increase their offer to accurately reflect your damages.

Instead of even looking at your damages, they might offer just a bit more than it would cost them to take the case to court.

Weighing Your Options

Settlements pay damages faster, but they might not pay the full value.  Settling can also save money for both sides, since they do not need to pay for their lawyers’ time in court.  This can free up additional money that could go into the settlement.

In any case, your goal is to get your damages covered in full.  If the settlement offer is too low, we can advise you to press on to a trial.

Weighing the Chances of Victory

However, not every case is going to be strong at trial.  If there are significant issues with your case, such as partial fault on your end or unreliable witnesses, it might be best to settle and take the money you can get.

If evidence is very strong, insurance companies might settle quickly, knowing they will lose at trial.  However, all evidence might not be available until the discovery stage of your trial, delaying these evaluations until after that stage.

FAQs for Car Accidents in Lafayette

Should I Settle My Car Accident Claim?

Never settle your claim without speaking with a lawyer first.  Insurance companies tend to offer low settlements that will not cover your damages in full, and settling without prior negotiation can mean locking yourself into low damages.

What is My Case Worth?

Our car accident lawyers cannot determine the value of your specific case without investigating the medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering you personally faced, as well as other economic damages, like auto repair costs.

How Much Does a Car Accident Lawyer Cost?

Car accident lawyers typically charge no up-front fees and only get paid if you win your case.  Instead, their fee comes as a percentage of the winnings in the case, ensuring that you can always afford a lawyer.

If you lose your case, your lawyer typically gets paid nothing.

What is the Statute of Limitations?

In Louisiana, car accident victims get 2 years to file their claims.  Because we have a bit of a different legal system, this is actually called a liberative prescription instead of a statute of limitations, but it works the same.

Is Louisiana a No-Fault State?

No, Louisiana uses an at-fault system where the at-fault driver’s insurance covers the accident.  However, you might have no-fault-like coverages on your policy that can help cover some costs up front.

Who Pays Damages in a Car Accident Case?

Typically, the at-fault driver’s insurance pays damages.  However, you might have some insurance coverages that help you out first, or even pick up the slack when the other driver’s insurance is too low.

If a driver was working when they caused the crash, their employer (typically through their own insurance) might pay instead.

Who Can I Sue for a Car Accident?

You can sue any party who contributed to your crash.  This usually means suing other drivers, but you can also hold commercial drivers’ employers responsible, as well as auto manufacturers and governments with dangerous roads.

Can You Get Punitive Damages in a Car Accident in Louisiana?

Punitive damages do not pay the victim back for their injuries but are instead used to punish the defendant for especially dangerous actions.  Louisiana law does not allow punitive damages in most car accident cases, but it does allow them for drunk driving accidents.

What is the State Minimum Insurance in Louisiana?

Louisiana state minimum insurance requires at least 15/30/25 coverage.  This means

• $15,000 per person for injuries
• $30,000 per accident for injuries
• $25,000 per accident for property damage.

This is what every driver has to carry to cover injuries they cause others.  However, you can get higher limits to better protect you if you cause a crash.

Other coverages are also available to pay for your own injuries and damages regardless of fault, such as medical payment coverage.

Can I Be at Fault if I was the Passenger?

Typically, passengers cannot be found at fault for a crash.  However, if you grabbed the steering wheel or pulled the emergency brake, you might be considered the driver at that time instead.

Who Decides Fault?

If the case goes to trial, the jury decides fault unless you opt for a bench trial.  In that case, the judge decides fault.

Cases that settle usually have no determination of fault, except when it comes to assigning partial fault and partial damages to multiple parties.

Can You Sue Multiple Drivers?

Many crashes involve multiple cars, and you can sue any driver who was responsible.  This can lead to lawsuits against multiple drivers in one case.

You can also sue other parties that might have contributed to the accident or who might be liable in place of another party, such as a trucker or other commercial driver’s employer.

What Evidence Should I Collect?

At the scene of the accident, try to collect all of the following:

• All drivers’ and witnesses’ names and contact info
• Each driver’s insurance info
• The make, model, and license plate number of each car involved
• The date, time, and location of the crash (including cross streets or mile markers)
• Weather, lighting, and roadway conditions
• What signs and signals controlled the intersection
• Photos of the damage, accident scene, and injuries
• Information about any security cameras or dashcams that recorded the accident.

Our lawyers can help you collect other evidence like medical records, financial information, and traffic or security camera footage you cannot immediately locate.

Call Our Car Accident Lawyers in Lafayette Today

For a free case evaluation, call Schoenfeld Law Firm’s car accident lawyers at (337) 674-2099.