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A simple fender-bender may cause a minor inconvenience to your daily life, but a serious wreck at high speeds could have severe life-long consequences. Beyond just medical bills and car repairs, you may also suffer from quantitative declines in your quality of life and prospects for the future if your accident results in long-term or permanent damage.
No matter the severity of your injuries following a roadway accident, representation from a personal injury attorney could be key to effectively seeking restitution from the person responsible for your crash. A Fort Mill car accident lawyer could calculate your damages, construct a thorough case for compensation, and tirelessly pursue a positive resolution to your claim both in and out of court.
Rules for Filing Suit After a Fort Mill Car Crash
The vast majority of personal injury cases based on car accidents in South Carolina are based on a theory of negligence. In order to hold a defendant negligent and therefore liable for their damages, a civil plaintiff must prove that all the following elements of legal negligence:
- The defendant owed them a duty of reasonable care
- The defendant violated that duty by acting in a reckless or careless way
- The defendant’s actions directly resulted in an accident
- The accident in question directly caused compensable injuries to the plaintiff filing suit
In many such cases, defendants try to counter claims against them by arguing the injured plaintiff bears some responsibility for their injuries too. If a court finds a plaintiff partially liable for their own damages, the court has the authority to proportionately reduce the total compensation available to the plaintiff based on their degree of fault—or, if that percentage is more than 50 percent, deny them compensation altogether.
Regardless of how fault is or is not split in a car accident case, plaintiffs who want to remain eligible to recover compensation must file their claims—or have a Fort Mill car wreck attorney do so for them—within a deadline set by the applicable statute of limitations. For most claims, South Carolina Code of Laws §15-3-530 sets this deadline at three years from the date on which the accident in question occurred.
Damages That Could Be Recoverable
Depending on the situation, a person injured in a car crash someone else caused may be able to recover compensation from that liable party for both economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are those with an objective financial value, such as medical expenses, costs related to vehicle repairs, and lost wages from being unable to work while recovering from an injury.
Non-economic damages, on the other hand, are those which cannot be given a qualitative value and instead must be defined based on each plaintiff’s unique individual circumstances. A skilled car accident lawyer in Fort Mill may be able to seek compensation on a plaintiff’s behalf for non-economic losses like:
- Physical pain
- Emotional anguish and psychological trauma, including symptoms of PTSD
- Disability and disfigurement
- Loss of consortium with a spouse
- Loss of personal and professional opportunities
- Loss of enjoyment of life
Speak with a Fort Mill Car Accident Attorney Today
Fortunately, South Carolina operates under a fault-based car insurance system, so unlike in some other states, residents injured in automobile accidents can immediately file suit against a negligent third party to recover for damages that party’s negligence caused. However, this does not mean that pursuing such a lawsuit is a simple matter, or that every such case has a positive outcome for the filing plaintiff.
Hiring skilled legal counsel may be essential if you want to maximize your claim’s chances of success. To schedule a consultation and discuss the circumstances of your potential case, call a Fort Mill car accident lawyer at Schiller & Hamilton today.