How Much to Expect From a Car Crash Settlement in Missouri

February 18, 2022 | Uncategorized

Our Lawyers Can Help You Maximize Your Claim’s Value

The lawyers at The Dixon Injury Firm are focused on providing the highest level of care to car accident clients. If you have been in a car accident and you’ve suffered injuries, significant damage to your personal property, lost wages, and more, it’s crucial for you to consult an attorney if you want to confidently pursue compensation. But how much compensation can you expect after a car accident? What is the average car crash settlement?

We are available to guide you through your car accident case and make sure that you are well taken care of during this time. Car accidents tend to bring financial losses, steep medical bills, and other unexpected expenses that can be stressful, so if you need any assistance at all, Attorney Christopher R. Dixon and The Dixon Injury Firm can help.

To learn more, give our St. Louis car accident lawyers a call at (314) 208-2808 or CONTACT us online to schedule a free initial consultation.

Car Accidents in the St. Louis Metro Area

Whether you are driving in the Metro East, St. Louis City, or St. Louis County, there are risks of car accidents everywhere you turn.

There are many dangerous roads in the area, including:

Interstate 70
Interstate 64 (“Highway 40”)
Hampton Avenue
Page Avenue
Interstate 44

Downtown St. Louis can become crowded with baseball fans headed to Busch Stadium or Ballpark Village or Saint Louis University students heading to Soulard for a fun night out. While everyone should enjoy themselves, such factors increase the chances of drunk driving downtown.

If you suffer injuries in a crash, you should always seek help from a St. Louis Metro Area car accident attorney who can help you seek any compensation that you deserve.

Pursuing Compensation for Your St Louis Car Accident

It can be difficult to prove that the other driver is at fault in a car accident. Chris Dixon and our entire team at The Dixon Injury Firm are dedicated to providing the highest quality legal advice while fighting head-to-head with insurance companies. Attorney Dixon has been named as a “Top 100 Trial Lawyer” and has earned the status of being a Lifetime Member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum. By choosing our firm, you are choosing a practice that not only cares about you and your case but also has the background and experience needed to make the most of it.

How Can a St. Louis Car Accident Lawyer Help with My Case?

We have the experience and knowledge necessary to pursue the maximum amount of compensation for your case. The responsible party’s insurance company will likely try and get you to settle for the lowest amount possible for your claim. Let us represent you, and you will be ready to refute any lowball offers, negotiate for more, and possibly take them to court.

What Is the Average Car Crash Settlement in St. Louis?

The average car crash settlement in St. Louis is based on a combination of factors. Those factors include

Severity of injuries suffered
Liable parties involved
Insurance policy limits
Type of car accident
Other economic damages suffered
Pain and suffering
Long-term complications or disabilities

If you have been in a car crash in Missouri, it is important to find legal help. An experienced car crash attorney can help you determine how much compensation you might receive after an accident. Since every case is different, it is best to meet with an attorney to get a better idea of the settlement you deserve. Never sign anything without first speaking to a St. Louis car accident attorney.

Need Legal Help? Let’s talk.

When Should I File A Car Accident Claim?

The ideal time to file a car accident claim is right after an accident happens. Understandably, you might not have the opportunity to immediately file a claim, and that is fine. As long as you keep it in your mind and reach out to an attorney as soon as possible, you should be able to get a case started in a good amount of time.

If you have suffered injuries in a car accident that someone else caused, then involving a car accident attorney to pursue compensation is even more important than ever. Also, all states require you to file a car accident claim before a statute of limitations expires. In Missouri, the statute of limitations is five years, one of the longest in the country. Do not wait nearly all five years before talking to an attorney, though!

Once your lawyer determines if you are eligible to file a claim, they can:

Collect substantial evidence to support your claim
Create your case
Protect your best interests
Pursue the most compensation possible
Negotiate or litigate on your behalf
Give you a realistic idea of the likely outcome

Missouri Car Accident Statistics

According to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS), in a recent year, there were 37,133 deaths from car accidents in the U.S. In the state of Missouri, the leading cause of car accidents was speeding, driving under the influence, and distracted driving. While all car accidents are not preventable, most car accidents are 100 percent avoidable.

How can you prove that the other driver did something to cause an otherwise avoidable accident?

Find and use evidence: It is crucial to collect evidence immediately after an accident. Evidence from the crash can show what happened and determine who caused it. A lack of evidence could allow for the other party to blame the accident on you or for their insurance company to pay you a lower settlement amount.
Call for emergency help: You must call the police after an accident that causes serious injuries or extensive vehicular and property damage. When paramedics arrive, you should allow them to address your injuries. A police report and medical report are powerful pieces of evidence that can prove that another driver caused the accident and your injuries.
Talk to bystanders: Speak to witnesses of the accident. While it’s important to call the police when a car accident happens, they may not speak to all witnesses at the scene and get detailed accounts from them that can be useful when seeking compensation for your injuries.

Who Should Pay for Your Car Accident Losses?

Before you can receive compensation for your injuries and losses, you first must determine who should be the party or parties to pay. If you file a claim against the wrong party, it can be a waste of time and resources. If you fail to file claims against all liable parties, you could be leaving significant funds on the table that would help you move forward with your life.

Identifying liability in car crashes can be more challenging than you might think, and you should seek help from a St. Louis and Metro East car accident lawyer. Below are some parties that are potentially liable for car accidents and resulting losses.

Drivers

This is the most obvious source of liability for crashes, as many accidents happen due to driver negligence. Driver negligence means that a driver failed to operate a vehicle in a reasonably safe manner, and you suffered harm as a result.

Some forms of driver negligence include:

Distracted driving
Aggressive driving
Driving while intoxicated (DWI)
Speeding
Running red lights
Drowsy driving
Violating other traffic laws

While you might know that a driver made a mistake, the insurance company will not simply take your word for it. You need the right legal help to prove driver negligence and liability.

In pile-ups and other multi-vehicle accidents, more than one driver might be at fault. If different drivers were negligent and contributed to your crash, you should file insurance claims against all of them.

Employers

Many people drive as part of their work. This can include commercial truck drivers, ambulance drivers, delivery people, construction workers, couriers, taxi drivers, and more. When a driver is negligent and causes a crash on the job, the law also holds the driver’s employer liable for the harm caused. This is a form of vicarious liability called “respondeat superior.”

This legal principle does not require the company to be negligent to be accountable for the actions of employees. Our lawyers will always determine whether a negligent driver was working at the time of the accident so we can seek compensation from their employer, as well.

Employers can also be negligent and lead to crashes.

The many types of employer negligence include:

Negligent hiring
Allowing unqualified employees to operate vehicles
Negligent supervision or retention of dangerous drivers
Encouraging drivers to violate safety rules or covering up violations
Failing to maintain company vehicles that later malfunction

We also know how to trace negligence back to trucking companies and other employers and file the appropriate claims.

It is beneficial to identify when you have a claim against a corporation. This is because companies tend to have much higher insurance policy limits than individual drivers. For instance, an individual Uber driver might have a personal auto insurance policy with limits of about $50,000 per accident.

On the other hand, the Uber corporation carries $1 million in coverage that applies at certain times, which would cover significantly higher losses. You always want to know when a corporate policy might apply, and we can assist with this process.

Vehicle Manufacturers

Some accidents are not the fault of any driver. If a car has a defective part that suddenly malfunctions, a driver can lose control, and there is nothing they can do about it. In this situation, it could result in a single-vehicle crash, or the driver could collide with another vehicle. In either situation, a driver should not have to pay for any medical treatment or damage for themselves or others who suffered harm.

Instead, the vehicle manufacturer that produced the defective part should be liable.

This can even challenge experienced lawyers because:

Large manufacturing corporations have deep pockets, legal teams, and insurance companies to work to avoid liability for accidents and injuries.
It takes significant resources to prove a vehicle defect, including assessments by auto industry experts.
Some vehicle defects are widespread and might lead to recalls and potentially a class action lawsuit if other people suffered injuries due to the same defect.

If you tackle this type of claim, you can recover all of your losses financially. However, these complicated and challenging claims need a high-powered car accident lawyer who will not back down.

At The Dixon Injury Firm, we stand up to corporations and their insurance companies. We have the experience and resources necessary to take on manufacturers that cause dangerous crashes.

Uninsured Motorist Policies

As if a car crash is not bad enough, some drivers flee the scene of the accident, often to avoid additional criminal trouble. Other drivers who hit might simply not have the necessary insurance that Missouri or Illinois law requires.

In these situations, you have to turn to your own uninsured motorist coverage for compensation. You might assume that your insurance company will be more cooperative and forthcoming with payment than those of other drivers. However, it is still a company that puts profits first, so many people struggle to obtain the full amount they deserve from a UM claim.

Our car accident lawyers can assist you with seeking compensation from your own policy if you suffered injuries in a hit and run crash or an accident with an uninsured driver. We can negotiate with your insurer to prove the full extent of your losses.

Compensation Could Be Just a Phone Call Away

The Dixon Injury Firm in St. Louis can help you pursue the most compensation possible for your car accident claim. We take every case to heart and act as if we are representing ourselves or a close friend. Honestly, when you hire our team of car accident attorneys, we want to get to know you and your story, so being a close friend really isn’t too far off. You deserve the most after a crash that wasn’t your fault, and we intend on doing everything we can to make that happen.

You can reach us at (314) 208-2808 or through our online CONTACT page at any time, and we’ll evaluate your claim and help you decide what to do next.