Car Accident Lawyer Lake St. Louis, MO. After you have been hurt in a car or truck accident, worrying about your job or your family should be your lowest priority. Between medical treatment, dealing with trauma, and repairing your car, the aftermath of an car accident in Lake St. Louis, MO can easily overwhelm anyone, doubly so when insurance companies refuse to deal with you or you do not receive the restitution you are entitled to.
Contact Our Lake St. Louis, MO Car Accident Lawyers Here
Combs Waterkotte is here to help Lake St. Louis, MO residents who have been involved in car accidents and do not know about how to proceed. Our Lake St. Louis car accident lawyer finds evidence, deals with insurance and financial agents, and compiles accident reports for their clients. We fight fearlessly for all our Lake St. Louis, MO auto accident clients to get them not only fair and just compensation, but also justice and closure after going through a very troubling experience.
After you’ve been in a Lake St. Louis, MO auto accident, don’t wait: contact Combs Waterkotte, either online or by calling (314) 900-HELP, and put an experienced and dedicated Lake St. Louis, MO auto accident attorney in your corner. Our firm offers no-obligation initial consultations, and promises that if they do not get a positive result in your Lake St. Louis auto accident lawsuit, you will not owe them a fee.
Giving You One Less Thing To Worry About
A Full-Service Lake St. Louis, MO Car Accident Lawyer
Thousands of cars and trucks take to the road every day in and around Lake St. Louis to deliver the mail, take people to and from work, go to the store, or just out for a leisurely drive. Unfortunately, though, car accidents are an everyday occurence, caused by poorly maintained roads, the negligence of other motorists, or adverse weather conditions. Automotive damages and personal injuries can range from minor cosmetic blemishes or a few cuts and scrapes, to life-changing injuries and vehicles better suited as scrap metal.
As veteran Lake St. Louis, MO car accident lawyers, Combs Waterkotte has taken all kinds of car accident claims and seen first-hand how the aftermath of a car accident in Lake St. Louis can change someone’s life, in some cases permanently. Our firm has years of experience in the courtroom, and has seen the lengths insurance companies go to avoid paying proper restitution to Lake St. Louis accident victims. We offer client-centered legal strategies that are designed to satisfy your unique needs and get clients both justice in addition to a just reward for their injuries and losses.
What To Do After A Car Accident In Lake St. Louis, MO
Following a car accident, it is likely that people will be in a state of shock and uncertain how to proceed. However, having worked with many car accident clients across Lake St. Louis, MO, the staff at Combs Waterkotte recommends that all our clients do the following after their car accident:
- Make sure you are safe. Find a place to stop away from traffic, if you are able to, and check to see if you have suffered any injuries.
- Call 911. Not only will you need to file a police report after your accident, but if you or a passenger is severely injured you may need to have an ambulance dispatched. When the police arrive, be honest about the accident but avoid saying anything unnecessary: statements that imply guilt can and will be used against you by insurance companies when adjuticating fault.
- Collect all relevant information. Exchange not only your insurance card, registration, and license, which you are required to do by law, but also phone numbers and other contact details.
- Take pictures. Camera phones now being ubiquitious means that it is incredibly simple to document your Lake St. Louis, MO accident and compile evidence. Get shots of all damage, skid marks, where one or more cars collided, as well as the general area around your accident. If you can find witnesses, it is smart to record what they saw, as it can help your case immensely.
- Get medical attention. If you were injured as a result of your Lake St. Louis car accident, immediately get emergency medical care. For smaller injuries, a local urgent care center is a more affordable and convenient option than a trip to the emergency room. However, more severe or bigger will likely necessitate a trip to the hospital, or potentially a visit to your personal doctor.
- Contact a car accident lawyer. The faster you call a trustworthy and compassionate Lake St. Louis, MO car accident lawyer, the sooner they can get to work on your behalf and allow you to begin the recovery process.
As well as these steps, our firm recommends that all our clients save the following documents. They can help immensely when discussing settlement terms, or to give a more complete idea of the effect a car accident in Lake St. Louis, MO had on your life.
- Medical documentation
- Pictures of the accident scene
- The full police report of the accident
- Witness accounts
- All medical-related bills (ambulance fees, physical therapy costs, medications, etc.)
- Doctor’s reports and observations
- Repair documentation
- Incidental bills including rental car receipts
- Lost earning opportunities
- Records of pain and suffering directly caused by your accident
What Damages Can I Recover After A Car Accident?
In general, there are five types of damages someone can claim after a car accident in Lake St. Louis, MO. These are:
- Medical damages: these are not only restricted to hospital bills or doctor’s visits, either. An auto accident victim can claim costs for medications, visits to mental health professionals, rehab or physical therapy to fully recover from accident injuries, and necessary medical equipment such as casts, too.
- Lost wages/earning potential: in general this is based off of what you were earning prior to the accident, how much the accident impacted your ability to fully perform work, and how the lasting effects of your accident/injuries may stop you from working to your full potential in the future.
- Property damage: this includes repair/replacement of your car in addition to any/all additional items that were damaged as a result of your Lake St. Louis auto accident.
- Pain and suffering: these damages can be hard to quantify, since by and large the amount of difficulty one goes through after an accident differs from person to person. In general, though, recording changes in attitude, mental health and need for therapy, and longer-lasting after-effects of your accident is a good rule of thumb.
- Disability or disfigurement: in more severe situations, a Lake St. Louis, MO car accident may result in a victim sustaining life-altering injuries. While in a substantial number of cases those injuries are permanent and a settlement cannot soothe the immense pain and difficulty these injuries cause, it can help provide an accident victim more ability to successfully navigate their new normal.
It is also critical to note that Missouri is a comparative fault state, which means that the amount of damages one or more parties can take home is reduced based on how much at fault they were for causing a car accident. Missouri is a pure comparative fault state, which allows for even someone who was determined to be 99% responsible for an accident to collect a proportional amount of damages.
Contact A Lake St. Louis, MO Car Accident Lawyer Who Cares
At Combs Waterkotte, we offer the strength and acumen of an elite Lake St. Louis, MO car accident law firm as well as the one-on-one care of an individual practice. Our firm has partnered with Lake St. Louis residents of all backgrounds to obtain the justice they are entitled to receive following a car accident in Lake St. Louis, MO. We take all our cases on what is referred to as a contingency basis, which means that unless you get a positive result in your Lake St. Louis, MO car accident case, you will not need to owe us anything.
If you have been injured in a car accident in Lake St. Louis, MO caused by another party’s reckless behavior, do not hesitate: contact a Lake St. Louis car accident lawyer at Combs Waterkotte today by calling (314) 900-HELP or online for a free, no-obligation consultation.
