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One day things are peachy keen. Next, you’re dealing with a truckload of problems that suck away your savings, increase your stress levels, and completely overwhelm everyone.
It’s like a normal family suddenly becomes ten different people who aren’t sure what their role is anymore. Life changing accidents affect more than just the person injured. Every spouse, child, and family member experiences the trauma in their own way.
While partners are forced into overtime at work, kids are suddenly having to learn how to function in a completely new normal. And most families aren’t prepared for any of it.
How One Accident Robs Your Family
Let’s start with the money. Medical bills, physical therapy, lost wages. They all add up when someone gets seriously injured in an accident. In fact, almost half of American adults say they would struggle to pay their medical bills if they were suddenly injured or fell seriously ill. That’s HALF of the country living in fear that one bad day could devastate their family. If that injured person is the primary breadwinner in the family, suddenly everyone’s income is cut in half. How are you supposed to pay for the mortgage, groceries, and medical bills on a half salary? That’s exactly where getting help from a Houston personal injury lawyer can make a real difference.
A contingency fee lawyer will take your family’s injury case without charging you any fees upfront. This means you don’t need to worry about legal expenses when you’re already strapped for cash. The contingency fee model was created to help families just like yours. By only charging you if you win your case, there is no risk that your family can’t afford legal fees.
Who Picks up the Slack at Home
Think about something for a second… If someone in your family is laid up for weeks or months on end after an accident, who else has to step up at home? It’s not just a person who got injured we’re talking about. An accident that affects one member of the family changes everyone’s role.
Think about it:
- Suddenly your partner has to become a caretaker on top of everything else
- Your children have to help out around the house more (even if they don’t want to)
- Financial stress is now a normal conversation that happens multiple times a day
- Normal routines go out the window
All of these changes can happen slowly. Or they can happen overnight. And when it’s all said and done, your family looks and feels nothing like it did before the accident. One injury causes pain for the entire family. Households with injured members deal with more conflict, more anxiety, and more burn out.
Hidden Emotional Consequences of Family Injuries
Also, when you hear about someone getting injured in an accident, you automatically think about their physical injuries. Maybe you even think about how they’ll pay for hospital bills and physical therapy. But what about their emotional wellbeing? And more specifically, what about the emotional wellbeing of their family?
Family members are known to deal with:
- Increased anxiety
- Survivor’s guilt
- Anger about the “new normal”
- Scared for what the future holds
And that doesn’t even mention the children.
Kids feed off of their parent’s emotions. They may not understand exactly what happened in the accident, but they can absolutely tell when something is off with their mom or dad. Children will act out, have problems at school, or withdraw from others because of the chaos at home.
Emotional trauma isn’t as easy to identify. But it’s equally as damaging to your family.
How a Contingency Fee Lawyer Can Help
Alright, you’re probably wondering… How does one lawyer help your family after an accident? A lot more than you think. When you work with a contingency fee lawyer, you gain an advocate on your side that will help even the playing field. Insurance companies have teams of workers and attorneys whose sole job is to offer you the lowest settlement possible. Without proper legal guidance, families usually accept the first offer they’re given. The total cost of injury in America was $4.2 trillion in 2019. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention broke that number down into medical care costs, productivity loss, and “quality of life” adjustments. Injury victims aren’t just thrown a couple thousand dollars and told to get back on with their lives.
When you hire a contingency fee lawyer, you can expect:
- Someone who will handle all the legal complexity so you can focus on family
- Professional negotiation with insurance companies
- Maximum financial compensation for every angle of your injury
- Legal services that cost you 0 dollars upfront
Lawyers work on contingency to help everyday families receive the compensation they deserve… regardless of their income.
What To Do After an Accident Hits Your Family
You can’t predict when an accident will happen to your family. What you can control is how you react to it.
Take these steps if an accident impacts your family:
- Get Medical Help Immediately – Some conditions don’t become visible until days or weeks later. Seek medical attention as soon as possible.
- Document, Document, DOCUMENT – Anything you can write down or snap a picture of to help your case, do it. Medical records, police reports, photos, witness information… you name it.
- Contact a Contingency Fee Lawyer ASAP – Secure your family’s future by hiring a lawyer from the start. You can always refuse their services later if you want.
- Keep Your Family In the Loop – Make sure everyone is educated about what’s going on. The more your family knows, the less stress and anxiety they’ll experience.
- Don’t Settle Early – Insurance companies love to lowball families who are eager to get money right away. Don’t fall for it.
Accidents will happen. But you don’t have to let them derail your family’s future.
Life altering accidents disrupt every single member of your family. They cause financial hardships, completely shift your roles at home, and leave emotional scars that may never heal. The only thing you can do to protect your family is to hire a contingency fee lawyer.