Yes, you should consider hiring a lawyer for a car accident that wasn’t your fault in Tennessee, even when liability seems clear. While it may appear straightforward that the other driver caused the accident, insurance companies typically employ various tactics to minimize payouts, including questioning liability, disputing the severity of your injuries, or pressuring you to accept quick but insufficient settlements. An experienced attorney provides crucial protection against these practices and offers several significant advantages. They can handle all communications with insurance adjusters, preventing you from making statements that might unintentionally damage your claim. They’ll properly value your claim by calculating all applicable damages including medical expenses, lost wages, property damage, pain and suffering, and potential future costs. Tennessee’s modified comparative negligence system means that if you’re found partially at fault, your compensation will be reduced proportionally—and if you’re deemed 50% or more responsible, you’ll receive nothing. A skilled attorney will gather and preserve evidence to establish the other driver’s complete liability while protecting you from being assigned unwarranted blame.
You may need a lawyer if the other driver blames you for causing the accident and the driver’s insurance company refuses to pay you for damages to your car or for your injuries. In this case, you may want to get a lawyer for a car accident even if it was not your fault.
In Tennessee, the driver responsible for causing a crash has to pay the other driver’s damages. So, why pay damages for an accident that you believe you did not cause? While the law does not require you to get a lawyer, one may help you prove that you did not cause the accident and help you recover compensation for your financial losses.
How Can a Lawyer Help Me Prove the Accident Was Not My Fault?
An experienced car accident lawyer can help you collect crucial evidence to prove that you did not cause the car wreck. Besides your statement, a lawyer may use a police report that explains how the accident happened, photos of the accident scene and damages to the vehicles, surveillance video that captured the accident (if available), and eyewitness statements.
At the OEB Law, PLLC, we work with subject matter experts to prove fault and causation in car accidents. If you suffered a serious injury in the accident, we may have medical experts review your medical records and provide a professional opinion about your present and future medical needs. We will use our resources to help you build a solid case to present to the other driver’s insurance company or to your insurance company.
Should I Go to Court to Prove That the Accident Was Not My Fault?
This is a possible legal option to discuss with your lawyer. Depending on the circumstances of your accident, filing a lawsuit may be preferable over filing an insurance claim for damages, especially if the accident involved serious or fatal injuries.
What If I Prove The Accident Was Not My Fault But the Other Driver Is Uninsured or Underinsured?
If you have Uninsured Motorist Coverage, a lawyer can help you receive compensation from your own insurance company to have your car repaired or recover wages you lost from work because of the accident, or pay your medical expenses. Uninsured motorist coverage also protects you when a hit-and-run driver causes you harm or damages your vehicle.
An Underinsured Motorist policy covers you when a driver’s insurance policy is not sufficient to cover all of your damages. In this instance, the driver’s insurance company only pays up to the driver’s policy limit. For instance, Tennessee requires vehicle owners to have a minimum of $25,000 in liability insurance for each injury or death per accident. So, if your damages totaled $30,000, and the at-fault driver has the $25,000 minimum liability amount, your underinsured policy will pay the remaining $5,000.
What Happens If the Other Driver’s Insurance Company Finds Me Partially Responsible for the Accident?
An insurance company will do whatever it can to hold you responsible for the wreck so the insurer will not have to pay full compensation for your claim. Nonetheless, you can still seek reimbursement for your damages even if an insurance adjuster finds that you contributed to the accident. But, your total amount of compensation decreases based on your percentage of fault. This is based on Tennessee’s comparative fault rule.
For example, if you are 10% percent at fault for the accident, and your damages totaled $30,000, you would receive $27,000 in compensation—a $3,000 reduction.
Can a Lawyer Help Me Determine the Value of My Insurance Claim?
Yes, a lawyer will total the expenses you incurred from the accident to determine the value of your claim. Your expenses may include costs to repair your car, medical bills for treating your injury, and mobility devices you purchased to assist you in recovering from your injury. You can also add non-economic damages to your claim, such as pain and suffering and the emotional stress the accident caused you.
When you have a lawyer on your side, you might receive more compensation than you initially expected to cover monetary losses from your car accident.
Contact Us Today
If another driver blames you for an accident that was not your fault, and you are not sure whether you can file an insurance claim, call OEB Law, PLLC at (865) 546-1111 for a free case evaluation.
We can investigate your accident, help you file a claim and handle negotiations so you can focus on recovering from your injuries and the trauma of a car accident instead of disputing with insurance companies.
FAQ
In Tennessee, most car accident attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay no upfront costs and only pay legal fees if you win your case or receive a settlement. This arrangement makes legal representation accessible regardless of your financial situation. The standard contingency fee typically ranges from 33% to 40% of your final recovery amount, with the exact percentage often depending on case complexity and whether a lawsuit must be filed or the case goes to trial. Beyond the percentage fee, your attorney will typically advance all case-related expenses such as filing fees, expert witness costs, obtaining medical records, accident reconstruction, and deposition expenses. These costs are then reimbursed from your settlement or award. Most Knoxville personal injury attorneys offer free initial consultations to evaluate your case, and you should clarify fee structures during this meeting. For cases with clear liability where the other driver was completely at fault, attorneys may sometimes accept a slightly lower percentage, though this varies by firm. The “you don’t pay unless we win” guarantee means there’s minimal financial risk in securing professional legal representation, and studies consistently show that accident victims with attorney representation typically receive significantly higher settlements—even after accounting for legal fees—than those who handle claims independently.
