Rhode Island Car Accident Attorneys

You have a duty to cooperate with your own insurance company after an accident; however, if the other driver's insurance company asks to speak with you or get a statement, you should direct them to your lawyer. Speaking with the other party's insurance company will do nothing but hurt your case since they have no interest in protecting your rights. Their goal is to pay you as little money as possible to protect their bottom line.

Depending on the severity of your accident, you may be suffering from a wide range of injuries. These injuries don’t just represent higher costs for you in the short term; you may also need compensation to cover long-term care, medical treatment, and other costs. These costs are known as “damages,” and when the other party has been negligent, you have the right to pursue a lawsuit against them to recover those damages.

After an auto accident, you may be able to recover damages for:

• Medical bills and prescriptions
• Doctor visits
• Hospitalization costs
• Long-term care
• Lost wages (current and future)
• Loss of consortium
• Non-economic damages, like pain and suffering
• Punitive damages, for extreme cases of negligence

It is important to note that if the other driver's insurance policy is not sufficient to cover all of the damages listed above, then your own automobile insurance policy may be able to help cover the rest of these costs through uninsured motorist (UM) or underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage and collision coverage.

At Karns & Kerrison, we do not charge any legal fees unless we are able to recover compensation on your behalf. You will never get a bill as the case proceeds. We do not take a percentage of the property damage recovery; we only charge a percentage of the rest of the settlement that we get you at the end of your case. This is known as contingency-fee representation – which, put simply, means: no recovery, no fee.

In any civil case, there is typically a statute of limitations that imposes a time limit on your claim. In general, Rhode Island residents have three years to pursue a lawsuit after they’ve been hurt in an accident, whether that involves a car, truck, motorcycle, or any other type of vehicle (Rhode Island General Laws § 9-1-14).

In cases where wrongful death occurred in a car accident, you also have three years to pursue a case. Claims that only concern property damage, on the other hand, are given a 10-year deadline for submitting.