Car AccidentsMinimal Property Damage Car Accidents

Bowie car accident lawyers, George Patterson and Maria Patterson have litigated hundreds of car accident cases involving minimal property damage. Minimal property damage cases often have to be taken to Court because the injured party frequently has not received a settlement offer to consider. People are often injured in car accidents with little to no property damage. Insurance companies may refuse to settle these cases and jurors are often skeptical of injury claims that may seem disproportionate to the property damage. The claims are often relegated to insurance adjusters with little monetary authority to settle cases. The insurance companies have names for these cases like M.I.N.D. (Minor Impact No Damage), M.I.S.T. (Minor Impact Soft Tissue injury). In short, these cases often have to be tried in Court. If you have been involved in a car accident involving minimal property damage it is essential that you select an attorney with car accident trial experience.

Serious injuries can occur in car accidents involving minimal property damage. George Patterson represented a client that sustained a traumatic brain injury in a low property damage car accident. The insurance company initially denied the claim arguing that the accident was too minor to have caused the claimed injuries. Patterson Law ultimately obtained a $250,000 recovery for the client.

George and Maria Patterson tried a low property damage car accident case before a Howard County Jury. The client sustained an aggravation of preexisting medical conditions and injuries. The insurance company hired a bio-mechanical engineer that routinely testified that the forces involved in low property damage car accidents were only sufficient to cause minor strains. The jury returned verdict of $77,000. Prior to trial the insurance company offered $30,000 to settle the case.

George Patterson obtained a verdict of $17,982.20 in Prince George’s County for a client who suffered soft tissue injuries to her neck and back in a minimal property damage car accident. The insurance company had offered $181.50 before suit was filed because they questioned whether someone could be injured in a little to no property damage accident. In a Circuit Court Case in Prince George’s County, George Patterson obtained a $50,000.00 verdict in a car accident that the defendant claimed was just a tap. The jury rejected this claim and found a shoulder surgery related after photographs from the underside of the vehicle showed frame damage. These cases are example of dozens of low property damage car accident trials that George Patterson has successfully litigated.

Multiple factors determine whether a person is likely to be injured in a car accident. Property damage is not a reliable indication of whether a person was injured in a car accident but it is the one factor insurance companies have emphasized to skeptical jurors and judges.

Low property damage cases with serious injuries have to be filed in the Circuit Court where a jury decides the case. Insurance companies will hire doctors to offer opinions that any injury from the accident was temporary. They will offer opinions that any permanent problems are due to pre-existing injuries or degenerative conditions. Maria and George Patterson have had success in showing these alternative explanations to be unsupported by their clients’ medical history and actions.