Accidents can happen to anyone, anytime, and anywhere.
At Pepper & Odom law firm, we believe our experienced attorneys and staff can help you get financial relief from personal injury.
Property damage
It is possible that it may take weeks to repair the damage to your vehicle. If the wreck is severe enough, your vehicle may be a total loss. Even if you have rental car coverage, you may have to return the rental car before the repairs to your vehicle are complete.
You will need financial relief.
Lost wages and medical bills
It is common for accident victims to miss work due to injuries not allowing them to perform their job duties. You may also miss work due to taking time off to go to your doctor’s appointments or physical therapy visits.
A car wreck victim may have to be transported to the hospital ER via ambulance. Hospital bills often include triage treatment, doctor bills, and radiology bills. It is very common for a car wreck victim to need additional follow-up treatment with a chiropractor or physical therapist. If the injuries are severe, a person may need steroid injections, pain management, and even surgery. You will need financial relief.
Pain and suffering
Car wreck injuries can range from mild to severe depending on the speed of the vehicles, the road conditions, the type of vehicles, and the underlying health of the driver before the collision. Injuries can include bruising, cuts, whiplash, broken bones, torn ligaments, and other spinal cord injuries.
Our attorneys at Pepper & Odom law firm understand how you can get the financial relief you deserve after a car wreck. We know what to do about financial fallout.
We have helped thousands of people just like you in their time of need. The big insurance companies want to pay you as little as possible, but our attorneys want to get you the most financial relief possible to help cover all your injuries and damages.
Our law firm has a contingency fee, meaning we don’t get paid until you do. If our attorneys don’t get any recovery for you, then you don’t owe us any attorney fees.
5 ways to prepare for financial relief
Going through a personal injury event that could affect your finances can keep anyone awake at night. However, the prospect of something that is beyond your control and expensive becomes less scary if you prepare yourself for financial relief.
Here are 10 things that can you can do to deal with a crisis and get financial relief when suffering through personal injury.
1. Check your liquid savings
You will want to turn to cash accounts first for financial relief such as checking, savings, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and short-term government investments because their value doesn’t fluctuate with market conditions. Stocks, index funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and other financial instruments are not dependable.
Cash accounts allow you to take your money out at any time without incurring a financial loss, giving you financial relief. Also, unlike retirement accounts, you won’t face early withdrawal penalties or incur tax penalties when you withdraw your money, except for CDs, which usually require you to forfeit some of the interest you’ve earned if you close them early.
Don’t invest in stocks or other high-risk investments until you have several months’ worth of cash in liquid accounts. How many months’ worth of cash do you need?
It depends on your financial obligations and risk tolerance. If you have a major obligation, such as a mortgage or a child’s ongoing tuition payments, you may want to have more months’ worth of expenses saved up than if you’re single and renting an apartment.
A three-month expense cushion is usually a bare minimum, but some folks like to keep six months or even up to two years worth of expenses in liquid savings to guard against a long bout of unemployment. You never know when a personal injury may happen.
It is better to prepare for financial relief now rather than later.
2. Make a budget for financial relief
If you don’t know exactly how much money you have coming in and going out each month, you won’t know how much money you need for your emergency fund. If you aren’t keeping a budget, you will also have no idea whether you’re currently living below your means or overextending yourself.
A budget is not a parent—it can’t and won’t force you to change your behavior—but it is a useful tool that can help you decide if you’re happy with where your money is going and where you stand financially.
3. Prepare to minimize your monthly bills for financial relief
You might not have to do it now, but be ready to start cutting out anything that is not a necessity. If you can get your recurring monthly expenses as low as they can be, you’ll have less difficulty paying your bills when money is tight.
Another way to get financial relief is to start by looking at your budget to see where you might currently be spending more money than necessary. For example, are you paying a monthly fee for your checking account?
Explore how to switch to a bank that offers free checking. Are you paying $40 a month for a landline you rarely use?
Learn how you might cancel it or switch to a lower rate emergency-only plan. You might find ways you can start cutting your costs now just to save money.
Maybe you’re in the habit of letting the heater or air conditioner run when you’re not home or leaving lights on in rooms you aren’t using. You may be able to trim your utility bills.
Now might also be a good time to shop around for lower insurance rates and find out if you can cancel certain types of insurance, such as car insurance, in the event of an emergency. Some insurance companies might give you an extension, so look for the steps involved and prepare yourself.
4. Closely manage your bills
There’s no reason to waste money on late fees or finance charges, yet families do it all the time. This is one of the reasons that they cannot obtain financial relief.
During a job loss crisis, you should be extra studious in this area. Simply being organized can save you a lot of money when it comes to your monthly bills.
One late credit card payment per month could set you back $300 over the course of a year. It could even get your card canceled at a time when you might need it as a last resort.
Set a date twice a month to review all your accounts, so you don’t miss any due dates. Schedule electronic payments or mail checks so that your payment arrives several days before it’s due.
This way, if a delay occurs, your payment will probably still arrive on time. If you’re having trouble keeping track of all your accounts, start compiling a list.
When your list is complete, you can use it to make sure you’re on top of all your accounts and to see if there are any you can combine or close.
5. Take stock of your non-cash assets and maximize their value
Being prepared might include identifying all of your options. Do you have frequent flyer miles you can use if you need to travel?
Is there any extra food in your house that you can plan meals around to lower your grocery bills? Do you have any gift cards you can put toward entertainment or sell for cash?
Do you have rewards from a credit card that you can convert to gift cards? All these assets can help you lower your monthly expenses, but only if you know what you have and use it wisely.
Knowing what you have can also prevent you from buying things you don’t need.
The bottom line
Life is unpredictable, but if there’s anything you can do to stave off disaster, it is being prepared and careful. With the right preparation, you can turn a potential financial tragedy into a mere temporary setback.
Connect with Pepper & Odom
Budgeting and being conservative with your finances can help your financial situation in the case of personal injury or any other traumatic event that may occur. If you or a loved one are in need of financial compensation, the Pepper & Odom law firm can help you get the recovery of your claim that you need and deserve.
Contact us online, or to schedule a consultation, call our Birmingham, Alabama office at 205-250-1107 or our Jackson, Mississippi office at 601-202-1111.