Columbia, MO Car Accident Lawyer, Zach Kluesner

Personal Injury Attorney Serving Columbia & Central Missouri

After a car wreck, you face an uphill battle to get your life back to normal—debilitating injuries, medical bills, vehicle repairs, lost income, and countless other challenges all stand in your way. This is when you most need insurance companies, and their reluctance to help only adds insult to injury.

When a crash wasn’t your fault, you are legally entitled to compensation for the many costs you face. Columbia, MO car accident lawyer Zach Kluesner has your back.

We help clients across Mid-Missouri get the payment they’re owed, and we’re here to help you. When you need a car accident attorney in Columbia who knows how insurance companies operate and how to fight back, call Zach Kluesner.

Should You File a Car Accident Claim?

If you’ve had a car accident, you know you’ll need a significant amount of compensation to cover all the costs you face. You could either a) resign yourself to accepting whatever insufficient insurance payment you’ve been offered and try to make it work, or b) take a stand to get the full payment you know you deserve.

Trust us when we tell you that insurance companies don’t make profits by offering fair settlements to people hurt in car wrecks. Before Zach devoted his practice to exclusively representing injured people, he worked for insurance companies. He learned firsthand the unfair tricks they use to get injury victims to accept an offer that is far less than what they’re entitled to.

If you’re debating whether you need to hire a car accident attorney to handle your case, we suggest that you give us a call. We offer free case reviews, and we never pressure potential clients to move forward with a legal claim. Let us assess your case’s potential, so you can make an informed decision about what comes next.

How Zach’s Got Your Back

If you’re considering hiring a car accident lawyer in Columbia, MO, you’ve probably noticed you have several options. Here’s why Zach Kluesner should be your first call after an auto accident:

• Some firms have many associates, paralegals, and case managers who deal with a never-ending stream of clients. Those clients get lost in the shuffle in these massive firms, and they often feel like they’re more of a case number than a real person. When you call Zach, you get Zach, not an associate or a legal assistant.
• Zach cares about your story. It’s refreshing to talk to a lawyer who really wants to know his clients. More importantly, when an attorney knows his client well, he knows how a car accident has disrupted their life and can use it to build a stronger case. We believe that a genuine dialogue between an attorney and his client is more likely to yield big results than a situation in which a client is just another item on a to-do list.
• Before Zach devoted his legal practice to representing only plaintiffs, he worked for insurance companies and businesses. This means that Zach has a deep knowledge of how insurance companies work, and he uses that insight to make sure you aren’t taken advantage of.

When you call our firm, you’ll have a real conversation with someone who cares about the struggles you’re up against. Call us today for a free, no-obligation consultation.

Our Columbia, Missouri Car Accident Lawyer Fights for MAXIMUM Compensation

If you want a quick-and-easy settlement, you can accept the offer in front of you or work with a firm more interested in getting paid than getting you paid. Unfortunately, the easy path is the one where you get a fraction of what your claim is really worth. Your lawyer should factor in ALL the costs you face to get you maximum compensation. That includes:

• Medical expenses: Ambulatory care, hospitalization, surgeries, prescriptions medications, physical therapy, ongoing care, and any other crash-related costs you’ll face in the months and years to come.
• Property damage: The costs of repairing or replacing your vehicle and any personal items within the vehicle.
• Lost income: The amount of income you have lost and will lose because of your injuries.
• Pain and suffering: The physical and emotional pain and suffering you experience because of your injuries, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress.

We’re here for injured people who want to be treated fairly, and we fight for the maximum amount of compensation you deserve. When we accept a case, we make sure it’s ready for trial. This lets the other side know we’re serious, and it positions your case for the best possible outcome.

What You Need to Know About Car Accident Claims in Columbia, MO

COMO has some extremely dangerous roads. I-70 is frequently cited by safety advocates as one of the most dangerous interstates in the nation. U.S. 63 and Paris Road have equally poor reputations for the number of crashes involving personal injuries. This means your risk of an accident may be higher than normal, so you should have a plan in place for what to do if one occurs.

Missouri’s statute of limitations for personal injury claims is five years from the time the injuries occurred, which is a much longer statute of limitation than you’ll find in other states. This means that you have a five-year window to take legal action after your accident. After those five years lapse, you’ll no longer be able to file a personal injury claim in Missouri, with few exceptions.

Missouri might give injured people a significant amount of time to file an injury claim, but that doesn’t mean you should wait that long to begin your claim. When handled properly, these claims can take time, so it’s best to get started as soon as possible. We’ll work to resolve your case quickly, while still fighting to get you maximum compensation.

Questions for a Columbia Car Accident Lawyer

When you need legal advice or answers to specific questions about your case, it’s vital you contact a Columbia, MO car accident lawyer to speak with them in person. But we also know that you might have more general questions you want answered. Here are some of the questions we frequently hear from people injured in Missouri vehicle crashes.

How much is my car accident claim worth?
Your claim is worth the sum of all the costs you face because of the at-fault driver. This includes medical bills, lost income, property damage, and non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering. The amount you demand from insurers should reflect all these costs. Car accident claims can range from thousands to millions of dollars, depending on the damages of the injured person.

How long will it take to get compensation?
The time required to get fair compensation can range from weeks to several months or longer. We work hard to make sure our clients get their owed payment as quickly as possible, but we also remind them that patience is a virtue in car accident cases. Insurance companies want you to accept an early offer, one that typically is far less than you deserve.

Should I speak to insurance company representatives?
After your crash, call your insurance company to notify them of the accident. However, if you’re contacted by the representative of any other party’s insurance company, DO NOT speak with them. These representatives want to get you on record saying something that hurts the value of your claim. Tell them to call your attorney instead.

Hopefully, you have a clearer picture of what to expect when filing a car accident claim in Missouri. We want to hear your story and help you better understand your legal options. Contact Zach Kluesner today to get a free consultation.

Fast Facts About Columbia, MO Crashes

The following crash statistics are based on numbers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol:

• Every year, there are approximately 150,000 crashes in Missouri.
• In those crashes, more than 50,000 people are injured.
• Every year, on average, more than 800 people die in Missouri vehicle crashes.

Common Injuries in Missouri Auto Accidents

Vehicle accidents can cause any number or combination of injuries. Some of the most common injuries we see in these wrecks include:

• Complex fractures
• Brain injuries
• Spinal cord injuries
• Internal or organ damage
• Whiplash
• Soft tissue injuries

Each of these injuries present its own set of challenges and costs. Typically, a crash victim suffers several of these injuries in one crash, compounding the expenses they face.

The type of crash a person is involved in often determines the extent of the injuries they suffer. For example, side-impact or T-bone crashes often result in broken hips, while rear-end crashes typically cause whiplash and soft-tissue injuries.

Common Crash Types

We help clients who have been involved in any type of vehicle accident. Some of the most common crash types we see are:

• Head-on collisions
• Rear-end collisions
• Side-impact collisions
• Rollovers

Regardless of what crash type you’ve experienced, you deserve compensation if another driver was at fault.

The Causes of Missouri Vehicle Accidents

Missouri traffic reports show just how many contributing factors lead to vehicle accidents in our state. They include:

• A failure to yield to other vehicles
• Speeding (traveling too fast for the conditions of the road)
• Alcohol or drug impairment
• Distraction
• Fatigue
• Following another vehicle too closely
• Improper turns and failure to signal intentions to other drivers

When a reckless driver causes you harm, you have the right to demand payment for the costs you face.

When You Need a Car Accident Attorney in Columbia, Zach’s Got Your Back

When your injury was another driver’s fault, you deserve compensation. You owe it to yourself to at least speak to an attorney about your claim. Contact the Columbia car accident attorney Zach Kluesner today for a free case assessment.