I will tell you something most lawyers will not: you do not always need one.
When I recorded Crash Class, I said it plainly. Most of the time, with a little help, people can handle a simple car claim by themselves and come out of it with more money in their pocket. Plenty of firms do not want small property damage cases anyway. They are not lucrative for the firm.
But there are times when you absolutely need a lawyer, and those are exactly the times the insurance company is counting on you not knowing.
When you can probably handle it yourself
- Nobody was hurt. Not sore, not dizzy, not "I'll see how I feel tomorrow." Nobody.
- Fault is clear, the other driver's insurance has accepted it, in writing.
- The repair estimate or total loss offer looks fair, and you checked it.
- The tow and storage are being paid, and somebody put that in writing too.
If all four of those are true, keep a crash diary, get everything in writing, and work the claim.
When you need to call a lawyer
Somebody was hurt. Soft tissue injuries commonly get worse over the first few weeks. The insurance company wants your claim closed before you know what your treatment will cost. In Utah, you cannot sue for pain and suffering after a car accident unless you meet the threshold in Utah Code § 31A-22-309: death, dismemberment, a bone fracture, permanent disfigurement, permanent disability or impairment based on objective findings, or more than $3,000 in medical expenses. Knowing whether you will cross that line is the whole ballgame, and adjusters know it better than you do.
Fault is disputed. In a case I handled, a simple rear-end crash turned into depositions because the other driver handed the officer an insurance card for a car that was not his. The police wrote down the wrong name, and the insurance company denied the claim because the owner was not there. The details matter. Utah is a comparative fault state under § 78B-5-818: you recover only if the other side's fault is greater than yours, and your recovery is reduced by your share. An adjuster who assigns you 20% just took 20% of your claim.
There is little or no insurance. Utah's minimum limits do not go far with a real injury. Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage may be what pays you, and your own insurer does not become your friend just because you pay the premium.
They want a recorded statement or a signed release. A recorded statement in week one is built to be read back against you later. A release ends your claim. Utah law gives injured people protection on both in the first fifteen days, but the easy path closes quickly. Talk to us before you sign or speak.
A government vehicle, a city bus, a snowplow or a road defect was involved. A claim against a Utah governmental entity is barred unless a written notice of claim is filed within one year after the claim arises, under Utah Code § 63G-7-402. That is far shorter than the normal deadlines, and it catches people every year.
Someone died. A wrongful death claim in Utah has a two-year deadline and rules about who can bring it. That is not a do-it-yourself case.
What a lawyer actually costs
Injury cases are handled on a contingency fee. You pay nothing up front, and the fee comes out of the recovery. If there is no recovery, there is no fee. The Utah Rules of Professional Conduct require a contingency fee agreement to be in writing and to explain how the fee is calculated, so read it before you sign it. A consultation is free.
The better question is not what a lawyer costs. It is what the insurance company saves when you go it alone on a claim that needed one.
What makes LawyerUp different
Most injury firms will not touch your car. They send you back to the adjuster to sort out the tow, the rental and the repair on your own, while they work the injury.
We do both. LawyerUp handles the vehicle property damage claim alongside the injury claim, with an independent network of USPAP-certified appraisers documenting what your car was really worth. One file, both claims.
The deadlines
- Personal injury — four years. Utah Code § 78B-2-307.
- Wrongful death — two years. § 78B-2-304.
- Vehicle property damage — three years. § 78B-2-305.
- Claims against a government entity — written notice within one year. § 63G-7-402.
Those are outer limits. Evidence, video and witnesses disappear long before any of them.
If you are not sure which side of the line you are on, that is exactly what the free call is for. (801) 685-1000.