Kansas City Car Accident Lawyer

Car Accident Lawyer in Kansas City, MO, Missouri. After being in injured in a car accident, the attorneys of Burger Law will protect your rights and demand a full recovery. Consult an experienced car accident lawyer for free now at (314) 500-HURT or online.

More Information About Kansas City, MO Car Accident Cases

Continue reading or select a car crash topic of interest below to get more information about your car accident case. After being seriously hurt in a car accident in Kansas City, MO, consult an experienced Kansas City, MO car accident lawyer right away. The attorneys of Burger Law provide case consultations at no cost to you. Call (314) 500-HURT to speak to a lawyer about your case today.

Hurt in a Car Accident? Contact a Car Accident Lawyer in Kansas City, MO

When being injured in a Missouri car wreck, you should not be left to worry about things like whether or not you can afford the medical care and treatment you need for your injuries or the time you need away from work to heal.

Your physical health and financial recovery should not be dependent upon you laboring and fighting at length with the insurance company regarding the car accident. Unfortunately, insurance companies are often more motivated to look out for their own bottom line than they are your well-being and recovery. Take your recovery into your own hands.

There is so much at stake when your health and financial well-being are on the line and the insurance company is unlikely to willingly play fair and pay you adequately for your damages. You need someone to fight for you, and our Missouri personal injury legal team is prepared to take on the insurance company in your name. Led by founder and prinicple attorney Gary Burger, the Kansas City, MO car accident lawyers of Burger Law have a reputation for holding the negligent accountable. We defend the rights of the injured and demand a complete recovery in your Missouri car accident case. Our legal team gets great case results. Our team has won $200 million for those who have been harmed in Missouri and will fight relentlessly to get you the full recovery you deserve. Contact us now.

How Long Do I Have To File a Claim for My Car Accident in Kansas City, Missouri?

The timer on obtaining a recovery usually begins as soon as the car accident takes place. The sooner you begin taking action toward making your claim, the better. The law limits how long after being injured you can make a move to recover compensation, which is established by your state’s statute of limitations. Missouri has a five-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims. The five-year countdown usually begins on the day the accident occured. However, there are exceptions to this rule in specific circumstances.

Missouri Revised Statute §516.140 states that there is a five-year limitation on any actions for any “injury to the person or rights of another, not arising on contract,” and not otherwise mentioned in the states’ statutes.

So, in order to file a lawsuit for injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident, slip and fall, product liability claim, or any other type of negligence, you have five years from the date the negligence occurred to file an initial complaint in court. If you attempt to file a claim after the five-year deadline, the person you are filing a claim against can enter a “motion to dismiss. In most cases, the judge will grant this motion.

While the statute of limitations applies to court filings, filing a claim with the insurance company quickly after your injury is still vital. If the deadline is approaching or has already past, your ability to negotiate a strong settlement will be greatly diminished, as the other side will not be motivated by the idea of an expensive and lengthy trial hanging over their heads.

What are the Exceptions to Missouri’s Five-Year Statute of Limitations in Personal Injury Claims?

There are four important exceptions to Missouri’s personal injury statute of limitations:

1. Missouri Revised Statute §516.170 — If you were under the age of 21 or were “mentally incapacitated” at the time the negligence occurred, you have five years from the date of your 21st birthday or the date the disability was removed.
2. Missouri Revised Statute §516.200 — If the person you are making a claim against leaves the state of Missouri after the negligence occurred, their time out of state does not count against the five years.
3. Missouri Revised Statute §537.100 — Wrongful death claims must be brought within three years of your loved one’s death.
4. Claims Against the State Government — Any claim against a government entity in Missouri must be filed within 90 days of the accident with the Missouri Office of Administration’s Risk Management Division.

If you believe that the statute of limitations for your claim may have passed, speak with a car accident attorney in Kansas City, MO to see if you have any other options to pursue compensation.

Why Should I Pursue Compensation After My Kansas City, MO Car Accident?

After being through a serious car accident, no one wants to go through months of waiting, negotiating and battling in court just to get the financial recovery they need. In fact, you may even be hesitant to initiate a claim at all or even think about attempting to make a recovery after being injured in a car accident in Kansas City, MO.

It is natural to be hesitant about “suing” someone, but the truth is that Missouri civil tort law is intended to protect you and anyone else who has been injured or suffered damages when someone else acted with negligence. You did not deserve to be harmed in an auto accident, and it should not fall on you to cover the financial costs and other damages that follow. It would be unfair and may not even be possible to expect you to foot the bill after you have already needlessly suffered and did nothing wrong.

Or perhaps because your injuries were so catastrophic or your experience so emotionally taxing, you may think it unfair that writing a check can make this go away for the liable party. Money, in any amount, wil not save you from the suffering and anguish you have had to endure. Though it will not undo the trauma or reverse the crash from happening, being compensated in your Kansas City, MO car accident case can help make your life much easier after the collision. Receiving a settlement can:

• Help you get and pay for the medical care and rehabilitative treatments necessary for you to return to full strength and health, such as long-term care to help you manage your condition
• In your daily life, help you budget and meet your ongoing daily life needs, replacing income lost in your time away from work
• Restore you to wholeness, with money acting as the best-available substitute for your well-being
• Ease the stress of wading through the legal claim process, allowing you more energy to heal
• Offer a sense of closure and acknowledge your experience
• Restore your faith in the US justice system
• If you lost a family member in a fatal car accident in Kansas City, MO, a wrongful death case can help alieviate the burdens of planning a funeral, losing a source of income and other financial concerns so that you and your family can grieve in peace

Whatever the case or your reason for filing a claim, to receive a settlement or court judgment at a value that does your pain and loss justice and adequately restores you to wholeness, you must consult a reputable Kansas City, MO car accident lawyer who will fight day after day to bring you justice.

The insurance company has an entire team of legal experts at their disposal working to avoid or reduce the amount they have to pay car accident victims like you. You should have the same dedicated and tactical support in demanding the maximum compensation Missouri law allows. With a talented Kansas City, MO car accident lawyer, you can protect your rights and maximize your recovery. Our Kansas City, MO personal injury law firm has been working together to hold the negligent accountable and collect recoveries for the injured for more than 20 years and will demand that you receive full compensation for your damages from the at-fault party’s insurance company. Our work is not over until you are paid. Get a free consultation from a successfull Kansas City, MO car accident lawyer today at (314) 500-HURT.

Should I File a Car Accident Claim in Kansas City, MO if My Friend or Family Member Was At Fault?

Navigating your injury claim after a car accident is difficult enough, and this can be made even harder when it was your own friend or family member who was responsible for the accident. Do not let that stop you. In truth, the benefits are much more rewarding than the risks are hindering, and any time you are dealing with significant injuries, it is almost always best to file the claim no matter what.

Filing an injury claim does not mean you are filing a lawsuit or suing your friend or family member. By making a claim, you are requesting that the liable party’s insurance company compensates you for the damages you incurred at the fault of their covered customer. We all pay for insurance for this very reason. We pay a set amount every month, six months or year so that, in the event of an accident, the insurance company is there to cover emergency expenses. When you are hurt in a car wreck because someone else made a mistake, regardless of your relationship to that person, you should not be on the hook for your medical bills and other damages.

Understanding Missouri Car Accident Insurance Rules

Missouri state law requires vehicle owners to have car insurance so that, if a crash does occur, those who are injured have a way to compensated for the expenses and damages incurred as a result of the car wreck. Missouri falls under the category of an “at-fault” state as opposed to a “no-fault” state. When you get in an accident in Missouri, the negligent party is legally obligated to pay for your damages, typically through their mandatory insurance coverage. Some states, by contrast, require everyone to instead obtain personal injury protection insurance. In these states, you would use your own insurance company.

When you select an insurance policy, your policy comes with specific policy limits. Policy limits refer to the maximum amount of money your insurance company will pay out for an auto accident. To make sure that the at-fault driver has an insurance policy that will adequately cover your Kansas City, MO car accident damages, Missouri law requires drivers to carry liability insurance with policy limits of no less than:

• $25,000 minimum coverage for bodily injury per person
• $50,000 minimum coverage for bodily injury per accident
• $25,000 (Missouri)/$20,000 (Illinois) minimum coverage for property damage

Assuming your friend or family member is following the rules, their insurance policy will cover your damages. If your damages exceed their policy limits, a Burger Law auto accident lawyer in Kansas City, MO will help you file an underinsured motorist claim with your own insurance company.

No matter the circumstances, you must speak with a car accident lawyer in Kansas City, MO first. Every case is unique, and our experienced and reputable Kansas City, Missouri car accident lawyers have the knowledge and skill to get you the best possible settlement by pursuing all available forms of compensation and exercising your legal rights. Get in touch with a car accident lawyer in Kansas City, MO online or call (314) 500-HURT now.

Our Kansas City, MO attorneys fight for the injured in many kinds of Missouri injury claims. Learn more about our areas of expertise below.

• Truck Crash Lawyers in Missouri
• Semi-Truck Accident Lawyer in Missouri

How Much Can I Recover for my Missouri Car Accident Case?

The amount of money you receive in y our car accident case depends on a long list of factors including the sum of your damages, or losses. For example, depending on the total value of your damages, the payout from the insurance company could be limited by the policy limit, which is the maximum amount an insurance company will pay per accident and per person based on the policy. The amount you receive will also be affected by comparative fault. If it is proven that you hold some blame for the events leading to your injuries, the settlement you receive will be diminished proportionally. For example, if you hold 10 percent of the liability in your car accident, the payment you receive from the other party’s insurance company will be reduced by the 10 percent for which you were responsible.

One of the most critical variables in your Missouri car accident recovery is whether or not you hire a lawyer. An experienced and diligent Kansas City, MO car accident lawyer make sure you get the highest possible settlement to make you whole again. To discover what you might be able to receive in your Missouri car accident injury case, check out our free online personal injury calculator.

Average Car Accident Settlement Amounts in Kansas City, Missouri

Car crashes are costly. Data gathered by the Insurance Information Institute tells us that deaths, injuries and property damage in traffic accidents amounted to $474 billion in 2020. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, auto accidents cost society an estimated $7,300 per second in lost productivity alone.

It is difficult and unwise to think about Missouri car accident settlements in terms of the average settlement figure. There are so many variables involved and there are many complex factors that affect the value of your damages and, ultimately, the dollar amount of your settlement.

Calculating an accurate average settlement figure is nearly impossible. A significant number of cases are resolved confidentially, where all involved parties enter into a legally binding nondiclosure agreement barring them from discussing the terms of the settlement. This may be a condition of the settlement itself.

However, we do know that many car accidents that involve an injury settle in the $15,000 to $20,000 range. Cases involving more severe injuries that require extensive medical care can often reach a settlement range of $25,000 to $100,000, while injuries resulting in permanent disability or, in the worst cases, wrongful death, can settle for around $150,000 to millions of dollars. Because there is no Missouri law that puts a cap on damages in car accidents and other personal injury claims, these settlements are not limited by law, but rather by the amount of insurance coverage available and other important factors.

How Are Car Accident Settlements Calculated in Missouri?

The settlement you receive in your Kansas City, MO car accident case is calculated based on a combination of the economic and noneconomic losses you have been subject to because of the accident. Economic damages are the sum total of all the money you have lost or spent because of your injuries, for example the ambulance bill, cost of surgery, physical therapy, assistive devices such as crutches or wheelchairs, lost wages due to your inability to report to work, and property damage to your car. Economic damages includes your future medical bills, so if your injuries require a knee replacement, you should also be compensated for how much it will cost to have that replaced in 15 to 20 years.

Noneconomic damages are harder to define, but they seek to make you whole for the intangible ways your injuries have affected you. This is commonly referred to as “pain and suffering.” Noneconomic damages cover anything from physical pain in the weeks, months or years after your accident, to any permanent disfigurement, to mental anguish and loss of your ability to enjoy life. There are different methods used to figure the value. One of the more common methods is multiplying your economic damages by a factor of anywhere from 1.5 and 5, depending on the severity of your injuries.

For example, if your economic damages were $5,000 and you agree on a multiplier of three, your total damages would be $15,000. However, say you love playing the piano, and now have limited use of your right hand because of nerve damage from the accident. That has a profound effect on how you can enjoy your life and live the life you want to live. In that case, if your economic damages were $200,000, you would receive up to $1 million in damages based on a multiplier of five.

Factors That Determine Your Car Accident Settlement in Kansas City, MO

As the purpose of a car accident settlement is to fairly compensate you for your injuries, the severity of those injuries the the driving factor in how much your settlement might be. Other factors include how your injuries have impacted your life, the insurance policy in question, if you bear any responsibility for your accident and the abilities of your Kansas City, MO car accident lawyer:

• The severity of your injuries — As more severe injuries lead to higher medical expenses and more time lost from work, they lead to higher settlements, especially when factoring in the pain and suffering multiplier.
• How your injuries have impacted your life — The greater the effect on your mental, emotional and physical well-being, the higher the noneconomic damages will be.
• The insurance policy — both Missouri and Illinois have minimum insurance requirements for bodily injury, and while a skilled car accident lawyer may be able to get you more, there are times where you will be limited by the negligent driver’s and/or your insurance policy limits.
• If you are partially to blame — You can still receive a financial recovery if you were partially to blame, however the amount will be less. For example, if you are awarded $100,000 in damages but it is found that you are 30% to blame for your accident, you would receive $70,000. While in Missouri you can still receive compensation if you were 99% at fault, Illinois does not allow recoveries for people who are over 50% to blame.
• Your car accident lawyer — Insurance companies use a lot of tricks to try and devalue claims, and you need a skilled and aggressive attorney to combat those claims and make sure you get the money you deserve. Your car accident lawyer will also need to investigate your accident, prove liability on the part of the other driver and have a network of Kansas City, MO medical and economic experts to precisely value your claim. If the insurance company will not offer a fair settlement in negotiation, you will need an experienced trial lawyer that will stand by your side and argue your case in front of a jury.

Contact Burger Law’s Kansas City, MO Car Accident Lawyers

For nearly thirty years the lawyers of Burger Law have been delivering justice to the injured. We hold the negligent accountable and have the knowledge and resources to make them pay when you are injured in Kansas City, MO.

You deserve to be made whole after a Missouri car accident harms you and disrupts your way of life. Our team of experienced car accident lawyers will stop at nothing to bring you justice. Best of all, there is no upfront cost to you. We finance your case and get to work right away. You only pay when we win your case and secure maximum compensation. There is nothing to lose except the chance to recover fully. Contact us now.

Gary Burger

Founder | Injury Attorney
Gary Burger has dedicated his career to standing up against bullies. The founder and principal attorney of Burger Law | St. Louis Personal Injury Lawyer has helped hundreds of Missouri and Illinois individuals and families recover th …
Years of experience: 30 years
Location: St. Louis, MO

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Client Reviews

What our clients are saying about us

Juanita Matthews

Year of 2023

This law firm is absolutely amazing. They took on my case, when nobody else would! They fought hard for me when it seemed there was no hope. They kept me informed and always asked for my input before making decisions on my case. Gary puts himself into every case unlike most law firm owners. Gary and his team really care about every one of their clients, and fights hard to get you a fair settlement. They actually won my case out of court, and then reduced my fees to make sure I could get my car fixed and be able to get back to some normality. I would recommend Burger Law over and above any other firm! If you go somewhere else you aren’t getting the best!

Shaunda S.

7 months ago

I am very happy with the staff at Burger Law. I mostly worked with Michael Sheldon, and he did an amazing job. I trusted him completely with my case, and he did not disappoint. I would definitely recommend this team if your ever in need of good attorneys.

Emelia M.

3 months ago

Burger Law Firm is fantastic. Laura and Genevieve were so amazing and helpful throughout the entire process. They helped me with my personal injury case every step of the way and succeeded at getting me the results I desired.

Helen L.

a year ago

We had a great experience with Burger Law for representing us after a serious car accident. Truly impressed by how professional and supportive the entire team is. And, many thanks to Genavieve and Laura – you are amazing!

Judy M.

a year ago

They did an amazing job on my case! Communication with them was great!!! Kept me informed and in the loop with everything that was going on!!! Will definitely be the 1st ones I’ll call if ever I’m in another accident!!! Thank you very much!!!

Chelsea C.

5 months ago

Let me tell you something about Burger Law.. they are so attentive and kind. Jennifer is my savior!! I love the whole team!!! They are truly a miracle team!! I appreciate their business and would recommend it to others.

David D.

2 months ago

Absolutely the best law firm in the St. Louis area. No matter the size of your case you are treated as if you are the only client on the roster. Will explain anything thoroughly and they work around your availability. Very impressed and appreciative of the service.

Lisa B.

11 months ago

Gary and Casey took great care of me for 2.5 years as my lawsuit was finally settled. I feel he helped me achieve justice for me and my 4 children after their father died from medical malpractice and neglect. Thanks to Gary, my kids now have a great start to their college and adult lives. Thank you Gary and Casey, for fighting for us so hard at our most trying and difficult time in our lives thus far. Love and God bless from my family to yours!

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