Glen Burnie's Car Crash Lawyer Fights Before the Insurance Company Frames the Story

Three years from the date of the crash for most personal injury claims against private parties. If a government entity is involved — a municipal or state vehicle, a publicly maintained road — notice requirements apply and the window is significantly shorter. The three-year statute is firm, but waiting to contact an attorney until late in that window costs you: evidence degrades, witnesses become harder to reach, and the case is harder to build. I represent car crash victims throughout Anne Arundel County and across Maryland — call as soon as you are able.

Do not concede any fault before speaking to an attorney. Maryland's contributory negligence rule means that any finding of fault on your part — however small — can bar your recovery entirely, and the other driver's insurer knows this and will work to establish it early. My job starts with making sure that contributing fault is never established against you in the first place. The determination of fault is not made in the parking lot or on a recorded call — it is made through evidence, and the evidence-gathering process starts immediately after the crash.

Seek medical treatment, document the scene thoroughly, report the crash to your own insurer with factual information only, and contact a car crash attorney before making any substantive contact with the other driver's insurance company. Do not provide a recorded statement to any insurer other than your own. Do not sign any release. Do not accept any offer. The steps you take in the hours and days after a crash shape every stage of the case that follows.

It depends on the nature and severity of your injuries, your medical costs, your lost income, and the long-term impact on your capacity to work and function. There is no standard number — what 35 years of Maryland car crash cases tells me is that the first offer from an insurer is almost never an accurate reflection of what a case is worth, and that cases handled by an attorney who is prepared to go to trial consistently recover more. The free consultation is where we talk through what your situation actually looks like.

Maryland requires all drivers to carry minimum liability coverage, but uninsured and underinsured drivers are a real presence on Maryland roads. If the at-fault driver carries no insurance or insufficient coverage, your own uninsured motorist (UM) or underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage may provide recovery. Claims against your own carrier carry their own procedural requirements, and having an attorney prevents you from navigating that process in a way that inadvertently limits your recovery. Call my office and we will walk through what coverage applies to your situation.

Rear-end collisions in Maryland frequently — though not always — result in clear liability for the following driver, which can make fault assignment less contested. The value of the claim still depends entirely on the nature of your injuries, your treatment costs, and the long-term impact. Soft tissue injuries from rear-end impacts are routinely undervalued by insurers who characterize them as minor or temporary. Whether the injuries are minor is a medical determination. Whether the insurer's valuation is fair is where I come in.