A crash or a fall that wasn’t your fault has left you with bills to sort out, maybe an injury, and an insurance adjuster who wants to talk. If you’re not sure whether you can handle this yourself, that’s normal. Here’s the plain answer: you may not need a personal injury lawyer if only your car was damaged, or if a minor injury healed quickly and the insurer’s offer covers your bills and lost pay. It’s worth talking to one if you were seriously hurt, fault is disputed, several parties or a government agency may be responsible, an insurer is denying or delaying benefits, or someone died.
The hard part usually isn’t the law. It’s the claims process: deadlines that differ from one claim to the next, releases that end a claim once you sign, and an insurer on the other side that handles claims like yours every day. Here’s how to decide, and how to check the math. Michigan’s rules are in the boxes marked “In Michigan.”
Hurt and not sure where you stand? Get a free case review. Four quick questions, no cost, no obligation.
Do I need a personal injury lawyer?
The State Bar of Michigan suggests weighing, among other factors, how complicated your matter is, how much it could affect your life and what a lawyer would cost. It also says a consultation is a good way to find out. In practice:
| You may not need a lawyer if… | It’s worth talking to a lawyer if… |
|---|---|
| Only your car or other property was damaged | You were seriously hurt, or you haven’t healed |
| A minor injury has fully healed, and the offer covers your losses | The other side blames you for some or all of it |
| Your own insurer is paying your benefits on time | A business, several people or a government agency may be responsible |
| The claim is small enough for small claims court | An insurer denies, delays or cuts off your benefits |
| A lawyer’s fee would likely eat up whatever a lawyer could add | Someone died, a child was hurt, or it’s medical malpractice |
For how injury claims work in general, see our guide to personal injury claims.
Do you need a car accident lawyer?
Not for every crash. If only your car was damaged, or you were hurt but have healed and the insurer’s offer covers your bills and lost pay, you may be able to settle directly with the insurer. Get checked by a doctor first: concussion symptoms, for one, may not start until days or weeks after the injury (MedlinePlus). See which injury symptoms can show up later.
Talk to a car accident lawyer if you were seriously hurt, the other side blames you, a truck or a government vehicle was involved, your own insurer denies or delays benefits, or someone died. Who pays first depends on whether your state uses a fault or a no-fault system: see how no-fault and at-fault states differ and our car accident guide. See also car accident lawyers and crash guides.
When can you handle an injury claim without a lawyer?
You can make an insurance claim and negotiate it yourself. Here’s when that can make sense.
When only your car or other property was damaged
If no one was hurt, the claim is about what it costs to repair or replace what was damaged. The proof is mostly paperwork you can gather yourself: estimates, invoices, photos and your policy’s declarations page. If an insurer won’t pay, small claims court handles smaller disputes, though dollar limits and rules vary by state. Some states, including California and Michigan, don’t let lawyers represent anyone there (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 116.530; MCL 600.8408(1)).
When a minor injury has healed and the offer is fair
If you’ve finished treatment, feel back to normal and the insurer’s offer covers your losses, settling on your own can make sense. A fair offer covers:
- every medical bill from the injury, including any your health plan paid, since it may want to be repaid
- the pay you lost, and other out-of-pocket costs the injury caused
- where the law allows it, something for the pain and disruption, which the law calls noneconomic damages
The adjuster’s number is the other side’s estimate. Mediators, juries and you can reach different ones. See how insurance companies evaluate injury claims and what your injury case may be worth.
When the math doesn’t work
A lawyer on a contingency fee is paid out of what’s recovered, so a lawyer has to add more than the fee and case costs for you to come out ahead. With a one-third fee figured after case costs, what’s recovered after costs has to be more than one and a half times the offer you already have.
A made-up example: the insurer offers $6,000 for a sprained wrist that has healed. Say a lawyer gets the other side up to $9,000, with $300 in case costs. The fee would be one-third of $8,700, or $2,900, and you’d take home $5,800, less than the first offer. To beat that offer, the recovery would have to be more than $9,300.
The math can run the other way when an insurer denies the claim, disputes fault or offers far less than your losses. See whether a lawsuit is worth it.
Before you settle on your own: a checklist
A release is a contract in which you give up your right to sue, usually in exchange for payment (Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute). Once you sign, the claim generally ends, even if your injury turns out worse than you thought. Before you sign:
- Get medically cleared and add up everything, including care and lost pay still to come.
- Find out who must be repaid. If Medicare paid bills the settlement covers, it can recover those payments, including from you (42 CFR 411.24(g)). Health plans may have repayment rights too. See who gets paid from your settlement.
- Read what the release covers. If you’re settling only your car damage, make sure it doesn’t also give up an injury claim.
- Be careful what you tell the other side’s insurer, especially in a recorded statement (how to talk to an insurance adjuster).
When should you talk to a personal injury lawyer?
When there’s more at stake, more to prove or more parties on the other side. These are the common signs.
Your injury is serious or hasn’t healed
Broken bones, surgery, a hospital stay, a head injury, weeks off work or pain that won’t go away all raise the stakes. The largest losses may still be ahead: future care, and pay you’ll lose later. You generally can’t reopen a claim you’ve settled when those costs show up, so it pays to know them first. Bigger claims also bring bigger repayment claims: if Medicare or a health plan paid your bills, it may have a right to be repaid from the settlement.
Fault is disputed, or you may share the blame
If the other side says the accident was partly or mostly your fault, or the crash report gets the facts wrong, your share of the blame can reduce what you recover. Where an older rule called contributory negligence still applies, being even partly at fault can bar recovery altogether (Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute). Proving what happened can take video, witnesses and sometimes an expert. See how fault is decided in each state.
A business, several parties or a government agency may be responsible
A crash with a commercial truck, a fall in a store or an injury from a defective product can involve several insurers, a company with its own lawyers and evidence in the company’s hands (how to preserve evidence after an accident). When several people were hurt, they may all be claiming against the same insurance limit.
Claims against a government can come with their own notice rules. An injury claim against the federal government, for example, must first be presented in writing to the appropriate federal agency within two years (28 U.S.C. §§ 2401(b), 2675(a)).
An insurer denies, delays or won’t negotiate
If an insurer won’t pay, stops paying or won’t move from an offer that doesn’t cover your losses, a lawyer can press the claim or file suit before the deadline. Your own insurer, for coverage such as PIP or uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, owes you what your policy and your state’s law require. The other side’s insurer works for its own customer. Your claim is against the person or business that caused the harm, and whether you can ever sue their insurer directly depends on your state’s law.
Someone died, a child was hurt, or it’s medical malpractice
These claims come with extra legal rules, so it’s worth getting advice early. See our guides to wrongful death claims and medical malpractice.
Does one of these fit your situation? Get a free case review. Four quick questions, no cost, no obligation.
Will a lawyer get you more money?
Not automatically. In July 2026, the Insurance Research Council (IRC), which describes itself as an independent, nonprofit research organization supported by property and casualty insurers, published a study of auto injury claims. It covered more than 7.4 million claims closed with payment from mid-2017 to mid-2022. For bodily injury claims, the claims people make against an at-fault driver’s liability insurance, the IRC’s published summary reports:
- Claims with lawyers took longer. At the median, they took nearly 440 days to close, more than twice as long as claims without lawyers.
- People with lawyers kept less per dollar of medical bills. Once medical costs and an estimated one-third legal fee were accounted for, people with lawyers received $1.40 for every dollar of medical expenses. People without lawyers received $1.80.
These are averages and medians from insurers’ claim data. They can’t tell you what your claim would pay with or without a lawyer, but they suggest that hiring one isn’t automatically a better deal. The real question is whether a lawyer could add more than the fee in your case, and that’s the question to bring to a consultation.
How much does a personal injury lawyer cost?
Injury lawyers often work on a contingency fee: a percentage of what’s recovered for you, and no fee if nothing is. Case costs, such as filing fees, medical records and expert witnesses, are separate. The lawyer may pay them as the case goes and be repaid from the recovery. Get the agreement in writing, and check whether the percentage is taken before or after costs.
A made-up example: a case settles for $120,000, and the lawyer advanced $12,000 in costs. After the $12,000 is repaid, a one-third fee is $36,000, leaving you $72,000 before any liens, such as a health plan’s claim, are repaid from your share. Figured before costs, the same one-third would be $40,000. Before you call anyone, read how personal injury lawyers get paid.
Ask whether the first meeting is free. Many lawyers offer a free or reduced-fee first consultation, according to the State Bar of Michigan. It adds that a good lawyer may tell you things you don’t want to hear, such as that you don’t have a case. You can also ask whether a lawyer would help with just one part of your claim, such as looking over an offer or a release.
What does a personal injury lawyer do?
In short, a lawyer takes on the parts of a claim that are hardest to do alone:
- investigating what happened and preserving evidence
- finding every source of payment, such as other responsible parties or your own underinsured motorist coverage
- valuing the claim, including future care and lost pay
- negotiating, and filing a lawsuit before the deadline if needed
- sorting out liens before the money is paid out
You still make the call on any settlement. Michigan’s ethics rules, for example, require a lawyer to follow the client’s decision on whether to accept a settlement offer (MRPC 1.2(a)). For the full picture, see what a personal injury lawyer does, step by step and how long an injury case takes.
How long do you have to decide?
Until your deadline, but don’t wait for it. Every state sets its own deadline to sue, and deadlines change. Florida cut its deadline for negligence lawsuits from four years to two for claims that arose after March 24, 2023 (Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a); ch. 2023-15, Laws of Fla.). Some claims need written notice much sooner. See personal injury deadlines in every state.
What to do next
- Get medical care, and keep every record. Save bills, pay stubs, photos and letters from insurers. If you’re not sure you were hurt, get checked anyway.
- Write down your deadlines, starting with any notice deadline, such as Michigan’s one-year notice for PIP benefits.
- Don’t sign a release or cash a check marked as full payment until you know your full losses and who must be repaid.
- If any warning sign above fits, talk to a lawyer before you decide. Get a free case review. For any consultation, bring these questions to ask an injury attorney, and see how to prepare for your first meeting. In Michigan, you can also compare injury lawyers near you. Turned down? See why a lawyer may reject a case.
- Compare fee agreements by what you’d keep, and get the one you choose in writing. How to choose the right lawyer for your case walks through it.
What waiting can cost
- Your right to sue. A lawsuit filed after the deadline can be dismissed, however strong the case (in Michigan, MCL 600.5805(1)).
- Benefits you’re owed. Some, such as Michigan no-fault benefits, need written notice within a year.
- Evidence. Video gets recorded over, cars get repaired and witnesses move on.
- A settlement you can’t take back. Once you sign a release, the claim generally ends, even if your injury turns out worse.
What a good outcome looks like
If your claim is small and clear, you settle it yourself, after a doctor has checked you, for an amount that covers your losses, and you keep all of it. If it’s serious, disputed or complicated, a lawyer is working on it early, under a written fee agreement you understand, with your deadlines protected and a clear estimate of what you’d take home. Either way, you go from wondering whether you need a lawyer to knowing what your claim needs, what help would cost and when you have to act.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a car accident lawyer?
Not for every crash. If only your car was damaged, or a minor injury has healed and the insurer's offer covers your losses, you may be able to settle on your own. It's worth talking to a lawyer if you were seriously hurt, fault is disputed, a truck or a government vehicle was involved, an insurer denies or delays benefits, or someone died. In Michigan, no-fault (PIP) benefits are paid without regard to fault, but you can sue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering only if the crash caused death, serious impairment of body function or permanent serious disfigurement (MCL 500.3105(2), 500.3135(1)).
Do I need a lawyer for a minor car accident?
Often not, if only your car was damaged, or a minor injury has healed and the insurer's offer covers your losses. Get checked by a doctor before you settle, because a signed release generally ends the claim. In Michigan, a claim for up to $3,000 of vehicle damage your insurance didn't cover (the mini-tort) must be filed in small claims court whenever legally possible, and lawyers can't represent either side there (MCL 500.3135(3)(e), (4)(c); MCL 600.8408(1)).
Do you get more money with a personal injury lawyer?
Not automatically. A July 2026 study by the Insurance Research Council, which describes itself as an independent, nonprofit research organization supported by property and casualty insurers, looked at more than 7.4 million auto injury claims closed with payment from mid-2017 to mid-2022. In bodily injury claims against at-fault drivers' insurance, claims with lawyers took more than twice as long to close, at the median. Once medical costs and an estimated one-third legal fee were accounted for, claimants with lawyers received $1.40 per dollar of medical expenses, against $1.80 for claimants without lawyers. Those are averages and medians from insurers' claim data. What matters is whether a lawyer could add more than the fee in your case.
How much does a personal injury lawyer cost?
Injury lawyers often work on a contingency fee: a percentage of what's recovered, and no fee if nothing is. Case costs, such as filing fees and medical records, are separate. In Michigan, a contingency fee in a personal injury, wrongful death or no-fault benefits case can't be more than one-third of the amount recovered after the costs of pursuing the claim are deducted, and the agreement must be in writing (MCR 8.121).
Can I handle a personal injury claim without a lawyer?
Yes. You can negotiate with the insurer yourself and, for smaller amounts, use small claims court. Some states, including Michigan and California, don't let lawyers represent anyone there (MCL 600.8408(1); Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 116.530). Before you settle, finish treatment, add up all your losses, find out who must be repaid and read the release, because signing it generally ends the claim.
How long do I have to get a personal injury lawyer?
Until your deadline to sue, which each state sets, but decide well before it. Most Michigan injury lawsuits must be filed within three years (MCL 600.5805(2)), and Florida allows two years for negligence claims that arose after March 24, 2023 (Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a)). Some claims need written notice much sooner, such as Michigan's one-year notice for no-fault benefits and its 120-day notice to a government agency for a defective road (MCL 500.3145(1), 691.1404(1)).
Do I need a lawyer if the accident wasn't my fault?
Not necessarily. Whether you need one depends on how badly you were hurt, whether the insurer accepts fault and whether there's enough insurance to cover your losses. In Michigan, no-fault (PIP) insurance, usually from your own household's policy, pays for medical care and part of your lost income no matter who was at fault (MCL 500.3105(2), 500.3107(1), 500.3114(1)), and you can sue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering only if the injury meets a legal threshold (MCL 500.3135(1)).
Sources
- Auto Injury Insurance Claims: A Study of Increasing Claim Severity, research report summary (July 30, 2026) · Insurance Research Council
- Insurance Research Council Study Finds Rising Medical Costs and Attorney Involvement Are Driving Up Auto Injury Claim Costs (news release, July 30, 2026) · Insurance Research Council
- A Practical Guide to Hiring a Lawyer · State Bar of Michigan
- MCR 8.121, Contingent fees in claims or actions for personal injury, wrongful death, and no-fault benefits · Michigan Supreme Court, Michigan Court Rules
- MCR 2.420, Settlements and judgments for minors and legally incapacitated individuals · Michigan Supreme Court, Michigan Court Rules
- Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct 1.2 (scope of representation), 1.8(e) (financial assistance to a client) and 1.18 (prospective clients) · Michigan Supreme Court
- MCL 500.3105, PIP benefits payable without regard to fault · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 500.3107, Allowable expenses, work loss and replacement services · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 500.3107c, PIP medical coverage levels · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 500.3114, Order of priority for PIP claims · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 500.3135, Tort liability, serious impairment and the mini-tort · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 500.3142, Overdue PIP benefits and 12% interest · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 500.3145, Limitations on actions for PIP benefits; notice of injury · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 500.3148, Attorney fees for overdue PIP benefits · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 500.3030, Insurer not to be joined as a defendant · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 600.2959, Comparative fault · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 600.5805, Period of limitations for injuries to persons or property · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 600.5856, Tolling of statutes of limitations · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 600.8401, Small claims division; dollar limit · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 600.8408, Representation in small claims cases; removal · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 440.3311, Accord and satisfaction by use of an instrument · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 691.1404, Notice of injury and defect in a highway · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 600.6431, Notice of a claim against the state · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 600.2912b, Notice of intent to file a medical malpractice claim · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 600.2912d, Affidavit of merit · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 600.2922, Wrongful death actions · Michigan Legislature
- 28 U.S.C. 2401, Time for commencing action against United States · Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives
- 28 U.S.C. 2675, Disposition by federal agency as prerequisite · Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives
- 42 CFR 411.24, Recovery of Medicare conditional payments · Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
- Fla. Stat. § 95.11, Limitations other than for the recovery of real property · The Florida Legislature
- Chapter 2023-15, Laws of Florida (HB 837) · Florida Department of State
- Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 116.530, Attorneys in small claims actions · California Legislative Information
- Release (Wex legal dictionary) · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Contributory negligence (Wex legal dictionary) · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Concussion · MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine
Updated September 29, 2026
This guide is general information, not legal advice, and laws change. For advice about your situation, talk to a lawyer licensed in your state. Reading this page or contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.