Car accidents are expensive. If someone else caused your wreck, they should pay for any damages to your vehicle, your body and your passengers.
If someone was injured, insurance companies usually try to get victims to settle as quickly as possible. That’s almost always a costly mistake. If you’re reading this, you might be wondering how much your car accident personal injury claim is worth and how to get what you deserve. We’re available for a free consultation to talk specifics, but these tips generally help victims avoid mistakes and be in a good position to receive a fair settlement.
Call the Cops
Always call 9-1-1 after a car accident. It’s a good idea even if the damage to your vehicle is minor and it seems no one got hurt. Injuries might show up later. The damage to your vehicle or your health might be more extensive than it appears. The other driver could change his or her story.
Police are trained to investigate what happened. If you have a police report for your accident, there’s an unbiased account of what occurred.
Gather Information From the Scene
If you’re able, protect yourself by taking photos and making notes. Evidence available at the scene is going to get cleaned up and towed away. Your memory will fade. Critical evidence could be lost.
After you make sure the other driver is okay, exchange your name and insurance information, then end the conversation. Take photos of your vehicle and theirs. Don’t just zoom in on the damage, take photos that show each vehicle’s position in the road and the surrounding area. If there were road hazards or other features that contributed to the accident, get those as well.
Ask witnesses for their contact information so your insurance agency and personal injury attorney can talk to them later. If you are able, write down your own factual statement and how your body feels.
Get Immediate Medical Attention
Even if you feel fine, see a doctor as soon as possible. Injuries sometimes don’t show up until days after the accident. If you don’t see a doctor, it’s easy for the other side to argue you weren’t hurt as a result of the accident. In order to get the maximum compensation for your car accident, you’ll have to be able to connect the wreck with your injury.
Talk to a Car Accident Personal Injury Lawyer
As soon as you’ve made sure you’re physically okay, give us a call and we’ll give you a free consultation. That way you’ll know what you can expect and avoid some of the mistakes people make that hurt their chances of receiving a fair car accident settlement.
Report to Your Auto Insurance Provider
Sometimes people mistakenly think if a wreck wasn’t their fault, their car insurance agency doesn’t need to know. That’s false for a number of reasons. Your insurance company offers coverages you may need to use if the other driver’s insurance isn’t sufficient, but you have to report the accident within a reasonable time frame. Plus, they can defend you if the other driver’s insurance company tries to say the fault was yours.
Keep Extensive Documentation
To get maximum compensation for your car accident, keep records of everything you spend, everything you experience and everything you have to miss out on because of your injury. Make a file for medical and therapy bills. Document every time you have to leave work because you have a follow-up appointment or you’re feeling too poorly to do your job. If you can’t go to your son’s softball game or your daughter’s dance recital because you’re in the hospital, make a note.
Start a pain diary in which you log symptoms and their effect on daily living. Take it to medical appointments and talk to your doctor about those symptoms, then note what he or she says about your treatment and/or prognosis.
Tell Your Doctor Everything
Now isn’t the time to suck it up and suffer in silence. In order to provide the best treatment, your doctor needs to know about everything that’s going on as you recover.
Otherwise, Don’t Talk About Your Case
Don’t post anything about your car accident, injury or recovery on social media. Refrain from talking about your case with family and friends.
Don’t Skip Medical Appointments
People start to skip doctor’s visits as they start to feel better, or because they lose hope that they’ll ever get back to normal. In both cases, failure to follow through might look like you recovered faster than you actually did and reduce the settlement you receive.
Don’t Wait Too Long
You have two years from the accident date to file a personal injury lawsuit, but you don’t have to wait two minutes to seek expert legal advice. Schedule your free personal inju HYPERLINK "https://monsourlawfirm.com/schedule-a-free-consultation/"ry consultation online today.
