- Establish liability: Insurance companies will wonder who caused the accident. Taking care of this immediately means having photo evidence of the scene, talking to any witnesses, and if you’re able to get the police reports that will help a ton. Accident exchange sheets with the report number, and any other information relating to who caused the accident right off the bat should be obtained as well.
- Do not give any statements to insurance companies: Both your own insurance company and the possible insurance company of the other person involved will more than likely be calling you nonstop, requesting a statement from you or whoever else you were within the accident. Talking to them is a huge mistake, as anything you might say or explain incorrectly can be held against you, which will make it harder for you to get your settlement. Hold off on giving any statements to anyone relating to how the accident happened or any injuries you might have. You’ll usually consult a lawyer like Falk & Falk Attorneys later on, but getting around the tricks of insurance agencies is of utmost importance, so if you feel you need the help of a lawyer now would be a good time to reach out. They will be looking for ways to minimize the amount they will have to pay.
- Get diagnosed for any injuries you got in the accident: You need to have a professional doctor diagnose that. Getting medical help is the only natural occurrence that happens after someone gets into an accident, so doing what you think is right will help you later on when you are waiting to hear of what the settlement the insurance company decided upon is.
- Follow doctors orders for your treatment: You might think this is self-explanatory, but people in car accidents, etc, have a lot going on around them. Make sure to go to all of your appointments, follow what they tell you to do, take care of yourself, and make sure you treat this as a priority. Remember, you will be ordering your records, and a full set should show all the progress you made in going to the doctor
- Get all of your bills/records handy: This is something you can do without a lawyer. After you’re done getting treatment or being let out of the hospital, you will need to request your full records and billing you received during this time. Have them ready to go- this is something a lawyer can do for you, but you can also complete this on your own.
- Hire an expert to follow up with any outstanding case issues: If there’s a problem with liability, you will need someone to get your police reports, go to the scene, and talk to the insurance companies. If you have any outstanding injuries from before the accident and the insurance company mentions it, you will need to get an expert involved that can determine if the injuries are related to this accident or what happened to you prior. There is a 99% chance this will be another necessary step in the process if you do have a history of injuries, pre-existing conditions, or even just one injury at that.
- Make a demand on the insurance company: You will want to request policy limits of an inflated amount that covers all pain, medical, etc, or just ask for all of the policy limits. Some notes of everything you went through and had to endure should also be submitted to the insurance company
- Follow up with the threat of a lawsuit: The insurance company knows you are representing yourself, and think you don’t have the willpower a lawyer has, so threatening a lawsuit and getting an attorney involved to write the letter for you is very important. Consult with a lawyer of the timeline that everything happened and go from there with their advice handy to you. You can call a lawyer and ask for their point of view-they will most likely do it for free (as a free consultation) or charge you by the hour. This is more cost-efficient than hiring them to take on the case, because you are just paying for their advice, not giving them a percentage of your potential settlement.
These are all the tips we have for you today. From here, we hope that you get your case handled with as little noise and disturbance as possible. Going through an accident can be extremely tough to move on from, especially if physical pain is involved.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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