Maximizing Your Benefits From An Insurance Claim
Car accidents happen all the time across every state in America and the frequency with which they occur means that, unfortunately, sooner or later, the odds are that you will be involved in a car accident. Hopefully that never happens, but if it does, then hopefully it is not too serious. However, in every car accident, regardless of its severity, you will likely end up dealing with an insurance company eventually. That is because they provide the compensation you need to cover your various accident-related expenses such as repair bills or medical bills.
Dealing with an insurance company can be difficult and tricky but you do not have to deal with them alone. If you hire a car accident attorney, then they can provide help with filing a claim and give you a better chance of maximizing the benefits that you get from that claim. They will negotiate with the insurance company to help make sure that your settlement claim is fair, meaning that it can cover all of your expenses. So make sure that you contact a personal injury attorney after you have been in a car accident, especially if the accident was not your fault.
Document Everything
After a car accident, the first thing you should do is call the police. The next thing you should do is document the accident scene with your cell phone camera. That means taking pictures of the damage to your vehicle and the other driver’s vehicle as well as the accident scene. When the police arrive, they will attempt to clean up the scene, which means that some visual evidence could get lost.
Those pictures not only show the extent of the damage caused by the accident, but they can also prove who was at fault for the accident. So make sure to take as many relevant pictures as you can before the police show up. When the police show up, they will observe the scene and write a police report about the accident, which could come in useful during your case..
Be Careful About What You Say
When speaking with anyone immediately after the accident, make sure to keep your statements short and to the point. And absolutely do not admit fault or apologize to anyone. Any admission of guilt, no matter how offhand, casual, or reflexive can come back to haunt you when you are making your settlement claim. The insurance company of the other driver could use those statements to reduce or even deny your settlement claim, thus reducing your benefits. If you need to speak with the other driver, then do not do anything more than ask if they are okay and exchange insurance and contact information with them.
When speaking with the police, be direct and do not admit or imply that the accident was your fault. Additionally, you should take any treatment that is offered to you at the scene. If you refuse treatment or tell anyone that you’re fine, then that could come back to hurt you. The reason is that not all injuries show up immediately and if any injuries manifest later on, then the insurance company will claim that they were not caused by the accident and therefore should not be covered.
Get Medical Treatment
As stated in the previous section, not all car accident injuries show up immediately, so you need to get medical treatment just in case. That way you will be able to prove that your injuries were caused by the car accident and that the medical expenses needed to treat them should be among the benefits in your settlement claim. If you wait too long to get medical treatment, then the insurance company could claim that your injuries are not that severe or that they were not caused by the accident.
Contact a Personal Injury Attorney
An attorney is your best hope of maximizing your benefits after a car accident because they can negotiate with the insurance company for you. The insurance company will use a lot of strong arm tactics to reduce or deny your claim and your attorney can counter all of them. If you reject their initial offer for being too low, then they may start ignoring your follow-up calls, but they will not ignore an attorney.
Your attorney can also gather evidence showing the extent of the damage and injuries caused by the accident and accurately calculate the settlement amount you need to cover those expenses. A personal injury attorney is an invaluable ally during an insurance claim, so make sure to contact one as soon as possible after the accident if you want to maximize your benefits.