Things You Need To Know After An Accident
1. In order to maximize your recovery on any auto accident personal injury case you must seek appropriate medical attention immediately after an accident. A delay of only a few days in obtaining medical treatment will reduce the value of your claim by insurance company standards.
2. In the event that event you are not at fault for an accident, insist that a law enforcement be called to the accident scene.
3. In any event that you are at fault for an accident, it makes sense to a try to negotiate with the other driver to determine if he wants to handle the claim outside of auto insurance. This can be helpful in minor accidents, because even minor accidents are considered at fault accidents by your insurance company. These small accidents will add up and will eventually affect your insurance rates. If you can work with the other driver on property damage, assuming that there is no injury from the accident, this can save you the expense of increased insurance rates and can expedite the repair of the other driver’s vehicle.
4. Especially in any questionable liability situation, do not admit fault for the accident. This can be considered an admission. Your statements can be admitted into evidence in any legal proceedings as an exception to hearsay.
5. If you do not obtain follow-up medical treatment after your emergent treatment, this is a red flag to an insurance company.
6. You must cooperate with your own insurance company. You are required, as a condition of coverage, to answer their questions about the accident. You’re not required to answer any questions from the other side’s insurance company. If you have an attorney, do not give any statements to the adverse insurance company or sign any forms without the approval of your attorney.
7. Do not attempt to settle your case until all necessary medical expenses past and future have been determined. I had a consultation recently involving a auto accident injury claim, where a lady settled her injury claim with the adverse carrier for $1000, despite the fact that she had continuing low back pain and pain radiating down into her lower extremity. Then, a few weeks after the first accident she was involved in a second motor vehicle accident. Obviously, this decision to settle the first accident claim was not well thought out.
8. Keep track of all of your medical expenses. Ask your health-care providers for copies of your bills so that you can determine the costs of medical treatment for your auto accident. You may be surprised to learn to how much things like MRIs, CT scans and pain management procedures cost.
9. In the event you receive a traffic citation as a result of an accident do not pay the fine. Try to get an attorney to handle the ticket for you. In most cases the ticket can be reduced to a parking ticket and nolo plea can be entered. With this plea the ticket cannot be used to determine liability in a civil proceeding.
August 14th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
great tips. I enjoyed reading this
October 2nd, 2009 at 7:09 am
Very interesting reading. In the UK they have something called no win no fee, where you don’t pay any costs even if you lose your claim. Does this exist in the US?
October 2nd, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Speaking of Nevada (our Jurisdiction) Once a lawsuit is filed, the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure take over in State Court and the Federal Rules take over in Federal Court. Fees and Costs are also controlled by the Nevada Revised Statutes. Costs are always granted to the prevailing party. Attorneys fees may be sought and granted in the discretion of the Court in personal injury cases. /s Donald C. Kudler, Esq.