Do You Have To Communicate With Your Insurance Company After Being Injured in an Auto Accident?
While some car accidents are unpreventable, others result out of someone else’s negligence or recklessness. When injured drivers are involved in the latter, they not only have the stress of dealing with injuries and car damage, but they can also be confused about the course of action they should take to hold the other driver accountable and collect the compensation they deserve.
This is where a seasoned personal injury lawyer can help you.
If you find yourself in this position, it’s important to remember that a skilled personal injury attorney Attorney Eric T. Kirk can make dealing with your insurance company and taking legal action against the other driver a much easier process. However, you need to make the initial contact with your insurance company before your attorney can take the reins and deal with them on your behalf.
When you are in an accident, you need to exchange insurance, driver’s license, and registration information. Once you’re armed with the other driver’s insurance information, you can take the necessary steps to get the compensation that you need and deserve.
The standard advice I offer to my clients in these situations is to say nothing more to the participants. Say nothing else to the other driver. Of course, if police investigate, you’ll need to provide a full account to them. You’re obligated to provide the information the officer seeks. Clearly, you’ll need to provide a full accounting of your injuries and medical history to your doctor. After sustaining an injury in a car accident, it’s crucial to seek prompt medical attention. There are practical and realistic reasons for this. First, you need to make sure you are okay. On a more pragmatic level, some people take a “mother nature and father time” approach to the healing process. While there is nothing wrong with that, you must be fairly certain that home remedy will work. The longer you wait to see a physician, the harder it becomes for your lawyer to prove that your injuries are a direct result of the car accident and not a pre-existing condition or another accident altogether. In this instance the door is opened for an insurance company to contend that you were not hurt, because it took you a long time to get to a doctor, or the classic defense argument:
This person was not hurt. They only went to a doctor because they were sent their by their lawyer.
Don’t give the insurance company or their attorney a chance to defeat your legitimate injury claim by raising these contentions. If your hurt, get yourself evaluated by a competent medical professional. If you do not have a regular doctor, your personal injury attorney may be able to provide valuable insight for obtaining an evaluation, and treatment if necessary.
The post-accident process can be streamlined when the other driver is issued a citation for their role in the accident. Sometimes, drivers are hesitant to get the police involved, but if you’ve been in an accident that resulted in injury, the police need to be notified so that they can fill out a report and, if needed, make a call for emergency medical assistance.
After you’ve taken the steps above, you should contact a personal injury attorney as soon as possible. As an attorney who focus my practice on cases involving car accident injuries, I have seen firsthand how promptly following these recommended courses of action can significantly improve the outcome of the case. I have helped hundreds of victims get the compensation they deserve, and I’m ready to use my experience to help you as well.
