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This is a question that car accident attorneys get asked all the time. There are a few steps you’ll want to take as soon as you’ve been in a car accident.
The most important thing you should do is make sure you call the police right after the accident. This will help you prove liability. It gives one more witness as to what actually happened in the accident.
Secondly, you’re going to have to talk to both insurance companies- You’re going to have to talk to your insurance company and the other person’s insurance company. There’s a lot of things that happen in that process. You should call your insurance first. They are going to do something called a recorded statement with you. During that process, they will tell you this is going to be recorded, and they’re going to ask you a lot of questions. Some of those questions include: What happened? Are you hurt? And then go through a list of things that happened.
You’ll have to do this all over again with the other person’s insurance. Remember, these statements are recorded. What they (the other person’s insurance company) typically do is they try to get you to say things like, “I’m not hurt” or try to get you to twist the story a few different ways so that later down the road, when you’re trying to get a settlement, they can come back to these recorded statements.
This can be overwhelming right after an accident. So, what we (and most personal injury attorneys) prefer you do, is don’t even call the insurance company yourself. Come and talk to an attorney. What we do with our clients is we sit down with them, we call the insurance company with our client sitting right next to us, and then that way we can help direct the conversation to make sure the insurance companies don’t do anything that they shouldn’t, or that is inappropriate. They will also likely send you emails, or snail mail letters out to you.
The whole process can be frustrating because it can take up to 2 or 3 weeks, but one of the worst things you can do is wait to go to treatment. If you’re injured, make sure you go to the doctor, even if the insurance company hasn’t accepted liability. Make sure you’re taking care of yourself.
If it gets complicated and confusing, or the insurance company is trying to do things that you just don’t feel comfortable with, contact a personal injury attorney. Consultations are free. We’re here to help. We’re on your team. The insurance company has their attorneys, and a lot of people find it very very helpful to have an attorney to fight for them. That’s what we do! We’re here to help you. So if you have any questions, call an injury attorney. We’ll answer any questions you have, for no charge.
If you have more questions, please contact us! If you found this information helpful, please download our free Car Accident Crash Book.
