This Blog was posted By The Carabin & Shaw Law Firm. principle Office in San Antonio, Texas
Important Car Accident Information
Accident Injury Lawyer Gives You Important Car Accident Information That You Can Use
Our Texas car accident attorneys have many tips, tricks, and tidbits of advice for people affected by a car accident in Texas. Our Law Office sees many clients who are misinformed regarding the car accident legal process. Take it from us – here are our nine essential things to know about your car accident case.
1 – Lying to Your Car Accident Lawyer Will Cost You
In what may be the most unbelievable yet happens with regular occurrence, you should never under any circumstances, lie to your car accident attorney. You’ve retained your attorney to represent you completely and entirely throughout the entire car accident claim process. Lying to your car wreck lawyer is never a good idea. Additionally, lying to an insurance claims adjuster, to a doctor, or to anyone else involved with your car wreck claim is a very bad idea. Doing so will jeopardize your case and potentially prevent you or your family from receiving even what you would otherwise be owed after a car accident in Texas. If you don’t want to answer questions about a particular situation, direct the questions to your attorney. If you are uncomfortable with your attorney, find a different person to represent you. Again: never, under any circumstances, lie about your car accident case to your lawyer, your doctor, your insurance claim adjuster, or anyone else directly involved with the case.
2 – Accepting a Check or Settlement from the Insurance Company May Ruin Your Case
Car insurance companies engage in tricky and deceptive behavior. One of these misleading practices is to send you a lump sum check for all the claims you’ve previously submitted and stamp “final settlement” on the check and accompanying paperwork. If you accept this check and deposit it into your bank account, or sign any settlement paperwork, you may completely ruin any future claims you have against the driver or insurer. “Final settlement” means that you’ve agreed with the insurer that you will not submit any future claims related to this car accident. This means any future medical bills, any unpaid medical or property damage bills will not be paid by the insurer. What you should do instead: retain an attorney to review ANY paperwork sent by the insurance company and do not accept or deposit any checks until you are completely sure you are not agreeing to something you don’t want. Call our Law Office to set up a consultation with our car accident lawyers in Texas to ensure your rights and claims are protected from insurance company gimmicks.
3 – Hiding Past Injuries or Accidents Can Seriously Affect Your Case
Past medical history or previous accidents do not ruin a case; hiding these injuries or accidents from your car wreck attorney, from your doctor, or from the insurance claims adjuster can seriously affect your car wreck claim. An experienced and knowledgeable car wreck attorney can differentiate which injuries are attributable to which accident using expert medical opinion. Do not hide this information; it will not ruin your case unless you lie or obscure or do not tell someone of any previous injury.
Our Law Office has been fighting for car accident victims` rights for over 20 years. Call to discuss your case.
4 – Keeping a Daily Journal Will Help Your Case
This bit of car accident advice comes straight from one of our client’s experiences. This client kept a written journal next to each phone in her house so she could record the time, date, person’s name she was talking to, and the subject matter of the conversation anytime the insurance company called her. This information can be invaluable during the progression of any claim or demand made by the insurance company.
Our auto accident attorneys also strongly recommend keeping a daily journal documenting your pain levels, the activities you performed that day, any medical personnel you saw (including therapists), and any medicines or drugs you took to ease your pain or reduce symptoms. When it comes to proving damages in the claims process, it is necessary to have evidence – and this daily journal is ideal to document your progression and physical state through the healing process.
5 – Go to the Doctor, Get a Diagnosis, and Start Treatment for Injuries
It’s amazing how many people try to tough it out and avoid seeing a doctor immediately after a car wreck. By waiting to see a doctor, you run the risk of making the injury worse, not documenting the existence of an injury, and providing the insurance company to say “we’re not paying because you didn’t go to the doctor so it couldn’t have been our fault/the injury must not have been that bad.” Go to the doctor, even if you have to miss work. Your lost wages can be compensated by the insurance company. Go to the doctor, even if you cannot afford it. Our Law Office maintains a list of doctor referrals who can expertly diagnose and treat your injuries without payment upfront. Call us for a complimentary consultation without car accident injury lawyers today.
6 – Car Insurance Companies are Always Investigating You
Remember this: the bigger the accident and injuries, the more the insurance company will want to limit its costs. One way to limit costs: find evidence against you that shows your injuries weren’t as bad as you claimed them to be. One easy way to determine this: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and other online mechanisms. It’s amazing how quickly the insurance company will find photos, status updates, videos, even location data on where you are in order to make it look like you’re fine and exaggerating your injuries. Insurance companies may also use private investigators to seek you and your family, take photos of you engaging in normal activities, and document where you go and how long you stay – starting from the moment of the accident until the claim is fully resolved. Be smart – remove your social networking profiles, and do NOT exhibit any behavior that can compromise your injury claim.
7 – Trusting the Car Insurance Company is a Bad Idea
Take it from a highly experienced car accident litigation lawyer – trusting the car insurance company to do the right thing is a bad idea. The car insurance claims adjuster receives promotions and bonuses based on how much money he can save the insurance company. Even though there are many laws against deceptive practices, claims adjusters are rewarded for shady practices designed to lull you into trusting them – then pulling the rug out from under people. Get your own car accident attorney; do not trust any attorney the insurance company recommends. Have a car wreck attorney review any and all paperwork sent to you by the insurance company and let the insurance adjuster know that he should talk to your lawyer – not you – for answers to any questions.
8 – Consider ALL Your Injuries and Damages in Your Insurance Claim
Damages following a car accident typically fall into two categories: personal injury claims and property damage claims. Determining the extent of property damage is fairly straightforward; determining the amount of personal injury damage is very complex and requires a highly experienced car accident injury attorney to calculate all the possible damages, both present, and long-term.
Our Law Office knows precisely how to calculate all your possible damages and knows exactly how to demand this money from the insurance company. Call us to speak with a car wreck injury lawyer about your personal situation and determine whether you have a case against the insurance company or another driver.
9 – Let an Attorney Review and Determine Who is at Fault – and Who is Liable
Throwing around legal-sounding words and attempting to determine on your own who’s fault the accident was and who should pay you is a bad idea. Insurance companies are not scared by an individual person; insurance companies are more scared by professional, experienced car accident litigation attorneys because these lawyers have a long track record of success for their clients against the car insurance company.