1
Make sure you are safe and those around you are safe. Be careful getting out of your vehicle because there are often secondary wrecks that occur after the primary wreck. You do not want to be a victim twice. Especially on the freeway, do not get hit as a pedestrian when you are simply trying to follow a normal car wreck protocol.
2
Call 911, and let them know you need the police at the scene and paramedics if you are injured.
3
Take pictures and video of the scene, including all sides of your vehicle and the truck as well. Take closer pictures of the damages to both vehicles. Take pictures of the license plate of the truck. Take pictures of the truck’s signage. Take pictures of the truck driver, the truck driver’s drivers license and the truck driver’s insurance information. When taking pictures of the scene, take pictures of any roadway signs, traffic control signs, or traffic lights. Be you sure some of your photos allow enough space to see where you were coming from and going to.
4
Do not give a written or verbal statement to anyone at the scene other than what the police officers request. Police officers also can get confused, so be sure that your statement is clear to the officer and the officer writes down your statement properly and accurately.
5
Do not give a recorded statement to anyone until you talk to your lawyer. Insurance companies use recorded statements to work against you, and if they are not helpful to the insurance company, the recording can be easily discarded or lost.
6
If you are injured, seek medical attention promptly. It is natural for you not to feel immediate injury because the adrenaline that is flowing through you and your body at the time of this traumatic event. But you may feel stiffness, soreness, or some other injury within hours or days following the incident. Many of our clients are hopeful the pain will go away, but instead the pain can get worse. Insurance companies will use any gap in treatment between the time of impact until the time you started to see a doctor to argue you were not hurt. They will argue something else must have happened, because you did not seek doctor’s attention. Therefore, you must not have been hurt in the collision and you are not deserving of any compensation.
7
Keep good records of your medical treatment, expenses and bills. The better the records you have to prove what has been lost, the better off you are in presenting the claim to an insurance company or a jury. Keep documentation on your mileage going to and from the doctor, your deductibles, your co-pays, your prescriptions, your out-of-pocket expenses for any over-the-counter medication’s, and any other expense associated with your crash or injuries.
8
Keep track of any time that you must be away from work as a result of this crash. The law allows you to make a recovery from your time away from work and keep a log of those hours to better present them to the insurance company or to a jury. Even if your company allows you to take off for sick time, keep track of these hours.
9
Quickly get an estimate on the damage to your vehicle. If your car has been totaled, look to other sources (Kelly Blue Book, E-Bay or other ads to sell vehicles like your vehicle) to properly evaluate the value of your car. Insurance companies will try to lowball you on its offer. Don’t let them take advantage of you because you are not armed with the real facts about the value of your vehicle. If it has been towed away, go to the tow yard to get more photos of the vehicle (which may be a safer environment than the crash scene). Don’t forget about the storage charges associated with your vehicle being on the lot. You should work with your insurance company or your lawyer on how to best address these charges.
10
Keep receipts on all expenses associated with your property damage. This would include rental car or paying someone else to borrow a car.
11
Do not sign any documents or releases from the insurance company until you speak with a lawyer. Do not agree verbally over the phone to any settlement offer, as this agreement may be considered a full and complete settlement as well. Be very careful regarding what you say on the phone to the insurance company, as they will often record your conversations and you may be agreeing to something you don’t understand. Consult a lawyer before agreeing to anything involving a settlement. Sorrels Law will often talk with people who are not clients about these offers without formally being employed and with no expectation of compensation.
