Life Changing Consequences

If you are injured and don’t need an ambulance, seek medical attention promptly. It is natural for you to 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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Keep receipts on all expenses associated with your property damage.  This would include rental car or paying someone else to borrow a car.

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 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.