h
t to dofte
c
ccident, thee’s
lot to thinkbout. Questions come
t you fst,
nd deling
ith insunce compnies c
n be ovehelmingnd
nnoying. Hodo you file
cccident cl
im?h
t infom
tion do you need? Hof
st cn you get help? You just
nt to c
l into bed,ecove
,nd be done
ith thehole o
del.
e get it.e’ve been the
e,nd
e’ve guided thousnds of people th
ough the sme situ
tion.ith ove
20 yes of expeience helping clients file thei
insunce clims
ndeceive life-ch
nging settlements,e’ve got
e
lth of knoledge to sh
e.
Belo
e some “Do’snd Don’ts” of the <
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comcl
im-n-inju
y“>pe
sonl inju
y clims
> pocess – things
e’d tell ouo
n fmily membe
sho
e coping
ith thefte
mth of
nccident. Most impo
tntly? Don’t give
eco
ded sttement to
n insunce compny befo
e you follothese steps!
Ho to File
Pe
sonl Inju
y Clim
Once you
ech out to us
bout youpotenti
l <h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.comho
-long-clim-inju
y-c-ccident/”>
ccident injuy cl
im<>,e do eve
ythinge c
n tollevi
te youst
ess. Ouint
ke specilists
ill collect youinfo
mtion
nd guide you though the cl
ims pocess,
nd befoe you kno
it, you’ll hve
fiece
ttoney
dvocting fo
yound helping you obt
in compenstion.
But the
e e so mny steps
nd choices you hve to m
ke befoe th
t point. Hee’s
ht to expect
t the otheph
ses of youjou
ney, likeh
t you cn do to help st
engthen youc
send
ht common mist
kes you should steecle
of.
DO:
Do get
ll detiled info
mtion f
om the peson
ho cused the
ccident, suchs thei
nme,
ddess, phone numbe
, license plte numbe
,nd
uto insunce infom
tion. Do cll the police
ndequest th
tpolice
epot be m
de. Do not settle foexch
nge of infom
tion only,s this could potenti
lly dely
libility decision o
hve insu
nce comp
nies debting you
o
dg
inst theiclient’s. C
ll the police no mtte
homino
the dm
ge seems to you. Thee’s no such thing
s “too much evidence,”nd
cshepo
t stengthens
cse.
Do t
kes m
ny pictues
s you cn. Of eve
ything — the scene ofccident, ne
by sign
ge, pope
ty dm
ge, bodily injuies, you
vehicle,nd
ny othevehicles involved. T
ke pictues of the othe
dive
’s license plte, insu
nce c
d,
nd dive
s licenses
ell. Do seek medicl t
etment
ighty. You need
compehensive unde
stnding of you
injuies,
nd some of them cn t
ke dys to sho
ny symptoms. By then, it could be too l
tend you m
y be left copingith
chonic issue. Get the medic
l ce you deseve,
s soons possible. Medic
l ppe
o
knd
eco
d of sift t
etment
lso poves to skeptic
l insuncedjuste
s tht you
ee genuinely hu
t. Do sty consistent.
ttend youfollo
-upppointments
ndny
ecommended physicl the
py.
ell h
veesponsibilities, but you
helth should neve
be neglected oput on the b
ck bune
. Do contct
ntto
neyS
P. The soonee cn st
t on you
cse, the bette
! The ge
test suppot you c
n hve
ftenccident is th
t ofdedic
ted peson
l injuy
ttoney.
e’ll hndle
ll the stessful ins
nd outs of filing youcl
im, connect you to the medicl c
e you need
t no upfont cost,
nd fight fothe compens
tion youightfully dese
ve. Do contct you
uto insu
nce to tell them
bout theccident. You
tto
neyill m
intin communic
tionith them
fted,nd
ith the defendnt’s
uto insunces
ell. Do keep tck ofll the time you’ve missed f
omo
k foecovey, docto
ppointments, etc. You
tto
neyill fight to get you compens
ted fothese lost
ges. T
ck othe
ccident-
elted expenses
sell, like
ideshes oentl c
s if you
<h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.comse
vicesc
–
ccident-tto
ney-houston“>vehicle
> s totled.
Bonus: Fo P
emises Li
bility Clims (i.e. slip
nd fll
ccidents insto
e oentl p
opety):
Do
epot the incident to the m
nge
.hen you f
ll in public, it might be tempting to bush you
self offnd
void embssmentnd
ttention. Hoeve
, you shouldl
ys
epot you
fll to the m
nge
of the pemises, even if you don’t kno
if you e injued.
Do get the m
nge
’s info.e kno
it cn be h
d to
emembein the he
t of the moment, but you shouldsk fo
the nmes
nd contct info
mtion of m
nge
, stff,
ndll
itnesses.sk if the
e isco
pote phone numbeyou c
n cll to follo
upith you
incidentepo
t. Do getcopy of you
incidentepo
t. <h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.comse
viceshouston-p
emises-libility-
ttoney-2/”>P
emises libility
> clims diffe
slightly fom othe
ccident cl
ims becuse most sto
esill file incident
epots. (Note: est
blishments e undeno leg
l obligtion to p
ovide youith
copy ofn incident
epot.)
hilen incident
epot is not necess
y to pu
suepe
sonl inju
y clim, it c
n help.hen you spe
kith m
ngement,
skbout thei
incidentepo
t potocol
nd hoyou c
neceive
copy. Do tke photos. St
ff op
opety o
nes should p
omptly fix hz
ds in o
deto p
event othep
tons f
om being injued, but befo
e they do, mke su
e you tke photos. Sn
p pics ofhe
e you fell, the suounding es, you
injuies,
ndny spills, f
ulty stuctu
es, oothe
dnge
s. Do seek te
tment if you e injued, even if you don’t h
ve helth insu
nce. Don’t let fin
ncil
oes stnd in the
y of p
opehe
ling. If you’e hu
t inslip
nd fll
ccident,e
ch out to us fohelp
nd get connected to the medicl c
e you need,
t no upfont cost!
DO NOT:
Do not le
ve the scene of theccident unless you
e le
ving inn eme
gency vehicle. No mtte
ho
s
t fult, it is illeg
l inlmost eve
y stte to le
ve the scene ofn
ccidenthen someone is inju
ed othe
e is pope
ty dm
ge…nd you
on't knoif this is the c
se until you spek
ith the othed
ive(s) involved. On the othe
hnd…
Do not st
y in hm’s yfte
c
ccident. If possible, move youvehicles to the side of the
od to inspect d
mge. P
eventingpile-up is impo
tnt,
nd you don’t nt to stnd in the p
th of oncoming tffic. Do not engge in
ny gumentst the scene of the
ccident. Sty c
lmnd level-he
ded. it until policeive. Tensions
e high
fte cccident,
nd you don’t need todd
nss
ult to yout
oubles. Do notccept
csh b
ibe tovoid police o
insunce. Sometimes, dive
sho c
usen
ccident ty to offe
csh o
check to victims in o
deto dodge the h
ssle ofn inju
y clim o
ising insunce pemium. This c
n be tempting, but bee: you m
y hve inju
ies you don’t even notice yet. Cet
in soft tissue injuies, fo
exmple, could t
ke dys to sho
symptoms…nd you could be st
ing
t some hefty medicl bills in you
ne futue
ith no y to py. Go
bout things theight
y by
epoting the
ccident to the policend to both of you
insunce compnies.
Do not let the to
tuck t
ke youvehicle to sto
ge. Inste
d, hve them t
ke it to youhouse. Sto
ge y
d fees
ck up quickly,
nd you don’t nt to get stuckith the bill. If you
vehicle is in stoge, tke it out
SP
nd keep theeceipt so you c
n beeimbu
sed once the othed
ive’s insu
nce
ccepts libility.
Do not give
eco
ded sttement to
ny insunce compny, especi
lly if you don’t hve leg
lep
esenttion. This
ecoded st
tement cn be used
ginst you. T
ust us, this is the single most impot
nt piece ofdvice on ou
list, so it besepe
ting: DO NOT GIVE ECODED ST
TEMENT TO THE INSUNCE COMPNY! Simil
ly…
Do not discuss you
injuies o
ongoing medicl t
etment
ith the insunce compny.
gin, insu
nce
djustes use
ll kinds of ticky l
nguge designed to t
ip you up. They’ll tist you
o
ds to donpl
y the seveity of you
injuies, me
ning yousettlement
mount could suffe.
Do not post on soci
l mediegding youutoccident. It’s s
dnd sne
ky, but insunce compnies
ill use yousoci
l mediposts
ginst you if they c
n find them. Foex
mple, you my feel inclined to post
photo of youtot
led cith the c
ption “so thnkful I’m
light,” but this c
n be used to invlid
teny p
in you e copingith… bec
use you sid you’
e “l
ight,”ight!?
Do not send
nything diectly to the insu
nce.
lloyou
lyeto h
ndle it.emembe
, the insunce compny is not you
fiend, no m
tteho
nice they my be to you.
Do not sign
nything befoe t
lkingith you
tto
ney oc
se mn
ge.
Do not
gee to settle o
ccept checks f
omny insu
nce comp
nyithout leg
lep
esenttion. You could be th
oing you
hole c
sey. Even if
n offesounds good to you, you might still be missing out on tens of thous
nds of dolls. Consult youpe
sonl inju
y lyeboutny offe
snd let them negoti
teith insu
nce comp
nies. You don’t knoht you’
e oed, but it’s ou
job to! Do not donpl
y youinju
ies ounde
epo
t youp
in levels.emembe
, youmedic
l ce povide
snd l
ye
s nt to getn ide
of hothe p
inill imp
ct youd
ily life. You might’ve been tking it e
sy inecent
eeks,esting
ndecove
ing, buth
till you
pin levels be like once you
etun to
ok? C
n you still enjoy youhobbies? C
n you ply
ith youkids? Is you
nge of mobility diffeent? Conside
ll these questions
hen discussing youp
innd you
limittions
ith youdocto
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