This article will discuss 10 couple steps you, as the victim of negligence, can take to make sure that you are compensated fairly for your harms and losses after an automobile crash caused by the carelessness of another. The author, Timothy Nies, is a personal injury attorney in West Palm Beach, Florida with Van Riper and Nies Attorneys, P.A., and a former insurance company trial attorney, having worked for the largest insurance defense law firm in the U.S.
1. After the crash, if you feel injured, dizzy, faint or in any way, hurt call 911 to report the crash and request an ambulance. Do not hesitate. In Florida, insurance companies pay the bill of the ambulance through PIP insurance. If you don’t feel that you can call yourself, ask for a witness or another driver to call 911 and request an ambulance.
2. Write down any information you can on any potential witnesses to the crash. If you cannot obtain their names, addresses, and telephone numbers, try to at least copy down their license plate numbers. Do no rely on the investigating officer to write down the names of all witnesses. Very often this does not happen.
3. Take photographs of your vehicle, the vehicle that crashed into you, or caused the crash, what the driver of the other car or truck was doing after the crash, as well as the scene of the car accident. Many drivers have cameras on their cellular phones. Photographic evidence of the vehicles and the scene will be very significant to any potential automobile accident claim.
4. Be calm and polite at the scene of the crash, if possible.
5. If you have not already been transported to the hospital, the law enforcement officer investigating the car crash will ask you if you are hurt. Explain to the officer any feelings whatsoever of pain, discomfort, dizziness, etc. If you say “fine” or “ok”, when you are not, the officer will put in the report that you were ok, when in reality you were not.
6. After the crash, it is likely that you may experience pain, which you did not feel at the scene of the crash. If so, see your family doctor, go to an ER, or see a doctor at a walk-in clinic. You can use your car insurance card to obtain the treatment. Your insurance company will reimburse the doctor or hospital for the medical care. Do not let the fact that you have no health insurance stop you from seeking needed medical care.
7. Report the claim to your insurance company.
8. Do not speak with the insurance company adjuster of the negligent driver without first consulting with an attorney. They will often claim, in fact, they will usually always claim they are investigating the claim and need a recorded statement from you. The real reason they want a recorded statement is to use it against you in any potential claim.
9. Spend some time looking into several personal injury attorneys. Ask your friends of relatives for any recommendations. Look up the attorney’s qualifications online or on the state bar website (such as floridabar.org). Meet with the attorney in person and ask as many questions as you wish. If the attorney actually does not meet with you, at your home or his office, but rather sends an “investigator” (which is usually nothing more than his assistant) to meet with you, think twice before signing any agreement.
10. Request frequent face-to-face meetings with your attorneys. If your attorney complains, you may wish to consider another attorney.
Hopefully, these simple tips will help you maximize the settlement offer to compensate you for your harms and losses suffered in an automobile crash. These tips should not be considered formal legal advice, but general information. You should speak with an attorney after any crash. Most do not charge for a consultation.
By: Timothy Nies, Esq., Van Riper and Nies Attorneys, P.A.
Email: tim@vanriperandnies.com
Tel: 561-948-5588
