Being involved in any sort of car accident can leave you with many questions. It’s important to know that there are certain steps you should take in order to ensure your rights to compensation are protected later on.
Part of this process is making sure you talk to all the right people following the car accident. Below, we discuss four important people you should always speak with and how each one will help strengthen you claim.
1. Law Enforcement
After the crash, it’s imperative to call 9-1-1 or your local police department. Tell them where you are and ask that they send an officer to the scene. This is your opportunity to give your statement in an official police report. This will involve providing some essential pieces of information to the officer, including:
- What happened prior to the accident
- How the accident took occurred
- How the other driver seemed
- If you have any injuries
- If there were any witnesses
- The other driver’s information, if you have it
While a police report doesn’t necessarily determine fault, many insurance companies will reference this document to decipher what happened and what parties are responsible for the collision.
2. Your Insurance Company
You should notify your own insurance company about the accident as soon as possible. Tell them exactly what happened and provide them with the other driver’s basic information, such as their name, vehicle make and model, license plate number, and insurance information.
If the at-fault driver’s insurance company tries to contact you after the accident, remember that you are not required to give them a statement. Many insurance adjusters will attempt to get you to say something that could actually hurt your chances of receiving fair compensation for your injuries.
3. Your Doctor
Even if you don’t believe you are injured, you should always go to a doctor or seek medical attention right away. The full onset of injury symptoms can be delayed; what you may think is simply a bruise or a headache could potentially be something much more severe.
When you seek medical treatment, make sure to tell the doctor how your injuries were sustained and what areas of your body are causing you pain.
The sooner you do this, the better. The insurance company may try to prove that your injuries were not directly caused by the accident at hand. Seeking immediate medical attention will make it harder for the other side to prove that the injuries laid out in the medical report were not sustained in the accident.
4. Your Personal Injury Attorney
Lastly, it’s always in your best interest to obtain the assistance of an experienced personal injury attorney. Many insurance adjusters will use any means necessary to deny injury victims the compensation they need and deserve.
Your personal injury attorney will act as your legal advocate and review each detail of your case to ensure that you don’t take a lowball settlement offer.
Many personal injury attorneys, including the ones at The Chopin Law Firm, work on a contingency fee basis. This means that clients don’t pay anything unless we help win them compensation. This ensures that 1.) our clients do not pay anything out of pocket and 2.) our attorneys have that much more incentive to fight hard for each client’s financial recovery (we don’t make any money unless you do).
If you or a loved one is injured in a car accident, turn to the New Orleans personal injury attorneys at The Chopin Law Firm. Backed by over 50 years of collective experience, our team will stop at nothing to ensure that you receive a full financial recovery.
We will always have your back and you can rest easy knowing that your unique case is in the hands of seasoned and knowledgeable legal advocates.
Contact our firm at (504) 475-2429 to schedule your free case review.
