Get a Better Car Crash Settlement
Get a better car crash settlement when you avoid the five factors Personal Injury Attorney provides in this article.
Want to Get a Better Car Crash Settlement?
If you were injured in a car crash, we do not recommend that you try to negotiate with the insurance adjusters on your own. Having an attorney on your side will increase the likelihood that you will get a better car crash settlement. Call at 303-688-0944 to begin your case assessment.
5 Ways to Get a Better Car Crash Settlement
There are any number of factors that could prevent you from getting a better car crash settlement even if the car accident was not your fault.
One: Call the Police
First, if you get into a non-life-threatening auto accident call the police. All too often our attorneys hear that people shy away from calling the police to the accident scene because they’re busy.
Your case will generally benefit in the long run by getting a TAR, a traffic accident report.
Two: Get an MRI
Second, this is the number one thing a good personal injury attorney will tell a client: you need an MRI scan.
An MRI will show torn ligaments. Generally, people go to the emergency room or the hospital after an accident and they get an X-ray. Unfortunately, that X-ray will only show broken bones.
Generally, in auto accidents, you don’t have only broken bones. So you need to get that MRI as fast as possible to establish a causal link between the accident and your injury. So make sure you get that MRI as soon as possible.
Three: Receive Consistent Medical Care
Neglecting this rule can kill your case: be sure there are no gaps in your medical treatment.
There are exceptions. If you’re going on vacation, that’s fine. If you’re out of the country or out of the state, that’s fine.
But, if you’re in Colorado and it’s been three, four, or five weeks since you’ve seen a doctor, you need to quickly get into medical treatment if you need it.
Tell Your Attorney if You Cannot Get Treatment
You should make your attorney aware that you need treatment, but that you cannot get it. If there are gaps in your treatment, you create an opportunity for an insurance adjuster to come back and say, hey, if your client were truly injured they would have sought treatment by now.
Four: Tell The Truth
There’s no need to lie or exaggerate what happened during the accident or about your injuries.
Tell your doctor the truth. Everything you tell your doctor will go into your medical record.
Do Not Rate Your Pain to Your Doctor
If you have pain in your neck, your back, or your shoulder, it is so important to tell the doctor.
We want to caution you, though, about doctors who ask you to judge your pain on a scale of zero to ten. Why? People do not necessarily interpret those pain scales the same way. People also judge pain differently. What is very painful to you, may not be very painful to someone else.
When rate your pain, the doctor notes that in your medical records. Don’t lie about your level of pain; just tell the doctor if you’re in pain.
Five: Think Before You Post
It is fine to use your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram account as much as you want after your car crash. However, be careful when it comes to posting about your accident on social media.
Here’s a great example:
Let’s say you were in a car crash, and you’re trying to get paid for a back injury. But you go horseback riding and you post pictures of yourself all carefree and whatnot in the wilderness on the back of a horse. You’ll most likely be found out because insurance adjusters are trained to find these types of things.
That’s just the kind of information online that could keep you from getting a better car crash settlement.
Other Ways to Get a Better Car Crash Settlement
Keep a journal. There’s a reason there’s a specialty in the practice of law called personal injury, it needs to be personal.
Throughout your case, keep a journal, because memories fade. If one day you wake up and you can’t put your socks on or it’s hard to brush your hair, write it down. You’ll want a record of that whether it’s an isolated incident or a symptom of something serious later on
That record will be important if you’re finished with medical treatment. It’s at that point your attorney will send out a personal injury demand letter. That notifies the other party that you seek damages in relation to your injury. It will also spark the potential settlement process. Those details you recorded in your journal will be included in the demand. The more personal the demand, the more valuable your case.
Do not sign anything. Never, ever, ever give a recorded statement or sign anything without your attorney present. Insurance adjusters will be quick to call you after an accident. They may also be quick to send you documents to sign. They may ask you for a recorded statement. The best advice is never sign or record anything without an attorney.
Do not trust the insurance adjuster. Nine times out of ten, the reason an insurance adjuster calls you is to reassure you that the company will take care of you and your medical expenses. They want to discourage you from hiring an attorney. And it often works. Six months down the road, an accident victim may seek out the help of an attorney with unpaid bills for lingering pain. At that point, an attorney may tell you, you should have never have trusted the adjuster in the first place.
These ideas and tips are designed to help you along your journey after an accident. The aftermath of a car accident can be traumatic and painful. A good attorney can help you make the decisions that will help benefit you most in the future.
Get Connected with a Personal Injury Attorney
Your chances to get a better car crash settlement increase when you hire a personal injury attorney. Our Personal Injury Attorneys will fight for you at the settlement table or, if necessary, in the courtroom. Call 303-688-0944 to begin your case assessment.