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I've been injured in a traffic accident,
what should I do now?
Getting injured in a traffic accident can be one of the most
traumatic experiences of one's life. However, the
decisions that you make soon after such an accident can have
lifetime implications to you or a loved one's ability to attempt
to resume a normal life.
Rule Number 1 When One Has Been Injured: Do not accept any payment from an insurance company without speaking to an attorney first. Once payment has been accepted, chances are that an insurance company will not be obligated to pay for any future injuries and/or bills of any kind. Your Indiana Personal Injury Attorney should be aggressive in organizing all traffic accident and police reports along with medical records in order to prevent any misrepresentations that can be used to cast doubt on your injuries. Further, one must never give a recorded statement to an insurance agent without consulting with an attorney. Why? Because an insurance agent's interest is always to both minimize the extent of your injuries and increase doubt as to your fault in causing the injuries.
Whenever possible, when injured in a traffic accident and not taken to a hospital, please make sure that a
police report is compiled by the investigating officer at the
scene of the accident or soon thereafter. Where there is a question as to the accuracy or completeness of an accident report, one must be pro active in utilizing an attorney's help in order to insure that
injuries and potential fault can be quickly reported and/or documented. If not taken to a hospital, failure to
have an accurate report compiled as soon as possible can result in your
inability to recover for injuries later.
A complete and accurate accident
report will aid your attorney in documenting
fault and future injuries resulting
from the accident. The accident report is essential to
documenting that one has been injured, that
immediate medical attention will be necessary and that any claimed injuries were not pre existing prior to the accident. Failure to
fully document the accident could
result in allowing a defense lawyer for an insurance company to
cast doubt as to whether you were truly injured much less who
was at fault for any injuries. Do not learn until it's too late that an insurance company is not in business to fully compensate you for your injuries.
The police report will further document insurance information
and will allow you as the injured party to recover from one even
if they have insufficient or no insurance coverage whatsoever.
Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is there to protect you
in such a circumstance.
As Indiana traffic accident attorneys we will be able to utilize this
documented information as to fault, medical attention and
insurance coverage to maximize financial recovery for your
injuries. However, please remember, just as it is vitally important that an accurate accident report has been compiled, it is also important that you clearly state to all medical providers all potential injuries that may have been caused by your traffic accident. It is the combination of the accident report and medical reports compiled soon after an accident that give the most powerful testimony on behalf of one who has been injured.
If injured in a traffic accident do not be a hero: Too
many good people try to sluff off traffic accident injuries so
as not to be seen as a complainer or somehow weak.
Insurance company defense lawyers love people like this because
such people tend to delay medical treatment after a traffic
accident. Such behavior and delay in seeking treatment is
not rewarded later but rather used against your future injury
claim as to whether you or a loved one was truly injured as a
result of a traffic accident.
Securing medical treatment if injured immediately after a
traffic accident is a "win-win" situation. First, you are
taking necessary steps to insure that any possible medical
effect of the accident is being treated by a medical
professional. Second, from a legal perspective, you are
shielding yourself from a later insurance company claim that any
alleged injuries sustained were not even worthy of medical
attention after the accident much less worthy of financial
compensation.
If involved in an accident with a trucking company be sure to
not only get the identification of the driver, but as much
information as possible as to the trucking company and/or
employer responsible for the truck in question. With this
information an Indiana truck accident lawyer can later
investigate all of the potential negligent parties who may have
been a cause to the accident.
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