1) If your vehicle sustained damages, take plenty of photos of the damage to your car and the other car – if you can. Many cell phones have cameras, or if you don’t have any kind of camera, have a friend or family member buy a cheap camera from a nearby store and take as many photos of the scene and the vehicles as you can. If you call them from the scene, ask them to bring a digital camera with them.
2) If you have visible injuries (bruises, scrapes, cuts, etc), have a friend or family member take photos of those injuries ASAP! You can talk to people about your injuries all day, but showing them photos is an entirely different story! 3) Be civil at the scene of the accident. There is no need to fly off the handle. Things you say and do at the accident scene often come back to haunt you. Don’t apologize for the accident unless you are 100% sure you are at fault. 4) The insurance company for the other party will likely want to take your statement by phone or otherwise. You are under no obligation to do so. In my experience, there is very little (or nothing) to be gained from giving a statement. At least talk to a lawyer first. The insurance company representative will often act interested in your case, sympathetic, etc…but in my experience, they are usually trying to “box” you into a story so you can’t argue otherwise in the future. For example, they will ask, “How do you feel?” Then you will say, “Well, considering all that happened, I feel OK.” Then a few days later when you can’t move due to sore muscles, or worse, you may decide to file a claim. They will say, “Well, we took your statement the day after the accident, and you said you feel “OK” so we don’t understand why you’re changing your story!” 5) Finally, if you were injured in the accident (or even if you’re not sure!), by all means seek medical help (at least an exam) as soon as possible. Most people try to “tough it out” or “see how they feel” before deciding to see a doctor. One of the biggest reasons personal injury claims fail, or get short-changed, is because the individual waited too long before seeking medical attention. How long is too long? In my experience, insurance companies will give you a very hard time and discount (or even deny) any injury claim if you wait longer than one week. Remember your actions speak louder than words. If you don’t have health insurance, there are other ways to get medical treatment. Some clients have the wrong idea. They believe the personal injury case is like winning the lottery. They believe there is no possible downside. While it is true, a lawyer usually doesn’t take a “fee” unless there is a recovery, there are COSTS that cannot be ignored. You MAY be on the hook for those costs if things don’t all work out in the best possible manner.
Here is an example: When I used to work as a defense lawyer for the insurance companies, we would often make offers on cases. In one case I remember vividly, plaintiff Vivian was offered $3500 prior to trial. It was a “take it or leave it” offer that she declined. Without getting into all the legal mumbo jumbo about this offer, she ended up owing the defense thousands of dollars because a jury ended up awarding her less than the $3500 we had offered. Some lawyers fail to inform their clients of this harsh reality. The defense can technically make you an offer, and if you reject the offer, you MAY be on the hook for their costs in defending the case. I have simplified the process for purposes of this article but the point remains – If you’ve been involved in a car accident or other injury case, you need to understand that you haven’t won the lottery. You are entitled to reasonable compensation – economic and non-economic if the situation warrants it. However, don’t listen to lawyers who promise you millions of dollars only to get you to sign up with them. They are usually afraid to tell you how these lawsuits really work. They need to advise you of the pros AND cons of proceeding with your case. I have too many years of experience handling these kinds of cases. I’ve learned that you MUST be candid with your clients. They really need to know what they are getting into and what the potential upsides and downsides might be. If you want a candid and realistic approach to your personal injury case, please feel free to contact me for a free personal injury consultation. If you want some lawyer to promise you the moon, then I suggest you continue your search for a personal injury lawyer. I will always be realistic and candid with you. I will make you aware of all the fees and costs. My clients appreciate that. There are some occasions when handling your personal injury case on your own makes sense. If you are only handling a property damage claim, then you should handle matters on your own. A property damage claim is NOT a personal injury claim. If you were injured, but you had medical bills that are less than $2000, and no serious residual injuries, then you are probably better off without a lawyer. Also, if there is very little or no visible injury to your vehicle, it doesn’t make sense to get a lawyer involved. If the accident was your fault, then you certainly will not get a lawyer involved because a lawyer won’t get involved unless they are defending you.
If you did not get prompt medical treatment after your accident, then most lawyers will be unable to assist you because of the delay. Insurance companies view delays in treatment as a sign occurred. If you did seek medical attention but did not follow the instructions of the doctors and did not follow through with physical therapy recommendations, then a lawyer probably will not be able to help you. Generally speaking, if an accident was minor in nature and the personal injury was also minor in nature, then getting a lawyer involved doesn’t really make sense. All this being said, most personal injury attorneys will offer a free consultation. Go to somebody that you trust and ask them for a free half-hour review of your case. A good attorney will let you know what the pros and cons of your case are, and they should also let you know if you’d be better off without a lawyer. In some cases, if clients want to handle their case on their own with occasional guidance from me, we do offer that service on a flat fee basis for a certain period of time. If you don’t have health insurance, there are other ways to get medical treatment. When it comes to car accident cases, or other injury cases, there are times when involving an attorney doesn’t really add value to your case. When a client contacts my office, there are several things that I discuss with them. I would say at least 50% of the time, I tell the client they are better off without a lawyer. There are several factors that influence this advice.
First, if the property damage is not extensive, it is difficult to persuade a jury to give more than a few thousand dollars to the injured party. While the impact may seem huge to the client, it doesn’t matter what they think. All that matters is what an insurance adjuster or jury may think. If they have to squint to see the property damage, it’s going to be an uphill battle. If the dollar amount of the property damage estimate is low, people often think the impact was “minor." Second, simple soft tissue injuries are a tough sell. Remember that all that matters is what an insurance adjuster thinks – or what a jury thinks. Since September 11th, juries don’t really care much for plaintiffs who complain of ‘soft tissue’ injuries. Most average people have aches and pains. Everyone is having a tough time with something. Some have financial troubles, family issues, illness, etc. Folks simply don’t have patience for others who complain of aches and pains from car accidents. In my 18 years of practicing law, most were spent as a defense lawyer. I’ve handled dozens of trials, and I can only recall a handful of times when the jury awarded the plaintiff more than $3000 in a soft tissue injury case. In most cases, they awarded the plaintiffs a big fat zero! Finally, if medical treatment has been delayed or inconsistent, I am reluctant to handle the case – regardless of the injury in most cases. Insurance adjusters and juries see delays in treatment as a liability. If you delay or have serious gaps in medical treatment, then your actions beg the question: How bad could your injuries be? If you were really hurt, you would have been more proactive about your medical treatment! When clients call my office, I tell clients they might be better off without me, especially when you consider the typical one-third contingency fee in personal injury cases. If I know the recovery will be minor, why should I take 33% of the client’s potential recovery? That often leaves them in worse position. There are times when a client really needs help, even with a minor case. However, a good lawyer shouldn’t take every case that presents itself. It is our duty to tell clients of their options, and they can decide. However, there are times that I won’t take the case because it simply would be a disservice to the client. I just give them some advice and encourage them to get a second opinion. Many prospective clients who call my office have no idea what to provide to their lawyer when involved in a car accident. I try to explain to clients that I need all the “pieces of the puzzle” because I’m not a psychic. I’m not going to magically get copies of your hospital bill, and I’m not going to magically have photos of the damage to your vehicle or your injuries, etc. I need the client’s help in obtaining these materials.
Here is a list of what I encourage my clients to bring to the first meeting. Dear Client: Here is a list of everything I need to help you with your case: ALL Photographs depicting damage to your vehicle. If you don’t have any photos, please try your best to take some. Photos should capture the damage from several angles. Digital pictures are best and can be delivered to us by email and/or disc. If your insurance company took photos, please ask them to get you those pictures as well. If you are already our client, you can have your insurance company send the photos directly to our office. It’s your file, so you are entitled to the photos. ALL photographs depicting damage to any other vehicles involved in the accident. Your auto insurance information (name, address, policy numbers and claim numbers if available). If you have the “Declarations Page” showing evidence of insurance covering the date of the accident, that is best. This page outlines the important information including policy number, amount of coverage, etc. If you don’t have it, please call your insurance company and ask them to fax it to us. Insurance information of all other parties. Including insurance name, policy numbers if known, claim number if known, adjuster, address, etc. Property damage estimates (if available). Even if your car was a “total loss,” it is often helpful to obtain a good property damage estimate that outlines all the parts of your car that were damaged. Frame damage and other significant entries on your property damage estimate can affect your case. Any and ALL doctors and facilities with whom you have treated. Please provide all contact information (names, phone numbers, addresses, etc). Make sure that whenever you initially go to a doctor for treatment related to this accident, you MUST tell the doctor’s office you are there because of the accident. If you don’t mention the accident, some insurance adjusters will doubt whether the treatment was accident-related. Please let us know if you have ever been a Medicare recipient. Also, please provide us with your health insurance information. Police report (if available). If you have the police report number, we can order the police report for you. If you already have the police report, please provide a copy. If there was no police report prepared, please let us know that as well. Were there any witnesses? If yes, we will need their contact information. Once you provide your lawyer with this information, he/she will be better able to represent you. They need all the pieces of the puzzle if they are going to paint a picture for an insurance adjuster. I used to work for the insurance companies as a defense attorney so I defended personal injury cases for many, many years all the way through trial, everything from soft tissue injuries to brain injury cases and everything in between. Now I spend my time representing victims of personal injury accidents. Sometimes clients call my office and they say, “Rob, I was involved in a personal injury accident. I really don’t know what to do.” The first thing to do is take photographs to document all the property damage.
First things first, make sure that you take photographs of every vehicle that was involved in the accident. If you have the energy at the scene of the accident, and you have a camera or perhaps a cell phone that has a camera, a camera in it, take picture…but not only of your vehicle. I have a lot of clients they bring me lots of pictures of their vehicle only, and that’s fine. However, if you can, take pictures of all the other vehicles that were involved in the accident as well. The other thing that I would add is that you should take pictures from several different angles because a picture is a static, two dimensional image. Sometimes it’s very difficult to assess the damage just by looking at it from one angle. So if you’re taking a photograph, make sure to take photographs from several different angles so that you better tell the story. If you don’t have photographs, it’s not terribly helpful when you’re trying to convince a jury or an adjuster or anybody else of the severity of the impact. So pictures really do tell a thousand words so, to the extent that you can, take photographs. If your vehicle has already been towed to a yard, see if you can get to that yard or have a friend or a family member go to that yard and take some pictures of your vehicle – the more the merrier. There really is no limit as to far, as far as how many pictures are good. Also, again, pictures of the other vehicle is very, very helpful. Many times, there will be a wealth of information about your car accident on the police report. Most of the time, the police will only come to an accident scene if there were reported injuries. If none, they will generally encourage the parties to “exchange information” and they won’t get involved. The lack of a police report may be used by the opposing insurance company as evidence there was no injury at the scene. After all, if the police did not show up, then perhaps no injuries were reported.
If the officer at the scene asks you if you were injured, you don’t want to be brave. The report, if any, will have no mention of injury. If you try to make a claim later on, then the lack of a reported injury will likely be used against you. If there is a police report, please provide it to your lawyer. It’s going to have a lot of important information in there, including insurance information, the officer’s opinion about the responsible party. Sometimes there is information regarding witnesses, the severity of the impact, how the accident occurred and much more. The officer’s opinion regarding fault is not the gospel truth about liability, but it’s helpful, and it’s one of the pieces of the puzzle that will be very helpful to your lawyer. Sometimes you won’t have the police report. Instead you will have a police report card that the officers give you at the scene and it will have the police report number on it. Give that to your lawyer so they can secure the police report from the responsible agency. Also sometimes officers take photographs at the scene of the accident and your attorney can obtain those as well. Remember the police report is only part of the puzzle your lawyer will use to form a complete picture regarding your automobile accident. If you have a car accident in the Santa Clarita area, including Valencia, Saugus, Newhall, Canyon Country, Castaic, Stevenson Ranch, Palmdale or Lancaster and beyond, call personal injury lawyer Robert Mansour for a candid appraisal of your injury case. |
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