1) Stop as soon as you can and move your vehicle only if it is safe to do so.  There's no need to unnecessarily hold up all the other traffic. If the positions of the vehicles involved in the accident are important to preserve, take photos of the scene then move if it's safe to do so.

2) If anyone is injured, call 911 and inform the police.  If there are no injuries, or relatively minor complaints, the police probably won't come to the scene.  

3) If the accident involves a "hit and run" situation, most car insurance policies require that you inform the police within a specified period of time and to also inform your insurance company.  Call your company or broker to check on those details.  Otherwise, you may not be covered for the hit and run.

4) Try to get the names and addresses of all the people who were involved in the accident.  Also try to obtain their driver's licence numbers and vehicle license plate numbers.  These days, having a cell phone will make things much easier as you can simply take photos of plates and licenses.  If you can, also take photos of any registration information.  Oftentimes, the person driving a car is not necessarily the registered owner of the car.

5) Obtain names, addresses, and phone numbers of any passengers involved and any witnesses to the accident.

6) Make sure to take plenty of photos of the accident scene.  Also, take several pictures showing the damage to your car.  Make sure the photos you take are from several different angles and distances. Also, try to take photos of all the other vehicles involved in the accident.  Sometimes, your car may not look so bad, but that's only part of the story.  That's why it's important to take photos of all vehicle involved.  Also, take photos of any injuries you might have.  

7) Notify your insurance company and/or insurance broker of the accident. Keeping the accident a secret from your company may not be wise as many auto insurance companies require you to report accidents to them.  If you don't, you might be in violation of your policy in which case you might be denied coverage should you later decide to make a claim or if a claim is brought against you.

8) If anyone involved in the accident was hurt, or if the damage to your vehicle exceeds $750, you need to notify the DMV within 10 days of the accident.  This is done by filing an SR1 form.  This form can be downloaded from the DMV website. The more information you have, the easier it will be to fill out the form.  Ask your insurance company and/or broker for help if you need assistance.

9) If you are injured, you should get medical attention as soon as possible. Your health and well being are very important. This is not the time to be brave and stoic.

​10) Consult with an experienced personal injury attorney if you want to review your legal options.

After working for an insurance company for over 13 years as a defense lawyer, I opened my own practice, this time representing victims of car accidents.

One of the biggest questions I get all the time is this: “I’ve been involved in a car accident. What should I be doing?”

Here is a list of things to do after an auto accident.

1) If you are still at the scene of the accident, and if you believe that you’ve been injured (even in the slightest), insist on obtaining a police report. There are several reasons to ask for a police report from the investigating officer. First, it documents the event, making it less likely the other party will change their story later on. Second, a police report documents your injury (the officer will usually as if you are hurt. You must tell them if you are so they can document your injury in their report) which lends credibility to a subsequent injury claim. In my experience, when there is no police report, the other party changes their story in some way, sometimes drastically, about 50% of the time. If there are any witnesses who favor your version of the events, try to get their contact information.

2) Make sure you act quickly in getting medical attention for your injuries. Not only is it the smart thing to do for your health, but delays in treatment will be used against you by most insurance adjusters. They generally argue that delays in treatment are evidence that the injury wasn’t serious. In other words, if you had serious or appreciable injuries, you would have sought treatment. Therefore, by not getting treatment, you must not be injured!

3) Make sure you take extensive photographs of all vehicle damage, not only photos of your vehicle but also of the other vehicles involved in the accident. These days, most people have phones that are capable of taking photos. Therefore, you might even be able to take photos at the scene of the accident. Also, don’t just take one photos. Taking many photos of your car from several angles and distances will help document the extent of damage to your vehicle. Also, while your vehicle may not look so bad, the other vehicle might have extensive damage. A picture tells a thousand words. Describing the damage to your vehicle simply doesn’t have the same effect as showing someone. Remember, if you make a claim in the future, the insurance adjuster is going to make every effort to minimize your claim. Photos of extensive damage can help persuade an adjuster otherwise.

4) Take photos of any and all injuries you may have sustained (even if it is slight bruising, cuts or scrapes). Take them in different lighting situations and from different angles. Sometimes injuries don’t show up well in photographs, so you want to make sure the injury photos are decent.

5) Gather all insurance information, not only regarding the person who caused the accident, but also your policy. Get the other person’s policy number, insurance company, and vehicle information. Make sure you also get their address. Also, get your insurance information and a copy of your “Declarations Page” which has a summary of the coverage you have available. There is a 25% the party at fault either didn’t have insurance or didn’t have enough insurance. In that case, you want to make sure you have Uninsured Motorist Coverage (UM Coverage).

6) Get a property damage estimate. An estimate will usually reveal all the parts of the care that were damages. Sometimes there can be extensive damage that isn’t easily visible, especially frame damage. When there isn’t a lot of cosmetic damage to a vehicle, a showing of frame damage can help persuade an insurance adjuster that an impact was relatively significant.

7) If you get treatment from any medical providers, mention every single thing that bothers you from the accident, even if it doesn’t bother you much anymore. Keep in mind insurance companies are using software to analyze your case. If something isn’t documented in your medical records (including any and all complaints), then it simply won’t be inputted into the computer by the insurance adjuster. Remember, if something isn’t in your medical records, it’s like it never happened. I tell clients to pretend the insurance adjuster is sitting on their shoulder like a parakeet during their doctor visits and therefore they need to be very aware of what they tell their health care providers.

Don't give recorded statements to insurance adjusters until you've spoken with a personal injury attorney. Make sure you know all your rights. A good personal injury lawyer can also educate you about your options. For example, while you might think you have a great case, the attorney may think differently. Also, in some cases, a good lawyer might explain that you are better off without an attorney’s help. A good lawyer will also tell you of strengths and weaknesses in your case. An initial consultation is usually free of charge. Call (661) 414-7100 to see if we can help with your case.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:

Hello everyone. My name is Robert Mansour. Today, I want to make a very brief video about whether or not it is financially a good to idea bring a claim in a personal injury case. Here's how this situation usually unfolds:

I'll get a call from a client and they'll say, "Look. I was involved in an accident, I was hurt etc, etc." I'll say, "Does the other party admit that they caused the accident? They say, "No. Actually, they don't agree that they caused the accident. They think I caused the accident." Or worse, they have a police report that puts them at fault, and the other party is not at fault. They come in and they want to fight, and they want to take them to court and all this other stuff. I said, "Okay. Well, what are your injuries?" "Oh, I got some sore neck and sore back."

I told them, "Listen, your case is not going to be worth very much. Even if it is, worth say $5000 or $6000. Are you prepared to spend anywhere between $5000 to $10,000 in an effort to recover $5000 to $10,000? It doesn't make any sense. Why would you spend as much as your case is worth, and spend two years in court, and all you're going to do, best case scenario is get that money back?"

Sometimes, even though you want to make your point and you want to prove the other party wrong, and you want to proceed on matters of "principle," you might be putting yourself in financial danger.  Sometimes, the best thing to do is to decide not to proceed. Sometimes, that is financially the wisest decision that you can make.

I hope you find this video helpful. If you'd like, feel free to contact my office for further consultation. Also, visit our website valencialawyer.com for lots more information. Thank you.

I used to work for a large insurance defense firm.  That means I worked for an insurance company, defending personal injury claims.  That's the opposite of what I do now.  While my clients were technically the policy holders of the insurance company, my employer was the insurance company.  Therefore, I had very little influence (basically none) about how the insurance company conducted business, how they advertised, the way they handled claims, etc.  I was a tiny fish in a very big ocean.  Those kinds of decisions were made in ivory towers at the corporate level.

After working for 13 years for the insurance companies, I decided it was time to open my own practice.  It was something I really had been wanting to do for about 4 or 5 years before actually "jumping ship."  There was an entrepreneurial bug in me that had been dormant for years but finally revealed itself to me.  I must admit, making the transition was a very scary event, and opening a law practice just before the Great Recession hit was not fun.  

In any event, one of the things that I really enjoy about my law office is the ability to have total control about my marketing, my message, how I communicate with clients, the ability to educate...basically the ability to call all the shots.  Unlike my former law office, now I have total control over how I do things.  While there are certainly burdens associated with being ultimately responsible for everything, there are definite benefits to "being your own boss."

One of the things I most enjoy is the marketing of my law office.  For example, this website is managed by me, and pretty much all the content on the website was authored by me.  This video above is no exception.  Like I said, I really enjoy marketing so I had a lot of fun making this "animated" short promotional video for my personal injury practice.  I hope you enjoy it too.  It's the story of Frank.

If you need guidance with your personal injury matter, please don't hesitate to contact my office.  We will let you know if we can help.  Call (661) 414-7100 anytime to see if we can assist you.  We serve all of Los Angeles County, particularly the Santa Clarita area and its communities of Valencia, Saugus, Canyon Country, Castaic, Newhall and Stevenson Ranch.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: 

Hello everybody, this is Robert Mansour, and today's video we're going to talk about whether or not bringing a personal injury case is worth it.

 Some clients find that it's not worth their time.  They come to my initial consultation and say, one client recently said "well, listen, if I don't get $10,000 dollars in my pocket after all is said and done, then this is not worth it for me.  So what do you think?"  

I told him "well, then it's not worth it for you because I can't guarantee the result in your case.  Your case probably won't be worth anywhere near $10,000 dollars.  I don't know.  But I certainly can't guarantee you some kind of result."

So if you're looking for a guaranteed result, you shouldn't waste your time because there's too many variables when it comes to these kinds of cases.  So in some ways, if you have a number in mind, you need to let go of that number or just not proceed at all.  

Other clients say "look, I'm not in this for the money.  I don't really care.  I don't want to make a million dollars.  I just want to get fair compensation.  I just want somebody to pay for my medical bills and maybe a little bit in my pocket, and certainly pay the attorney for his or her time." 

Some clients, it's just worth it for them so they don't have to deal with the insurance company.   Now in that case, it might be worth it for you as well.

But you need to talk about these things with your attorney and you need to kind of talk about your expectations.  You need to have a lawyer who will give you a realistic expectation and not just tell you anything you want to hear simply to get the case.  Because here's the thing.  Some lawyers know that they're going to make money regardless of the case that they take and they don't really have their client's best interest in mind.

If a lawyer's going to tell you something like "hey, I'm not really sure this is going to be worth your effort and worth your time, and these are some of the things that might go wrong with your case", that's a lawyer you should listen to because they're giving you a realistic assessment and not just painting a rosy picture for you.

So whether it's worth it or not kind of depends on your own expectations. 

Make sure you talk with your lawyer, and then you can make an educated decision. 

Again, this has been Robert Mansour.  If you want to learn more about my practice or ask me some questions regarding personal injury, all of my contact information is located below on the screen.  You can also visit my website at www.valencialawyer.com.

Thank you very much for watching this brief video.  (Call our Santa Clarita injury office today at (661) 414-7100 to see if we can assist you).

Some people get into a car accident and think they've won the lottery!  They expect lots of cash to roll their way.  However, reimbursement and compensation in personal injury cases often doesn't live up to the tall tales some may believe. Years ago, I actually had a client who thought her sprained neck was going to get her $250,000.  After this encounter, I make sure my clients have reasonable expectations about their personal injury case.

I'm not really sure why some clients have such unrealistic expectations about their personal injury cases.  Perhaps they've heard stories from others who got a lot of money or perhaps they've watched one too many late night TV commercials from attorneys who make personal injury cases look like some kind of lottery system.  I suppose the average personal injury cases don't make the news, so people naturally aren't aware of them.  They hear about the occasional person who recovers millions from McDonalds for spilled coffee.  Without knowing more about such cases, they figure THEIR case must be worth a great deal too.

The trouble is there are still some people out there who think their personal injury case is their path to riches.  Your accident case is NOT your lottery ticket, NOT your pension plan, and NOT a retirement plan.  If you have unreasonable expectations, you need to reevaluate your position and talk to an experienced attorney who will give you reasonable expectations.  Don't go to any lawyer who will tell you what you want to hear.

Attorney Robert Mansour handles personal injury cases in Santa Clarita, Valencia, Saugus, Canyon Country, Newhall, Stevenson Ranch, Castaic, Palmdale, Lancaster, Northridge, Chatsworth, and surrounding communities.  If you want a candid assessment of your personal injury case, call (661) 414-7100 for a free consultation.

It's probably one of the top five reasons people screw up their own personal injury case - waiting too long before seeing a doctor after they've been injured in a car accident.  How long is too long?  Generally, anything beyond a week is too long.  Some insurance companies believe three days is too long. 

The point is this - if you've been injured, and even if you are not sure, you MUST go seek health care immediately because any delay will be used against you.  However, even if you did delay, all is not necessarily lost.   Some insurance companies will entertain any kind of self-help you did as "active" treatment.  In other words, you have to demonstrate what you did at home to alleviate your pain.  Did you ice the injury, did you sleep in and rest, did you take ibuprofen, did you lay down on your couch to rest, etc?  You need to explain that you didn't just sit around and do nothing for two weeks, then decide to see a doctor. 

However, the key is "convincing" an insurance adjuster you did more than sit around.  How can you do that?  Well, the best way to convince the adjuster is by telling your doctor about your self-help remedies during your first visit.  Therefore, you must not only tell the doctor or the intake person at the doctor's office but also write it down on any intake forms.  Documentation is everything.  Remind the doctor to include such information in any reports generated by the doctor.  At the very least, it needs to be in your records.  For example, the doctor's report can say, "Mr. Smith came to seem me two weeks after his accident.  He tried pain medication and ice at home to no avail.  He tried hot showers and laying down, again without significant improvement.  He eventually decided to visit with a doctor as his pain wasn't getting better."  Do you see how this is much better than the inference that you just sat around doing nothing?  Remember one of the biggest rules when it comes to personal injury cases: If something is not in your medical records or the doctor's reports, then it basically never happened as far as the insurance adjuster is concerned.

Robert Mansour handles personal injury cases in Santa Clarita and its surrounding communities including Valencia, Saugus, Canyon Country, Newhall, Castaic, Stevenson Ranch, Palmdale, Lancaster and beyond.  Call (661) 414-7100 for help with your accident case.

It happened again today.  I met with a potential new client who told me the adjuster kept calling and offering her a settlement of $500.  The adjuster explained that in his experience, her kind of injury will probably fade over time and a couple of visits to the doctor "should do it."  Really?  This adjuster who probably has no medical degree has diagnosed my client over the phone and told her she will be getting better soon.  Then he offers her $500 to cover a "couple of visits to the doctor" and a little bit for "your pain and suffering."   He asks her to sign a general release in exchange for the money.  He promises her this outcome is fair and routine in his experience.  Not knowing much better, victims of accidents are often taken to the cleaners by overzealous claims adjusters who have forgotten their purported mission is to help others...not save nickels for an insurance company. 

The sad thing is that many insurance adjusters handling first party claims (i.e., claims for their own clients/insureds) are treating their own insureds just as poorly - with disdain and suspicion.  Claims are denied or marginalized simply because they can be.  The playing field is hardly level, and the insurance companies are keenly aware of that simple fact.

The focus is on saving money for the insurance company and "closing" their file.  Unfortunately, and I can say this after years in the business working both sides of the fence, too many adjusters have lost sight of the forest.  Many are so jaded after years of dealing with crooks and others trying to game the system.  They have forgotten that every so often, a legitimate claims comes through.  

If you are offered $500 as a quick settlement a few days after an accident, you should likely run the offer by an experienced personal injury attorney who won't simply tell you what you want to hear.  If you need help with your Santa Clarita, CA accident case, call attorney Robert Mansour at (661) 414-7100 for a free consultation.