Follow-Up Tasks In the Days After a Car Accident

Posted on

The days after a car accident are crucial to both your physical health and your legal case. The brief instant in which the crash occurs is followed by months or years of aftermath. Although you may be dealing with physical injuries, you must take some action to put yourself in a better position to recover financial compensation.

One crucial step that you must take after a car accident is hiring an attorney to advance your legal case. Call the Pensacola auto accident attorneys at Stevenson Klotz Injury Lawyers to discuss your case and learn whether you may be eligible for financial compensation.

The Hard Work Begins After You Leave the Car Accident Scene

Once the dust settles, and the car accident scene is cleared, you are still left with a long to-do list after your accident. In many respects, your ordeal is just beginning.

You will be forced to deal with a number of details when you are not at your physical best. Some of them are administrative, while others relate to your health.

Some of these tasks are far more important than just details — they can make the difference in your long-term health and your financial situation.

What to Do in a Days After a Car Crash

Get medical help and take care of your health

The most important thing that you need to address is your physical health. Cars may be replaceable, but your health is not. Some car accident injuries lurk under the surface and are not immediately apparent at first.

If your car accident was even remotely serious, it is worth your time to see a doctor and get checked out medically. Untreated car accident injuries can grow worse over time.

Besides your health, there is another key reason why you need prompt medical treatment. The insurance company is watching what you do after the accident.

They will review your medical records to see when you sought treatment. Then, they will confirm that you have followed your doctor’s recommendations, keeping your appointments and taking your medications. If you are not diligent about your medical care, the insurance company can claim that their driver’s actions were not the cause of all your damages.

Hire an attorney

You should also contact a lawyer as soon as possible after the accident. If you are not able to do it yourself, you should have someone you trust do it for you.

Any day that you do not have legal counsel is one day when your legal rights are at risk. The insurance company wants to push you around in any way that they can. If they see that you are not represented, they view you as a target of opportunity.

There are many reasons why you need immediate legal help, including:

  • The evidence that you need to prove your car accident can disappear quickly, and it is difficult for an attorney to help you demonstrate liability when they come onto the case months later.
  • The insurance company may try to pressure you into giving a statement that you are under no obligation whatsoever to give. They will use anything that you say against you in any way. If you have an attorney representing you, the insurance company must go through your lawyer.
  • The insurance company could also try to trick or pressure you into a settlement that drastically undercompensates you. Hiring a car accident attorney could protect your legal rights, so you could reach a full and fair settlement.

Address other administrative details

In the meantime, you are also dealing with other important details:

  • You may need to make a repair appointment for your car.
  • You must also address medical bills, sometimes negotiating with providers for extra time to pay your obligations.
  • You will also need to gather your documentation for when you are filing your car accident claim.

It seems like the work involved in the car accident aftermath is never-ending. You certainly will have your hands full. However, you cannot overlook the legal process because taking too much time can harm your case. Here, delay can cost you real money.

The good news is that a car accident lawyer can handle most of the details of your legal case. You would not need to pay them anything upfront to get them working on your case. They are only paid if and when you win your case. Then, their payment would come from the proceeds of your settlement or jury award.

What Not to Do After a Car Accident

Equally important as what you should do, is what you should not do after a car accident.

Publicly discussing your car accident usually does not lead to anything good. Even if your social media accounts are set to private, the insurance company may still be able to access your posts in the discovery process in court. While you may want the support that your social media friends could offer, what you say could be used against you in a claim or trial. It is simply not worth it.

You should not talk about your accident, and you should be careful about what you say.

Similarly, if the other driver’s insurance company tries to contact you, politely decline to give them any statement or answer questions. If you have an attorney, ending the conversation can be as easy as saying “call my lawyer”. In the meantime, you should view any communication from the insurance company with suspicion out of an abundance of caution.

Contact a Pensacola Car Accident Lawyer Today

When you are handling follow-up tasks after a car accident, contact the experienced attorneys at Stevenson Klotz Injury Lawyers. Our team can take some of the pressure off you by handling your car accident case and keeping the insurance company at bay.

We are standing by and ready to speak with you during your free initial conversation. You can message us through our website, or you can call us today at 850-444-0000.

Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Sitemap | Copyright © 2024 Stevenson Klotz Injury Lawyers Powered by Drive Law Firm Marketing

Free Case Evaluation

850-444-0000

Case evaluations are 100% cost & obligation free, and if you hire us, you only pay us if we are successful in making a recovery for you.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
100% Secure and Confidential