What to Do When You Are In An Auto Accident

What to Do When You Are In An Auto Accident

Car accidents are an everyday occurrence, and people get hurt and sometimes even killed. Here are a few tips from a personal injury attorney as to what you should do.

First, if there are any injuries, call 911 right away. If no one appears hurt, still call the police to have them come and complete an accident report.

Take as many pictures as you can. This includes the cars around you so witnesses can be located, scene photos of the vehicles before they are moved to show location, and ones showing the damages to all the vehicles.

Exchange insurance and contact information with the other drivers (a cell phone picture of the insurance card works well).

Only discuss how the accident occurred with the police, and not with the other parties.

Write down names and contact information for any witnesses. The police may do this, but witnesses often do not wait around until the police arrive.

If you are injured, seek out medical attention sooner rather than later. You may not feel injured until a few hours later or even days later, but do not wait for the pain to go away.

After you get home from the accident, write down how the accident occurred and draw a diagram. Also write down anything else you can think of about the accident.

Call your own insurance company to report the accident and get a claim number.

Contact a personal injury attorney for a free consultation and follow their advice. They have dealt with this type of case many times, and they know how to handle it, while you likely have no experience with it.

Keep a diary to track your injuries, how you feel, what has happened, note any activities you missed out on, and anything else you think are related to the accident.

Do not post anything to social media such as Facebook or Twitter. Anything you tweet can and will be used against you in a court of law.

Also, this would be a good time to consider updating your insurance coverage. Review what insurance you have to ensure you have enough for the next time you are in an accident.

Always Make Sure You Have Enough Insurance

Always Make Sure You Have Enough Insurance

Everybody hates car insurance, until you need it. Most people think it is a waste of money, as they are great drivers. Unfortunately, due to these perceptions, far too many people do not have enough insurance (or none at all), and they do not find this out until it is too late.

First, I am not a fan of the insurance companies, but insurance itself is a necessary evil. Almost as important as having insurance, is to make sure you have enough coverage.

More is better, but there is a balancing act in because more insurance means higher premiums each month. Often times having more insurance is not as expensive as you think. Sitting down with an insurance agent can help you figure out where you might be able to save, but also explain what all of the available coverage options can do for you.

Though you may have an excellent driving record, you still need insurance. You see, what you do not realize is that often times your own insurance comes into play even when you did not cause the accident. That is, even if you are the most careful driver in the worked and never cause an accident, you better hope you are never seriously injured by the 18-year-old who is carrying the state minimum of $25,000 in bodily injury coverage (Oregon). The state minimum would not cover much in the way of any surgeries you may need, nor cover your month of lost income.

Now, yes, you could sue the 18-year-old for more than the $25,000, but good luck collecting from them when they make minimum wage. Plus, if you do get a judgment, they could fairly easily file for bankruptcy and wipe the debt out (not always available).

So what happens instead, is that you look to your own insurance for your underinsured  (UM) coverage. This is where making sure you have adequate limits on your own policy is key. A good number is $100,000, and adding an umbrella policy is also a good option, which can be fairly inexpensive given the amount of coverage they can provide. The underinsurance (UIM) is also uninsured motorist insurance as well, meaning if you get hit by someone with no insurance (as well as if you get hit by a hit & run driver), you will still have coverage.

Then you have the issue of your own liability if you do cause the accident. If you only have the bare minimum insurance and you seriously injury someone, odds are the attorney for the victim will seriously look at going after your assets. If you own a home and have some equity, you could lose your house. But, if you have say $100,000 in coverage, they will be less likely to come after you.

Similarly, your Oregon policy also has personal injury protection (PIP), in which your own auto insurance will pay for your medical bills. You see, the other insurance company will not pay your medical bills until down the line when there is a settlement, so PIP makes sure you can get treatment now. The problem with PIP, is the state minimum is $15,000 (Oregon), which is barely anything when it comes to healthcare. A couple days in the hospital will eat through that in no time. So, again, you can always opt for more. Now, your health insurance will pay for treatments as well, but one nice thing about PIP is you can choose whichever doctors you want, you are not limited to those in your network.

Another great feature of PIP is that it also covers you when you are a bicyclist or a pedestrian and are injured by an automobile. Further, it also covers your family members when they are a bicyclist or a pedestrian. For example, if your ten-year-old is riding their bicycle down the block and runs into a parked car, your PIP will pay for her medical bills.

Some Tips for Hiring an Attorney

If you are in need of the services of an attorney, here are a few things to keep in mind.

First, you want someone who has handled your type of case, or potentially something similar. You may not be able to find someone near you to handle your exact situation, but at the least, find someone who has handled similar cases. Experience is key.

Then we have fit. That is, when you talk to the attorney to take advantage of a free consultation, do you get along? Are you both on the same page as to what you are looking to do? If not, the that lawyer is probably not right for you. The thing is, your attorney cannot fight for you and fight with you at the same time. You must be a unified team. There are plenty of fish in the sea and plenty of attorneys out there to choose from, so you should be able to find one you can work with. If you cannot find one, then perhaps the issue is with you.

Next, do a little research. Vet them online. While attorneys may not have Michelin or Zagat ratings, there are a few places on the internet now that have reviews for attorneys and law firms. Google, Yelp, and Avvo are the main places where consumers can leave reviews about an attorney. Use these as part of your toolbox when looking for an attorney.

Honesty is also very important. This factor is hard to know beforehand, but if your attorney says they are going to do something, make sure they do. And if they do not, then maybe it is time for new counsel. To check on this beforehand, you can check the Oregon State Bar’s website to see if the person you are considering has any record of discipline.

Perhaps ask a friend or co-worker or family about the attorney. Maybe someone you know used a particular attorney before, so you can get an honest opinion about them, or maybe the acquaintance refers you to an attorney they do know.

Lastly is knowledge. Now, experience and knowledge are very similar and tend to go hand-in-hand, but there is a difference. You can usually discern if someone is knowledgeable about some topic when you talk to them. Does it make sense what they are saying, or does it contradict what they said five minutes earlier? Now, no two cases are identical, so you have to make sure your attorney has extensive knowledge in the area of law you are hiring them for.

My Guide As to Why You Need to Hire an Attorney for Your Personal Injury Case

Victims of accidents often try to handle their own claims with the insurance company when injured in an accident, but this is usually a big mistake.

One reason, is people think it costs too much to hire an attorney. Well, most personal injury attorneys work on a contingency basis, which means they do not get paid unless they recover for you. Almost always, an attorney will get you more money than the insurance company is offering, more than enough to cover the expense of hiring an attorney.

1. Also keep in mind that the insurance adjusters are not your friends, even though they may claim they are trying to help you. The role of the claims adjuster is to pay as little as possible on your claim. That includes your own PIP adjuster. Hire an attorney whose job is to get them to pay what is fair.

2. Speaking of the adjusters, they know how this process works, and you do not. Unless you deal with claims all day long, everyday, you are not going to know what to do, let alone what is a fair settlement amount. Attorneys know this as well, and help to keep the adjusters in check.
3. 
   Those adjusters are also counting on your inertia. If you delay long enough, the statute of limitations will expire and you will not be able to get anything. Insurance companies count on this, and every time someone procrastinates, they win.

4. Plus, your time is valuable. Do you really have time to deal with this? You are already busy getting your car fixed or replaced, plus going to the doctor, so do you really have more time to stumble through this process? That is what you pay an attorney for, who can also do it much quicker due to their skills and experience.

5. Then, the attorneys who are skilled in this area of law know the law, and you simply do not. If an adjuster tells you something, you will probably believe it, since they sound knowledgeable. Well, adjusters are not usually lawyers, so they often do not actually know what the law is and will misinform people. Attorneys know the law, and can make sure the adjusters do not get away with denying claims.

6. This means the lawyers know what to say, and just as importantly, know what not to say. Again, the adjuster's job is to pay as little as possible, so they will do their best to get all the information from you that could hurt your case, and not give you anything. You likely do not know what will and will not hurt your case, but your skilled attorney will. This is critical at the early stages of your claim when the adjuster will be hounding you for information you think you have to provide, but you do not have to provide anything most of the time, and some of that can be very harmful for your case.

7. Lastly, if you wait too long to hire an attorney, it simply may be too late. Many attorneys will not take your case if it is too close to the deadline to file a lawsuit, as they do not want to risk a malpractice claim if they miss the deadline after you waited 20 months. Further, even if you file the lawsuit to protect the statute of limitations, many times attorneys will still not want to take the case, as you could have already damaged your case far beyond repair. Then, once you are all alone and going against the insurance company's attorney, you will quickly be buried with discovery and other legal maneuvers, and then have no idea what to do at trial. Help yourself, hire an attorney with experience in this area of law as soon as possible to protect you from you.