In our first post dealing with things you really are better off not saying to any insurance company, we covered a fair amount of ground, but kept some further tips and tactics for you to think about.
Being an auto accident attorney for as long as I have, I have seen a whole lot of car crashes, heard hundreds of stories from clients about insurance companies giving them the short end of the stick and have handled numerous claims to a successful conclusion for my clients. This is what an auto accident attorney does. When good people have bad things happen to them and need help, we are right there to give them a hand.
The last thing we talked about is waiting to sign a medical release. That makes good common sense, because sometimes injuries don’t show up and cause you grief until a few days or even months later. This is one of the major reasons for not signing any medical release that would cut you off at the knees when it came to a fair settlement.
An auto accident attorney gets calls about this all the time from people who don’t know what to do when the insurance company insists they need to sign a medical release. The answer is you do nothing until talking to your auto accident attorney and you wait; wait until you know the full extent of your injuries.
I wanted to mention something that very few people are familiar with, and that is not giving out any information about the name of your doctor or any names of members of your family. You might be wondering why not, and the answer is that the insurance company just may call them for more information about you, as in what did you say to them about the accident? Information like that can hurt your case, so silence is golden. If you aren’t certain about something, call your auto accident attorney for advice. That is what they are there for in the first place.
Unfortunately, a lot of accident victims don’t have a really good idea of the value of their insurance claim. Thus, when the insurance company approaches them and offers a sum that sounds great, they often jump at it. After all, the insurance company wouldn’t try to rip you off would they?
Well, remember this, the insurance company wants to pay you as little as it can get away with and close the file quickly. Do not immediately say you will accept their offer. Call your auto accident attorney and let him know about the offer. Your auto accident attorney is there to guide you through the settlement process and he will tell you right away not to take their offer and that you are entitled to more.
Also, it’s never a very good idea to tell the insurance company that you don’t have an auto accident attorney. This is a little like waving a red flag at a bull. Find one quickly, because having an auto accident attorney fighting for your rights will get the attention of the insurance company and up the chances of a fairer settlement. They know how to make the insurance company do right by you.
An auto insurance attorney also knows how to figure out the economic worth of your injuries and calculate in your medical bills, loss earning potential, time missed on the job, pain and suffering and other things you had to pay for as a result of being involved in a car wreck.
