If you’ve been involved in a car accident and your vehicle’s been damaged or you’ve suffered a personal injury, you should file a claim to get the most from your settlement.
In a case of a car accident, you will not be dealing directly with the person who caused the accident, but with their insurance company.
Of course, this applies to the accidents in which the drivers have insured cars. On the other hand, if the other driver was driving without insurance, he or she needs to pay out of their pocket, but it’s not as simple as it sounds.
In both cases, make sure you get help from car accident claims solicitors, who are experienced and professional, and know exactly how to deal with the whole situation.
How to Act When the Accident Happens?
Even a small car accident can give you long-term injuries. At the scene of the accident, you should gather as much information as you can. Before you accept anything, get help from the legal agencies.
This includes the names and contact information of everyone who was involved. Plus, make sure there are at least some witnesses. After few days of the accident, it is difficult to gather all these things. So, it is advisable to remember all the things and take all the required things and information.
Don’t hesitate to take photographs of the scene – they can turn out to be the most important evidence. While taking photographs, do not miss anything. Take photographs so that you can cover all the things in one capture, Also, someone can understand the scene with multiple pictures of the accident site.
Find out if the other driver(s) have insurance and what their insurance company is.
Take a good look around and see if you notice any physical damages on each vehicle and write down license plates.
Finally, don’t forget to call the police, as they know the protocol and the procedure to collect the evidence needed. Call your friends or family members about the accident so that they can help you if they are in nearby locations.
Contacting the Insurance Company
Insurance companies will require a lot of information from you because they will try to minimize the amount of compensation as much as they can. But prepare yourself so that they can not reject any of your claims.
They are very experienced and know exactly how to deal with their clients. They will probably try to portray you as a partial culprit at least, which is why you must have documents prepared. Documents should be correct and give strong evidence of the things that you want to prove.
So, the best thing is to not create an even bigger problem for yourself, as the insurance company may reduce the amount you should receive, due to lack of evidence or documentation.
And to be sure that the outcome will be fair, hire a car accident claims solicitor. They will help you in preparing all the documents so that you can get full amount of your claims.
What If I’m Injured?
If one of the consequences of the accident is your personal injury, then you’ll probably need medical attention. This also means more costs and expenses for which you don’t have money to cover.
In addition, personal injury complicates the car accident situation even more. In this case, you may be entitled to reimbursement of medical expenses, too.
Considering the fact that car accidents have invisible consequences, such as mental or emotional pain, you may also claim compensation for these kinds of damages in your car accident claim. So you can claim for physical injuries and also for mental problems due to accident. Most people forget to claim personal loss due to emotional pain and you should not forget this thing while preparing documents.
Like we said previously, this is a complicated process and because of that, it’s best for you to talk to your solicitor.
Filing a good claim can save you time and money in the future.
On the other hand, if the insurance company denies your claim, you can appeal to the insurance company, which means more time and more money need to be invested in this process. So to avoid all these things, make your documents so that no evidence will be missed. Also, prepare to answer questions of the insurance company to make your claims strong.
Gather as much information and documentation as you can, talk to your solicitor, file a car accident claim and be patient – with persistence, good things will happen.