Some Tips for Car Accident Claims

Car accidents can be very traumatic. What should you do when you get into an accident? The first steps are easy and should be something that you memorized:

• Move your cars out of the way
• Make sure everyone is okay
• Call 911
• Take pictures of the vehicles
• Exchange information with the other driver
  • Year, make, and model of the car
  • License Plate Number
  • Insurance Company
  • Insurance Policy Number
• Call your insurance company

What do you do when the insurance company calls you?

Often times, the first person who will call you is a claims adjuster, who works for your insurance company. This person is hired by your insurance company or could be an “independent” adjuster, who usually works for a private company but was hired by the insurance company. Here are some of the common questions they will most likely ask you:

• Where is your car located?
• Is your car damaged?
• What happened in the accident?
• Was anyone hurt?

They want to know where your car is located, usually to make sure that it is not accumulating storage charges from the tow shop you used. If it is, they will most likely ask you to call the tow shop and ask for the vehicle to be released. It is common for insurance companies to ask you to move your car to one of their preferred body shops. The insurance companies usually recommend one of their preferred shops and already have arrangements with shops that help them with some of the work, like photographing your car.

Even though they recommend specific shops, you are not required to go to it.  You can go to any shop you want to, but keep in mind while there are some very good shops, which usually get recommendations from insurance companies, there are a lot of shops that are bad. Ask your friends or family for recommendations, especially since it is wise to never go to a shop unless you get a personal recommendation.

Once you decide where you want the car fixed, the insurance company and the adjuster come up with an agreed price with the shop. The price that is decided is the amount your insurance company agrees to pay, and the shop agrees to accept. You shouldn’t be charged for anything except your deductible. After you’ve been in an auto accident, you’ll notice that the insurance adjuster will try different strategies with you, mainly to help save the insurance company money. This is because the insurance adjuster is not your friend. This doesn’t cover every circumstance, but it is important to be knowledgeable enough so that the adjuster knows that you have an idea of how the process works. Knowledge alone will help you with your claim.

Another important thing to remember is that if you are injured in an accident, you are eligible to recover the value of for any medical bills, lost wages, and a reasonable amount for your pain and suffering. Of course, there is no formula that can perfectly predict how much these amounts will be, especially since each case is different.

Determining the worth of your case takes experience, and the attorneys at One Law Group have the experience to help you win your case. At One Law Group, your injury is a priority and we believe that you should be able to heal without being stressed. Contact us at (844) 626-1529 for a consultation.