Were you injured in a car crash and have questions? Read our 3 car accident injury tips for guidance, then contact our Gilbert attorneys now.
1) Talking to the Insurance Company
Basically, recorded statements can be dangerous to their case. Some realize this and refuse to give a recorded statement but still talk to the adjuster and tell them everything as far as they’re concerned about their situation. The adjuster, even if they aren’t recording it, is taking notes. That still can come back and bite you where you probably don’t want to be bitten.
In our law firm, we don’t ever give insurance adjuster recorded statements. We always insist that it be in writing. Also, many times we demand that the insurance company let us take a statement from their driver. Usually the insurance company goes why would we want to allow that? Fair is fair. Forget it.
Be aware of these tactics. The most important thing is call us first before you give a recorded statement, before you actually even talk to the insurance adjuster about your injuries or anything serious. You can talk to them about your vehicle, but they always want to know – they’ll say how are you doing, Sally? Not bad. They will use this to say you were not really injured.
You’ve got to be careful.
2) Medical Bill Payments
One, you’re not at fault in this accident. You think you shouldn’t have to pay for any of these medical bills. The insurance company isn’t paying for it, so what does that mean? You’re left high and dry, so to speak.
That can happen if you don’t have a law firm on your side. As the attorney explained, first of all, if we refer you to any medical expert or most medical experts, then they’re going to agree to wait to be paid until your case is settled. Some of our medical experts will even do what we do, which is say if there isn’t any recovery, you don’t owe us a penny. Then you can just have peace of mind. As far as the medical bills, it actually can be, as our attorney explained to the potential client, to your benefit to use your health insurance.
If you’re not at fault, who should you be using your health insurance? As the attorney explained, there’s a couple reasons why, but call us and we’ll always give you an analysis of your particular situation.
In general, if your health insurance pays your medical bills and the bill is $10,000, they’ll typically pay $3,000. Do they need to be paid back? Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t. That’s another reason to call us and we can tell you about that.
Even if you have to pay them back, it’s going to be a lot less than the original bill. That’s another reason for having a law firm represent you because we can almost 100% of the time negotiate the repayment amounts down to put more money in your pocket. If you don’t have a law firm, you have to pay whatever they say. They can file liens. Hospitals can file liens against you and things like that. We negotiate those down.
I hope you understand then that we can make sure your bills get paid and you get paid for pain and suffering. We do have a policy that we make sure that our clients always get more than we do. They always get more in their pocket. You don’t have to worry about a situation where everybody got paid except the most important party, which is you.
3) Lost Wage Reimbursements
This can be valuable information for you too.
The way insurance companies typically do it is you need number one, a doctor’s order saying no to work. If you just stay at home in terrible pain and you can’t work but a doctor didn’t give you a doctor’s order, the insurance company is going to say tough luck. You want to make sure that you have a doctor’s order saying that. That’s number one.
As the attorney explained, that’s not necessarily enough because the way insurance companies work it is if you punch a timecard or time clock and punch in and out, they’re more likely to reimburse you. If you’re self-employed, you’re an independent contractor, something like that, insurance companies go yeah, sure, you didn’t work. They always suspect somehow you had somebody else do it and they paid you. If you’re not salaried or get regular wages, then it’s much harder to get reimbursed from an insurance company.
They’ll often demand tax returns. In fact, they always will. Why? They say number one, that person’s probably fudging on their taxes anyway and making it low. Let’s just see. Let’s see what they say.
Then if you give them tax returns, they go so what? We’re still not paying you. Those kinds of situations are definitely more difficult. That’s even more important to call our law firm and have us help you at the beginning. Maybe we’ll refer you to a CPA who can help prepare the information that will stand up to an insurance company.
You don’t want to wait until six months later or a year later and they go you know what? We don’t buy any of this, and you’re out thousands and thousands of dollars potentially. That’s why it’s so important that you call us at the beginning, if possible, not when the insurance company has said jump in a lake. We can give you guidance.
Our attorneys will analyze your specific situation and tell you what’s the best thing, even if we don’t end up representing you. We’ll still point you in the right direction. Remember, the call is free, the information is free. It can even be priceless, worth tens of thousands of dollars to you. We really are here for you.
Were you or a loved one injured in a crash and have questions about our 3 car accident injury tips? Contact experienced Gilbert Car Accident Lawyers at Free Injury Advice today for a free consultation and case evaluation.
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