Common Mistakes After a Car Accident

Answer:

The question often comes up what are common mistakes that people often make unknowingly that hurt their case when they have a car accident in Arizona? This is so important that I’m glad you’re reading this because it may prevent you from making serious mistakes in your own case. The number one most common mistake, of course, and we’ve discussed it previously, is just taking whatever $500 the insurance company offers.

Beyond that, other very common mistakes are the insurance adjuster calls up and says Sally or Jim, we’re not going to pay for your vehicle unless you give us a recorded statement. Of course, Sally or Jim feels boxed into a corner. When they call our office – and this happened the other day – what our attorneys explain, they say Jim, in a situation like that, at least let us analyze what happened. Let’s talk to you about it. Then we can give you some guidance on whether that’s a wise idea. In our office, we don’t give recorded statements at all, period. Why? You’ve heard the phrase anything you say can and will be used against you. If they ask a question like how fast were you going? Most people really don’t know. If you estimate something like in so many feet and you’re off, they can make it seem like an accident is your fault when it clearly wasn’t. In our office, we give only written statements. Why? Question, talk to you about answer, we can make sure that it’s going to help your case and not hurt your case. If you’re not represented by an attorney, the adjuster is going to say no, I want that recorded statement. If you don’t give it to me, I’m not fixing your car. They want to put you between a rock and a hard spot. At least call us first so we can discuss and have one of our attorneys analyze your case. Beyond that, the other things that are mistakes that can hurt your case is probably going to only your primary care doctor. Your primary care doctor, there is nothing wrong with them. They don’t really understand the medical legal process, however, and can end up either not helping your case or in quite a few instances hurting your case unintentionally. They don’t know. They don’t understand how insurance adjusters view their notes and what they say. Saying something like if you’ve seen this family doctor for the last 20 years and you had a prior low back injury and if now the doctor says Sally is back here for a low back injury again, even if this is much more serious, even if you didn’t see your doctor for that and you were fine for a year or something, that’s going to hurt your case. That’s another mistake, not seeing a real medical expert who understands the medical legal things, orthopedic surgeon, neurologist, people like that. They’re not very many of those around in the valley, as an example. The mistakes people make are it’s really a list this long, but I’m just trying to give you the most common ones. That’s really another important reason to call us and let one of our attorneys analyze your case and your situation for free so you don’t make those kinds of mistakes. Another important reason for calling us is that the statistics have shown that people who are injured in a car accident who call a lawyer just one time end up getting substantially more money from the insurance company, even if they don’t hire the lawyer. Remember, that’s another reason to call us. Get a free call. Let one of our attorneys analyze your case. Are there other mistakes that people commonly make? Sure. They’re all over the place. The simplest way to keep that from happening is call us first before you talk to the insurance adjuster. Remember, the call is free. The information is free. We really are here to help you.