Three Things You Should Never Do After An Injury Accident That Was Not Your Fault

If the individual or business responsible for your injury is insured, you will be filing a claim with the insurance company. There are common mistakes people make when doing this. The following are three things that you should never do.

You should not allow an insurance company to give you the runaround

After you have filed a claim with the insurance company, you may experience long delays in getting a response to your communications, and when they do respond, they might only give you vague answers or general comments. There are many reasons for this. For example, they may not believe your injuries were severe and think that when they finally make you an offer, you will be happy with the amount, agreeing to it quickly. You are finally getting your compensation. But you should never play this game with an insurance company. The way to fight this delay tactic is by hiring a personal injury attorney. Your attorney will ensure his or her communications are given a prompt response.

You should not attempt to evaluate an offer from the insurance company

Once you have been given a dollar amount from a claims adjuster for the settlement, you should never begin your own calculation to determine if the amount is fair. You will be told the offer is good, and if you want a little more, perhaps you can negotiate this. The problem is that there is a strong likelihood the offer is too low because these offers nearly always favor the insurance company. There may be areas of compensation you are entitled to that are not included in the offer. One free consultation from a personal injury attorney can help you better understand what a fair amount is.

You should never sign documents without an attorney reading them

This is the final step for an insurance company putting a claim behind them. The problem is that you may not understand this. You may be told that if there is an issue in the future, you can revisit the issue at a later time. However, you can be sure that buried in the documents is a clause that protects the insurance company from any future payments or litigation. An attorney can read the paperwork and explain to you what it contains. He or she will also be able to tell you what compensation is excluded in the documents.

There are several things you should never do after an injury that was not your fault. You should never let an insurance company stall in processing your claim. You should never evaluate an offer yourself, and under no circumstances should you sign any documents. All of these issues can be solved by a consultation with a personal injury attorney. Contact a lawyer like Todd East Attorney at Law to learn more.