If you were in an auto accident, it’s important that you are careful regarding what you say and do. Your actions and statements will be scrutinized by the opposing party to challenge your injury claim. Here are a few mistakes to avoid:
1. Trying to Follow the Case Without a Lawyer
According to attorney Pratheep Sevanthinathan, when you’re injured in a car accident, it’s natural to want to deal with the claim yourself. You don’t want to give up your day job and dedicate your life to the case for months. That’s why many people try to handle the claim themselves or use one of those “no win, no fee” lawyers that advertise on TV.
2. Realizing Too Late There Are Some Mistakes
It can be challenging for injured victims who have already had surgery and are taking pain medication or prescription drugs for injuries caused by someone else’s negligence in a car accident case to realize there might be mistakes in their claim that need correcting before they sign everything over.
3. Thinking You’re Headed for a Quick Settlement
Injured victims in car accident cases who have never had to take on a defendant before might think that something like “no win, no fee” means no risk. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. You may be responsible for paying legal fees even if you still need to get the settlement amount you hoped for.
4. Agreeing to an Amount without Verification
You can’t just take whatever an insurance adjuster or claims representative gives you as your settlement amount when you’re injured in a car accident case. Instead, it would be best if you verified the value of the settlement amount with a lawyer before you settled.
5. Complaining About Your Situation to Your Friends and Family
Many times in accidents like this, injured victims are more concerned about their own physical or emotional well-being than about fighting for economic justice. In other words, they may be more focused on how bad their injuries are than how the accident was caused or whether any money can be recovered.
6. Not Investigating or Reviewing Property Damage Claims
You may be dealing with property damage claims when you’re injured in a car accident case. Insurance companies commonly handle these claims, which can be tough to dispute, especially if the damage is minor. If you don’t investigate the details and document your claim correctly, you may not recover any money.
7. Trying to Negotiate without an Attorney
It’s vital that anyone who files a car accident claim talks with an attorney first before they reach any settlement agreement because anything they sign could later be contested in court by their insurance company.
8. Not Paying Attention to the Details
The details of a case matter when it comes to recovering money for medical bills or lost wages. If victims aren’t paying attention to the elements, they may not recover any money for their injuries because they can’t prove their losses.
9. Trying to Handle Everything on Your Own
Finally, injured victims in car accident claims should never try to handle everything independently because there is so much at stake. They have a vested interest in protecting their legal rights throughout this process, which is why they need a lawyer to help and watch them at every step.