When you are injured in a car accident that is not your fault, the law gives you the right to file a claim for compensation for your injuries with the at-fault driver’s insurance or your own insurance (when the at-fault driver has no insurance or too little insurance). But the insurance companies are not out to treat you fair. Insurance adjusters have one job—to save their company money on every claim that is filed against them. Insurance adjusters are highly skilled in tricking claimants into doing things that will harm their case such as causing delays in necessary medical care or admitting things that can be used against them. They know that the longer they can stall you from taking steps to document your case and preserve the evidence you need to win a case in court, the lower the value of your case. Thus, when you find yourself injured in a car accident, there are several steps that you should take to document your car accident case if you want to increase the value of your car accident injury claim.
Document Your Accident
The first thing you should do after an accident is to call 9-1-1. If you are hurt, request an ambulance. Whether you are injured or not, you should request the police come to the scene to document the accident. Do not give the other party a chance to change their story after the fact with no investigation to disprove it. Second, if possible, get the name and phone number of all eyewitnesses to the wreck. These people may be key in providing the truth. Next photograph the vehicles and the scene. It is wise to take pictures of both vehicles while at the scene as well as the layout of the roads so that you can easily explain how the wreck occurred.
Document Your Property Damage
In addition to photographing the vehicles to document the accident, you need to keep detailed documentation of your vehicle damage—outside and inside. For the outside, you should take good photos showing the damage close up and from a step or two back. You will want to take it somewhere to get a detailed repair estimate that you can submit to the insurance companies. If it is a newer car, find out how the wreck affects your trade-in and resale values. You may have a diminished value claim. I recommend that if you have full coverage, repair it through your insurance and let them deal with the hassle of pursuing the other insurance.
On the inside, it is always wise to document your seatbelt use by taking photos of any yaw marks on the seatbelts. Photos of deployed airbags and broken seats can further help to document the severity of the impact.
Document Your Injuries
After leaving the scene, the next step to take is to document your injuries. If you are injured, seek medical care promptly. Nothing makes a jury doubt the voracity of your injury claim like delaying in seeking care. Juries do not tend to reward people who “tough it out.” They tend to think that someone who is seriously injured with seek care without concern for cost or inconvenience. Thus, someone who delays probably was not injured all that badly.
Take photos of any visible injuries. Even scratches, seatbelt burns, and road rash can document that there was an impact.
Be honest and complete with your medical providers. People have a natural tendency to downplay their pain. Your doctor cannot treat you if he does not fully understand your injuries. In addition, doctors document your medical history when you tell them what’s going on. Insurance companies will scour these records to see if what you told your doctor matches up with what you are claiming to them. Tell your doctors where you have pain and explain how it limits and affects your life. Insurance companies like Allstate use a computer program known as Colossus to scour your medical records and look for these types of complaints. If they are not there, you get zero compensation for them.
Follow your doctor’s advice. You have to prove that the medical care you receive is necessary medical care. If you are not even bothering to follow up on it, the care you do get may not look necessary to an insurance adjuster or a jury. When you have completed your medical care and been released, get copies of all of your medical records and bills.
Document Your Lost Wages
Missing work is common after an accident. You may require time off to recover, time off to fix your car, or time off for medical appointments. Any time that you take off, you are entitled to seek reimbursement. The best thing to do is keep a record of the time you take off yourself. Then, when you are back to work and not taking time off, have your employer prepare a letter that explains your hourly earnings, the days and hours missed and why, and the total number of hours taken off. It is best to attach a ledger of missed time and paychecks showing the amount you earned before as well as the reduced amount after the accident when possible. The more you document this claim, the more likely they are to accept your evidence and pay you for your lost time. If you are on a commission basis or a non-hourly pay structure, proving your lost wage claim may require the assistance of an attorney or even an expert economist.
Document Your Expenses
In order to submit all of your losses after a car accident, you will need to keep receipts of any additional expenses that you have. If you need to buy Ibuprofen or bandages, keep the receipt. In situations where the injuries are serious, sometimes it is necessary to cancel events, drop classes, or miss scheduled trips that are non-refundable. If you must miss things because your injuries prevent you from taking that trip or continuing in that college class, you can submit the bill for these things and documentation that you canceled them as part of your losses. Additionally, if you need to hire help around the house or yard, or pay for assisted care or transport, all of these things are expenses that you need to keep a detailed record of. Save the bills, canceled checks, and receipts.
Final Thoughts
Documentation of your accident is the key to getting the fairest compensation you can—whether you have to seek it from the insurance adjuster or a jury. Careful planning of the things you need to document can help you not let critical evidence disappear. When you are injured, all of this can be a hassle. Consulting a car accident lawyer sooner rather than later is a way to ease this burden and pass some of it along to your attorney. Get a free consultation to see how Simmons and Fletcher, P.C. can shoulder the burden of documenting and presenting your claim today.
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