Car accidents often lead to debilitating and life-changing injuries. Even when crashes seem fairly minor, they can result in lost wages, extraordinary medical bills, and considerable pain and suffering. The good news is that accident victims have legal means for recouping these and other damages. By filing and successfully pursuing a claim, you can receive compensation for all of your losses. However, the absolute best way to ensure an optimum outcome for your case is always by hiring a car accident lawyer. Read on to discover what this professional can do for you, and exactly how you should respond immediately after an accident.

Essential Steps to Take After a Car Crash

Long before you reach out to a personal injury law firm, there are several important steps that you need to take to protect yourself. To start, even though you’re likely coursing with adrenaline, cortisol, and other chemicals that are part of your natural “fight or flight” response, you should never leave the scene of an accident until it’s been properly documented. When you can, stick around until a police report has been filed, and always exchange contact and insurance information with any drivers involved. You should also:

• Avoid admitting fault even if you believe that this may be the case
• Visit the emergency room right away to have your injuries assessed and documented
• Collect the names and contact information of any firsthand witnesses

In the first seconds and minutes that follow a car crash, make sure that everyone is okay. Be sure to put your vehicle in park so that it doesn’t continue rolling or causing more damages. Turn the ignition off and assess whether or not it’s safe to remain in your location. If you need to keep your vehicle right where it is, always take the time to set up reflective triangles or flares. These small, simple steps could prove life-saving after a car crash.

As soon as you’ve completed your emergency room visit, get in touch with a California accident attorney right away. Getting qualified legal help early-on will prevent you from making a number of common missteps that might diminish your settlement amount or put you in jeopardy of getting no settlement at all.

Avoid the Stress and Hassle of Dealing With Insurance Adjusters Directly

Whenever you file a personal injury claim for damages that you’ve sustained as the result of a car accident, claims adjusters will contact you directly. More often than not, these professionals will have a friendly, compassionate, and sympathetic-seeming demeanor. In reality, however, their ultimate goal is to limit the amount of money that their employers’ must pay out. As such, there are a number of tricks that they frequently use to get car accident victims to say or do things that ultimately harm their cases. For instance, they might:

• Ask You to Give a Recorded Statement: Doing so is never in your best interests. All recorded statements can be used against you. If adjusters need additional info, they can collect it without recording.
• Ask You to Release Your Medical Records: Signing a release will give the insurance company access to all of your medical records. It is far better to have your records released to yourself. Then you can share only documents that are relevant to your claim, and at your own discretion.
• Push You to Accept an Early Settlement Offer: Once you settle your claim, you will not be able to return and ask for additional money. This makes it important to complete your medical treatment and ensure that no additional lost wages relating to your accident are incurred.
• Contact You Too Soon in Your Recovery: Claims adjusters attempt to interview claimants immediately after their claims are filed. It’s common knowledge, however, that most car accident victims are using prescription pain medications during the most formative stages of the healing process. This puts you in the position of having to answer important questions when you’re tired and your mind and judgment are clouded.

Once you have a car accident lawyer on your team, your attorney can handle these and all other conversations for you. You won’t be subjected to uncomfortable phone interviews while tired and groggy. More importantly, you won’t have to worry about making statements that might harm your settlement outcome.

Get Help in Collecting Evidence to Support Your Claim

When you work with a personal injury law firm, you’ll be able to take a far more organized and educated approach to proving negligence, documenting your injuries, and establishing fault. Personal injury attorneys have extensive histories in handling cases like these. They know what forms of evidence to look for and how to get them. From setting up comprehensive accident investigations to recommending the right types of medical care, our attorneys can help you create a clear-cut and well-documented claim that insurance companies cannot deny.

Determine How Much Your Claim Is Actually Worth

Car accident victims who represent themselves often get far lower settlement amounts than those who opt to work with personal injury lawyers. As an accident victim, you probably aren’t well-versed in the different areas of loss that must be considered. A California accident attorney will take an all-inclusive approach to assessing your damages. All of your medical bills, medical supply costs, legal fees, lost wages, professional losses, and pain and suffering will be accounted for. It’s important to note that insurance adjusters regularly leverage what accident victims don’t know in order to pay them less than what their claims are worth.

Have More Time and Opportunity to Focus on Getting Well

One of the greatest benefits of working with a California accident attorney is having more time to simply focus on getting well. You won’t have to worry about your growing medical costs, your lost wages, or other injury-related expenses. Once you’ve had attorneys at West Coast Trial Lawyers review your case and deem it as worth pursuing, you’re virtually assured of getting the compensation you need.

Don’t Be Rushed Into Making a Hasty Settlement Decision

A single emergency room visit is rarely enough for determining the full physical effects of a car crash. This remains true even if this event was a relatively minor one. Many car accident victims find themselves dealing with latent pain that only manifests several days or even weeks after their crashes have occurred. This is one of the top reasons why it’s so important to avoid accepting an early settlement amount. You want to consult with your regular physician first. Your doctor will know far more about your pre-accident health and well-being, and can best document the different ways in which a crash has impacted these things. It’s also good to work with a chiropractor or other specialist dealing in musculoskeletal health and alignment. Chiropractic doctors can identify problems such as pinched and compressed nerves, disc herniation, disc subluxation, and general musculoskeletal distress. These and other issues are frequently overlooked in post-accident, emergency room visits. After all, the primary goal of ER doctors and nurses is simply making sure that you’re in stable condition.

Avoiding a rushed settlement is vital for ensuring that all damages have been properly accounted for. You cannot effectively negotiate a settlement amount without knowing exactly how your body and its functioning have been harmed. Working with a personal injury law firm will give you the opportunity to map out a solid plan for both getting the post-accident treatment you need and making sure that you’re properly compensated for all of your damages and losses. Contact West Coast Trial Lawyers for additional information today or to schedule a consultation appointment.