Getting into a traffic collision can be frustrating and distressing. However, if you don’t end up taking the right steps after an accident, your frustrations and distress will likely only intensify, as you may have inadvertently done something that could:
- Complicate your claim
- Give insurers the opportunity to reduce your payouts
- Result in you not getting the full amount of compensation to which you otherwise would have been entitled.
Below, we’ll point out the specific things to avoid doing after a car accident in order to protect your rights and ensure that you have the strongest possible claim moving forward.
Avoid Doing These Things that May Reduce Car Accident Compensation
1 – Not calling police after an accident
After an accident, it’s common for people to want to wrap things up quickly and get on their way. This can lead some to make the mistake of not calling police to respond to the accident. The reason this is a mistake (that can end up impacting claims for compensation later) is that, when police aren’t called to respond to traffic accidents:
- There will be no police report for the collision.
- Establishing liability can be more challenging (and can, consequently, result in difficulties getting insurers to pay the full amount of claims).
2 – Admitting responsibility for the accident
Although you may be sorry that a traffic accident occurred, it doesn’t mean that you should apologize for it or admit any fault after it. In fact, if you end up doing either of these things, at least a portion of the fault for the accident can be attributed to you, again possibly reducing the amount of compensation paid to you from an auto accident claim.
3 – Waiting too long to report the collision to insurers
Dealing with insurers can be complicated, and after an accident, this may be the last thing injured people want to deal with. However, if these people end up procrastinating contacting their insurer for too long, they can, again, create unnecessary challenges for themselves, as:
- There may be less available evidence to support their claims.
- This can impact insurers’ investigations and determinations of liability.
4 – Not retaining an experienced attorney to represent you
This is, perhaps, one of the most significant actions that impact car accident compensation, as not retaining a lawyer after serious car accidents can mean that:
- Injured people’s rights are not protected.
- They are not aware of the full amount of compensation to which they may be entitled, which can lead to them accepting low-ball settlement offers (and not fighting for the full amount of compensation they deserve).
Kingston Car Accident Attorney at Charles N. Rock, P.L.L.C.
Have you or someone you love been injured in a traffic accident? If so, you can turn to Kingston Car Accident Attorney Charles N. Rock for aggressive legal advocacy and effective help obtaining the compensation to which you may be entitled.