If you have been involved in a car accident in Dallas, there are 9 critical things that you need to know to make the best of your case, even if you have not already hired a
Dallas car accident attorney.
1. Don't ever lie about any portion of your case (not to your doctor, your attorney, or either the insurance adjuster on either side).The truth always comes out and damaging your credibility can ruin your case.
2. Don't sign a release or accept a check from an insurance company unless you are fully aware of what it covers. If you have a lawyer, make sure that your lawyer is made aware of every piece of correspondence, email, or call that comes from the insurance company. Do no think for a minute that they won’t try to trick you into destroying your case behind your lawyer’s back. Often, insurance companies will try to get you to sign a paper that releases “any and all claims” while they tell you that you are only settling the property damage portion of your case. To be on the safe side, check with a reputable
auto accident attorney before you sign anything. If you already have an attorney, don’t sign anything that your lawyer is not aware of.
3. Don't attempt to hide or cover up past injuries or accidents from your lawyer. It is very likely that the insurance company will discover that you had the old injury, based on the fact that most accident information is shared by all insurance companies in a central database. If your lawyer is made aware of any previous accidents from the beginning, he can foresee any complications that may arise and strategize well enough ahead of time to deal with the issue. Your case may be doomed if you do not tell him and he gets caught off guard.
4. Maintain a daily “pain diary” that chronicles how you feel, visits to your doctor and chiropractic or therapy appointments, any medications taken and their effect on your, and the effect you accident has had on your ability to work or perform normal activities the way you did before the accident. Your pain diary does not have to be Shakespeare. A few short sentences each day will suffices. With such a document, your recollection of your injuries becomes quite credible. Without such a document, your memory of the pain may be called into question.
5. Do not attempt to be a “tough guy or girl”. If you are feeling any level of pain, swelling, stiffness,etc. following your accident think of it as your body’s way of telling you that something is not right. I cannot tell you how many times I have been hired to represent someone who thought they were just “a little sore” after an accident only to discover that they need major surgery down the line. In other words, see a doctor immediately following your accident.
6. The insurance companies see everything. Since video and photo cameras are incredibly small these days, you can be photographed or video taped any place at any time. If you are injured enough to pursue an injury claim you cannot expect to do normal activities. Sometimes, an accident victim will be genuinely injured, but they will make a mistake and “play through the pain” by doing something a healthy person would do. They may be in excruciating pain while doing so, and their injuries may be completely justified, but on camera it will look like they are faking their injury. This type of damning footage will destroy your case.
7. Remember, there has never been an insurance company who made it a policy to play fair, pay you in a timely manner, or to pay you the maximum amount that they should. It just doesn't work that way, and making you wait is one of the tactics they use in order to force you into accepting less than you should when they catch you off guard with a low ball number after you have been waiting. Plus, they want to keep that money earning interest in the bank or liquid for investment purposes. (Did you know that insurance companies generally profit more money per year on invested insurance premiums (in real estate and so forth) than on new premium dollars received?
8. Don’t think of everything as 100% or 0%, all or nothing. This goes right back to rule number one, don’t lie. People often feel the need to feel 100% justified in things. The law is not that black and white and there are varying degrees of every element in a car accident case from liability, to impairment. If you are partially to blame in an accident that does not mean that your case is a lost cause. There have been many instances where someone with good intentions exaggerates about some aspect of their case in order to really drive their point, but in doing so they destroy their credibility and the whole case becomes compromised.
9. Consider all of your damages. Particularly if you have not already hired an attorney, the other driver’s insurance company may offer you some cash for your pain and suffering after your accident, but are they compensating you for all of your damages? Your damages may include common elements such as lost wages or medical expenses, or less obvious damages such as compensation for any scarring or disfigurement (however slight it may be). An insurance company will not voluntarily pay you for all of your damages, especially if you do not have an attorney to put the entirety of your damages into perspective.
Experienced car accident lawyers will be able to help you properly quantify all of your damages so that you get the maximum recovery.
-Written by Texas Auto Accident Attorney E. Michael Grossman