DO YOU NEED AN ATTORNEY FOR A CAR WRECK?
If you or a loved one has been badly injured or someone has died as a result of a car wreck, there are some basic facts you need to know.
First, the insurance company is not your friend. They are not EVER going to be acting in your best interests and you need to know that up front. When you deal with them you need to do it as an adversary. Everything else flows from this first rule. They aren’t your friend, don’t make the mistake of thinking that they are.
Second, the insurance company is only going to pay one time, one lump sum for your personal injuries. Now the property damage is a different issue and we will give you additional information on that separately. For your personal injuries, they hope to make that payment sooner than later to keep you from claiming for all of your injuries. So when you go to the hospital and they say ok, we will pay that bill plus some small number, that isn’t a down payment on your injuries, this is a full release. Even if they say “and we will agree to be responsible for other medical you incur”, good luck getting them to pay that without a lawyer and by doing this they have effectively made it impossible for you to get a lawyer unless you can afford to pay one by the hour. When the insurance company tells you to send them the medical bills and they will handle them, they do not mean they are going to pay them. They mean they will add them to the file and may or may not consider paying them in full when they settle the claim. Insurance companies routinely reduce the amount allowed for those bills even though what your bill remains the same on what you actually owe.
Insurance companies also routinely ask for post-incident statements, which are often not in your best interest to give. (It is a different rule if it is your insurance company for your personal auto policy. In that case you are required to cooperate in your adjustor’s fact gathering, but never with the other persons insurance. Even if you have the same company, it is a different policy and a different adjustor so don’t give a statement). Please do not give a post incident statement unless you have spoken to a lawyer first. They are hoping you will say something that will allow them to put some responsibility on you and thus reduce your damages. We routinely see insurance companies assigned a random percentage of responsibility to our hurt clients even if there are no facts to support it. This is worsened if they have given a statement which in any way indicates a fact that might be negligent on their part. Every percentage point they assign to you for contributing to either the wreck OR your damages is a point that reduces the value they place on your claim.
Insurance companies also may ask you to sign an unlimited medical release. They use it to get unrelated medical records to try to reduce the strength of your claims. Do not sign a medical authorization from the insurance company. If you read them carefully, they are over broad and give the insurance company permission to get records that have nothing to do with your case. The reason for that goes back to the first rule, they are not your friend. They want to flip through all your medical records in the hopes that they can find something to hang their hat on that your injuries weren’t actually caused by the wreck, but were a preexisting condition, even if you were not hurting before. Or they hope to find a medical condition that would embarrass you to increase their odds you will settle for less than your injuries are really worth. The insurance company is concerned with their bottom dollar, not making sure that you or your family is taken care of and all of your damages are handled.
Some wrecks and injuries can be handled on your own and you really do not need a lawyer. At Borland Phiffer Law, we regularly counsel hurt people on their rights, their options and how they can handle the claim on their own if they want to do so. We do not charge for that initial consultation. It never hurts to get an opinion from a lawyer if that opinion doesn’t cost you anything, just like you wouldn’t hesitate to go to a doctor to get checked out if you were hurt. If you have been substantially hurt in a car wreck, it is almost always worth it to hire a lawyer to protect your interests and make sure all avenues for recovery are evaluated by someone who knows the law and the system. If you have been hurt, but it is not permanent, some people choose to go it alone and some choose to hire a lawyer often just because they are sick of being treated like a second class citizen by a rude adjustor.
Even in cases where it seems that there is little hope or not enough insurance coverage, it is important to ask an experienced attorney for help. There are various scenarios that may not be known to you that may help you, including:
- The car that caused the wreck might have been owned by someone else – which may mean additional insurance coverage for the injuries.
- The driver might have been on the job at the time – which may mean additional insurance coverage for the injuries.
- You may have insurance personally that you may not be aware of that can help to cover your injuries.
- The person who hit you may actually have insurance but failed to give it to the officer or
they may have assets subject to foreclosure if they chose to go without insurance and then
hurt you (note that most assets are going to be protected and you will need an attorney to
do an asset search to verify whether or not any executable assets are out there). - The car itself might have some defect known to the manufacturers, but not to consumers
or third parties.
If you do decide you need a lawyer, the sooner you get a legal opinion and, if necessary, representation the better it is for you. Important evidence may be lost if proper steps aren’t taken to preserve it. Misty Borland Phiffer and her team have helped individual drivers and their families in car wreck cases for more than two decades.
At the beginning of every case, the team at Borland Phiffer Law works to preserve every piece of evidence, to take statements and speak to eye witnesses and gather all of the necessary medical proof and testimony you need to prove your injuries and damages to the insurance company and to the win your case to the judge or jury if the insurance company refuses to be reasonable. After decades of handling these kinds of cases, we know how they are going to be defended by the insurance companies and how the driver will be defended in court. We use this knowledge to protect our client’s rights. We are proud to serve as their sword and shield and balance the scales of justice for each client.
Misty Borland Phiffer and her team have helped many individuals and their families who were hurt in car crashes. Using a combination of experienced investigation skills, hard line negotiations, and courtroom experience, we work hard getting our clients the justice they deserve.