Getting into a car accident is one of the worst experiences a person could go through. You’d be lucky if you walked away with minor personal injuries, and then you have the damage to the car to worry about as well as any possible lost wages and medical bills. Things can get a lot more complicated if you got injured in a car accident during working hours. If you’re on your way to an important meeting with a client, and someone crashed into you, there would be the added concern of costing your business the client. Here’s what you need to do if you got into such a situation.
Call the Client/Business
If a client or your associates are waiting for you and you got detained by an accident, you need to inform them as soon as you can. This will let people know that you are not slacking around or running late, but you were detained by circumstances that you could not control. If it is a client, they would understand and postpone the meeting until you are feeling better. You should also inform your company about what happened so that they could take necessary measures and have someone fill in for you as well as send you any help you might need.
Get Medical Assistance
Nothing is more important than your health. This is why you need to get medical assistance as soon as possible. Even if you feel that your injuries are minor, go and seek medical care and have yourself checked by licensed professionals. You might very well be suffering from internal injuries that you are not aware of. Moreover, you will need the doctor’s report for any insurance claims later on, and especially for legal proceedings should the case go to court. So, you always have to get checked right after the accident to avoid any opposing lawyers claiming you’ve sustained your injuries elsewhere.
Hire a Lawyer
You shouldn’t hire just any lawyer, but a personal injury one that specializes in this type of case. Personal injury claims can get very complicated, especially if the driver who hit you is a truck driver working for a major company. In such cases, you must have an experienced personal injury attorney to help with your claim because you can rest assured that the company that the driver works for will have a major insurance company that will in turn unleash a law firm on your case to try and minimize the settlement or even not pay it. An experienced personal injury attorney will not be fazed by big names, and they will have the necessary experience and resources to take on whoever the insurance company has handling the case.
Keep Quiet
The most important thing to do next is to keep quiet while your personal injury attorney handles the case and the negotiations. You cannot discuss the case with anyone, especially the insurance company, without your lawyers present. Insurance companies often have a few tricks up their sleeve where they could get you to admit fault without you even noticing. So, never talk to anyone but your attorneys about the case. This also means that you should avoid writing anything about the case on social media because this might be used against you if you are not too careful.
Don’t Rush Things
Being involved in a car accident is messy in all sorts of ways, but that doesn’t mean you should make the mistake of rushing things. A lot of people want to get the case over with as soon as possible, so they settle for less money than they should. In this phase of the claim, it is important to trust your lawyer and let them handle the negotiations. More importantly, follow their recommendation.
If they tell you that you need to settle and this is the best that you can do, then you should settle. If they tell you that you can get more money if you take things to court, then you should go ahead and see the case through. At the end of the day, the lawyer wants what’s best for you because it’s also what’s best for them, so follow their advice.
You need to take your time with recovery and take things slowly. This is another reason why you need a personal injury lawyer handling the case for you. They will handle the investigation and collect evidence while you focus on your recovery. Moreover, they will help you get the best deal possible for your troubles.
