After a car accident, you might feel lost and confused. You might be hurt and uncertain about your future. During this time, insurance companies may begin to pressure you into signing a quick and easy settlement. Their main goal is to get you to accept as little as possible so that they can put the accident behind them.
This is not in your best interest.
Sadly, many injured accident victims accept these settlements without understanding the ramifications. They are then left paying for future medical expenses or damages on their own.
Don’t let insurance companies dictate how much you receive after an accident. It is important to know what to do after a car accident in Memphis. It is also essential to understand what not to do when seeking compensation after an accident. After all, the steps you take after a car accident will make a significant impact on your ability to recover and move forward in the future. Talk to our auto collision attorneys about next steps today.
After a car accident, it is natural to feel overwhelmed. There is a lot to do in the moments, days, and weeks following the crash.
First, keep in mind that your injuries may prevent you from completing all of these steps after an accident. That’s ok. This is where the services of an experienced attorney prove to be invaluable. Your attorney will ensure that everything is done quickly and correctly after your accident. This is the single best way to ensure that you receive maximum compensation.
So, what can you do after a car accident in Memphis to help your case?
In the state of Tennessee, you must remain at the scene of the accident. It is illegal to leave the crash scene, even if it is a minor collision. If you were involved in an accident and did not stop, you will face serious penalties and consequences.
Calling 911 is the best and quickest way to alert the police and emergency medical teams to your accident. This gives police the chance to investigate the crash and file a police report. It also provides emergency medical teams a chance to treat injured accident victims.
Tennessee Code § 55-10-106 requires you to immediately report a wreck to the police under most circumstances. You must call the police if the accident caused an injury or death, or property damage exceeding $50. Because any damage at all is likely to cost at least $50 to fix, in essence, you must report any wreck that causes harm to people or property.
The law requires drivers to make written accident reports in some cases. If someone was injured or died in the crash, an involved vehicle suffered damage exceeding $1500, or there was damage to government property exceeding $400, you must file a written accident report.
You can file out and submit the report online or print it out and mail it in. You must submit the report within 20 days of the collision, or your driver’s license may be suspended.
Even if you do not believe that you are injured, it is important to seek medical help. A doctor or emergency medical professional should evaluate you for signs of injury.
It is critical to collect information about the other driver and any eyewitnesses to help your case.
This means gathering:
However, keep the conversation about the accident to a minimum and do not apologize for anything. Assume anything you say to anyone could be used against you.
If you are uninjured and able, it is important to gather as much evidence as you can. This evidence can help your attorney build your case quickly and may go a long way when establishing liability. At the accident scene, be sure to:
In most cases, you must notify your insurance company of your accident. This is often a condition of your policy. Notify your insurance company and give them the facts of the accident. However, avoid talking to the “at-fault” driver’s insurance company. Do not give an insurance company a recorded statement until you have discussed the accident with a lawyer.
Insurance adjusters will look for any reason to reduce your claim. One of the ways they do this is by insisting that you are not as injured as you claim to be. The best way to collect maximum compensation for your injuries is to follow the treatment plan precisely. Otherwise, the insurance company could say you must not be in much pain if you did not attend your follow-up appointments or fill all your medications promptly.
It is important to document your accident and your recovery while it is fresh in your mind. As you go through recovery, keep a journal and note any times you are in pain or any time your injuries prevented you from living your life fully. This can help your attorney establish the amount of compensation you need for pain and suffering, as well as other non-economic damages.
Some of the ways you can document your recovery include:
When your attorney seeks compensation for economic damages, they must show evidence of your losses. To do this, they must have a good idea of how much money was spent on your recovery.
You can help your case by keeping copies of:
Taking all of these steps is difficult after a serious injury accident. It is best to focus your energy and your efforts on your recovery. Why not let an experienced lawyer gather the evidence, file the paperwork, and negotiate with insurance companies on your behalf?
Insurance companies are not allies. They will use any excuse at their disposal to avoid paying you what your claim is worth. Your actions after the car wreck must be consistent with the damages you seek in your Memphis accident claim, or the insurance company may fight your claim.
Insurance companies may insist that you are not hurt as badly as you claim, or even that you sustained your injuries in some manner other than a car accident. Following our suggested steps limits their capacity to effectively question your claim.
When you seek compensation, you must prove that another party’s negligence caused the wreck and led directly to your injuries. If you are able to collect evidence at the accident scene, it can give your attorneys a head start in building a strong case.
Nobody expects your response to a wreck to be perfect. Try to remember the basic idea that you should not give an insurance company an excuse to deny your claim.
Do not stress if you make a mistake, but be sure to mention the issue to your attorney. When we know of a vulnerability, we can counter it.
It is equally important to know what NOT to do after an auto accident in Memphis. Mistakes can directly harm your case and make it difficult to collect the compensation you need. Knowing what not to do is one way you can help protect your rights to full and complete compensation.
Say you got into an accident on the way to work, and you had an important sales meeting that morning. Your car was still drivable after the wreck, so you drove yourself to work and participated in the meeting where you successfully closed a sale. You were not feeling well after the meeting, so you called your spouse to pick you up, and you went home from work early. The next morning, you felt worse, so your spouse took you to your local urgent care center.
An insurance company could question why you did not take an ambulance to the hospital after the wreck. If you were so badly hurt, how could you drive yourself to work or close a big sale? Even if the urgent care doctor diagnosed you with soft tissue injuries and a concussion, the insurance company might claim you did not suffer the injuries in the car accident.
In another scenario, maybe after a few weeks, you were recovering well and resumed most of your normal activities. You posted pictures of yourself dancing at a wedding and going water skiing on social media. If you are claiming ongoing pain due to the accident, the insurance company will use your posts of you engaging in physical activity to undermine your claims.
It is difficult to know what to do and what not to do after an auto accident in Memphis. It is even harder to juggle the responsibilities of gathering evidence and negotiating with insurance companies while you are also trying to recover. Insurance adjusters know this. That is why they often tell injured accident victims not to get help. They don’t want you to hire an attorney because they know it won’t be in their best interest.
One critical issue is that Tennessee follows the modified comparative negligence rule—if you are partly responsible for a crash, your damages will be reduced proportionately. If you are 50 percent or more at fault, you cannot collect anything. When you do not have an attorney, insurance companies exploit that rule to minimize or even eliminate their liability.
Hiring an attorney and getting help is the best thing you can do for yourself after an accident. You deserve to have someone fighting for you every step along the way.
If you got hurt in a car accident, you need a personal injury lawyer on your side from the very beginning. At Rainwater, Holt & Sexton, we are ready 24 hours a day to help injured accident victims throughout Memphis.
Our Memphis car accident lawyers are easily accessible from the moment you need us. Contact Rainwater, Holt & Sexton today to learn more about what to do after a car accident in Memphis. Fill out a free contact request form, which only takes a minute, or simply dial (501) 868-2500 and tell us your story.
If you got hurt in a car accident, you need a personal injury lawyer in Memphis on your side from the very beginning. At Rainwater, Holt & Sexton, we are ready 24 hours a day to help injured accident victims throughout Memphis.
Our Memphis car accident lawyers are easily accessible from the moment you need us. Contact Rainwater, Holt & Sexton Injury Lawyers today. Fill out a free contact request form, which only takes a minute, or simply dial (501) 868-2500 and tell us your story.
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