Introduction
Following an accident there are a number of issues that a person is likely to face. There may be medical costs and treatment, missed time at work and potentially some out-of-pocket expenses to assist them in the care they receive.
If you are involved in an accident and have been injured in some way, the first thing you need to do is seek medical attention. Depending on how severe the accident may be, you may have to go to the emergency room or to some other kind of urgent care clinic right away.
All this medical treatment is expensive and sometimes your insurance policy alone is not enough to cover the costs, leading to you filing a car accident lawsuit. If you are in a situation similar to this, give our personal injury team a call at (480) 467-4392 to receive a free consultation.
You Should Seek Medical Attention Immediately
Some people feel perfectly fine immediately following the accident, but begin to feel the aches and pains a day, a week, or maybe even months after the accident. A lot of times the trauma of the accident can cause hormones to be released in your body that can mask the symptoms of an injury. This is why a person may not even know they were hurt and tell days later because their body was masking the pain.
This is why it is important to seek medical care as soon as you recognize any symptoms. In fact, even if you feel fine at first, it may be to your advantage to simply have yourself looked at. You simply never know whether you may have been injured, and so it makes sense to have an examination immediately following the accident.
Insurance Will Help Cover Costs of Medical Treatment
To help with the costs involved in your medical care, your personal automotive insurance will pay the costs for treatment, procedures, and other care that you receive. By filing a claim notifying the insurance company of the injuries you have incurred, they will then pay doctors, clinics, and other medical professionals for the care you have received.
You may also find that you have lost time at work and lost wages, which you also could claim as part of the compensation the insurance company should pay. You are not expected to endure these costs on your own. This is why you pay for insurance in the first place.
When Can I File an Injury Claim?
You can file a claim immediately after the accident has occurred, but you do have up to 2 years from the date of your accident to claim a personal injury from a car accident. However, we recommend that you give a personal injury attorney a call as soon as you can, even before calling your insurance company.
Obviously, if you have been severely hurt or injured it would be unlikely for you to be able to call and notify them that an accident has occurred. However, if you are feeling fine and feeling up to it, notify them as soon as possible.
Keep in mind that every bit of paperwork that you can accumulate to present as part of your claim is important. This includes a police report. If you have been involved in an accident, make sure you contact 911 to have a sheriff’s deputy, state trooper, or police officer sent to the location to fill out a report.
When you seek medical help as a result of the accident, it is important to notify all medical professionals you see that you are seeking care as a result of the accident.
In the vast majority of cases, your health insurance would not become ultimately responsible for these bills. It would be your automotive insurance that would be paying the costs for the care you are receiving. Any additional cost that went over the coverage would then fall on your health insurance company or upon the insurance company of the other driver should they be at fault.
Seek Out Legal Advice After an Accident
Even if things are going well for you during this entire procedure, it is important that you seek the advice of an attorney. Understand that the insurance company’s primary role is to make money, so they may not provide you with all the care and assistance that you need, simply because they are trying to save on their own expenditures.
Hiring an attorney will not only help you in dealing with the insurance company itself, but can also help you in obtaining any documentation you need and with any court filings or litigation that may become necessary as a result of the accident itself.
As mentioned before, if the other driver is responsible for the accident, you may need to seek compensation from that person individually or from their insurance company. This is where an attorney can assist you in representing you in what can be a very prolonged and confusing process.
At JacksonWhite, we are prepared to assist you in every step related to your accident. We have years of experience in dealing with these kinds of cases, and know exactly how to protect your rights and assist you in dealing with the insurance company.
Call our Personal Injury team at (480) 467-4392 to discuss your case today.