5 pieces of advice you should ignore if you want to protect your ability to receive fair compensation
If you have been involved in a motor vehicle accident of any kind, you may be feeling very overwhelmed by the stress and trauma of the incident. In this state, you could easily be misled by bad advice from individuals who do not have your best interests at heart. To prevent this and to ensure your ability to seek full and fair compensation is protected, ignore these 5 pieces of bad advice.
Bad Advice from Other Drivers
The bad advice sometimes starts at the scene of the accident, with this dubious suggestion from the other driver:
We can handle this ourselves. The implication here is that it is not necessary to inform the insurance company or the police of the accident. The other driver may even promise to pay all of your medical bills and the cost to repair your vehicle if you keep the matter between yourselves. But of course, you really have no way of holding them to their promise. It is much wiser to report the accident to the insurance company so that the normal car accident claim procedures can be followed.
Bad Advice from Insurance Companies
Unfortunately, once you begin dealing with the insurance companies, you are likely to encounter a whole lot more bad advice, such as:
We should record your statement ASAP. At first it might seem like a good idea to record a statement right after the accident so your claim can get processed faster. In reality, you need to be very careful about recording a statement. Do not agree to a recorded phone call of any kind until you have the facts of the accident clear in your mind. This will prevent you from making mistakes in your testimony that could be used to undermine your case for compensation later.
You should authorize us to pull all your medical records. While you will need to prove that you were injured in order to get compensation for your injuries, you do not want to give an insurance company blanket access to your medical records. Besides being an unnecessary invasion of your privacy, this unlimited access could weaken your case if they discover anything in your medical history that could be falsely blamed for your current symptoms. It is much better to take control of the information and only disclose records that are truly relevant to your current injuries.
Our first offer is our best offer—you should take it! Resolving an auto accident claim is all about negotiations, and no negotiator is going to start out with their best offer. If you are not satisfied that the offer covers all your needs—including your pain and suffering—do not be afraid to ask for a larger figure.
You do not need an attorney. Perhaps the single most damaging piece of advice an insurance representative can give you is to suggest that you do not need to talk to an attorney about your case. They may argue that your claim is not worth enough money to justify an attorney’s involvement or that hiring an attorney will not make a difference in their offer. The fact of the matter is, you have nothing to lose by asking an attorney to review your case since you can get a free initial consultation at The Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas. You can rely on Attorney Vargas to tell you honestly if the insurance company is telling the truth and treating you fairly. If not, he can help you negotiate for a better settlement offer or even take your case to court.
Call us at 909-982-0707 now to request your free consultation.
