A car accident can be an incredibly disorienting experience. You might be dealing with physical injuries in addition to a lot of trauma, anxiety, and stress. When you start getting calls from an insurance adjuster, that can make everything feel even more overwhelming.
When dealing with insurance companies after a car crash, the most important thing to remember is that they represent their own interests, not yours. Be careful what you say to an insurance adjuster, and don’t give a statement or sign anything until you’ve talked to a Vero Beach personal injury lawyer. Our legal team can work with you to help protect your rights and get you maximum compensation for your injuries.
Gould Cooksey Fennell advocates for the rights of accident victims throughout Florida’s Treasure Coast. We offer free initial consultations for all prospective clients and never charge a fee unless we recover money for you. Reach out to our law firm today to schedule an appointment with a Vero Beach car accident attorney.
What You Should Do After a Florida Car Accident
When you are in a car accident, you will probably be shaken up and a bit scared. Even if your injuries are relatively minor, it can be hard to focus on the next steps. The following advice can help you keep your cool and take action to protect your interests.
There are general steps that everyone should take after a car accident. This includes:
- Seek medical attention as soon as possible. Even if you don’t think that you are seriously hurt, keep in mind that shock can often mask symptoms of an injury.
- Gather evidence at the accident scene if you are able to do so, such as photos and videos of the accident scene.
- Get contact and insurance information from the at-fault driver, plus their license plate number. If there were any witnesses, make a note of their names and contact information.
- When police arrive at the scene, stick to the facts and don’t offer your opinions about what happened.
- Do not apologize to the driver or admit fault to anyone else. Under Florida’s comparative negligence laws, you can still file a lawsuit for your car accident injuries even if you were up to 50% responsible for the crash. However, your recovery will be reduced by the percentage that you were at fault. Saying you’re sorry to the other driver could ultimately reduce your total compensation.
When it comes to insurance, you should make a report to your own insurer when you are able to do so. Typically, car insurance policies have a clause that requires you to make such a notification for any accident that may lead to a claim. Even if you weren’t at fault, you should still notify your insurance company about the accident. Your policy will likely contain a deadline for notifying the insurance company about an accident.
Florida is also a no-fault insurance state, which means that your own insurance company will pay for your medical expenses and lost wages up to policy limits. If you had an “emergency medical condition” resulting from the crash and sought treatment within 14 days, then you can get coverage of up to $10,000 for these losses. When you notify your own insurance company about the accident, it also puts them on notice that you may be seeking personal injury protection (PIP) coverage.
However, you are under no obligation to notify the at-fault driver’s insurance company of the accident. It is their responsibility to notify their own insurer under the terms of their policy. In fact, it is generally a good idea to not make contact with the other side’s insurance company without the assistance of a Vero Beach car accident attorney.
After receiving notification of the accident, both insurance companies will start their own investigation. Again, you are generally required to cooperate with your own insurance company. You are under no obligation at this stage to talk to the at-fault party’s insurance company or its adjusters.
Remember, insurance companies are looking out for their bottom line, not your best interests. Even if an insurance adjuster seems friendly, you should not talk to them, give a statement, or sign anything until you have had the chance to talk to a lawyer. Your attorney can handle all communications with the insurance company on your behalf.
This brings us to our final point. When you are able to do so, you should schedule a free consultation with a Vero Beach car accident attorney. These appointments are available at no cost to you, and you’re under no obligation to hire the law firm. Instead, it is a good way to learn about your rights and options for pursuing a case.
In cases involving only property damage or extremely minor injuries, it may be perfectly fine to handle the claim with the insurance company on your own. A lawyer can and will tell you that during your consultation. If they think that you have a potential lawsuit, they will advise you of that fact and give you a ballpark estimate of the value of your case.
It isn’t always easy to know what to do after a car accident, especially when it comes to insurance companies. Following these steps can help to protect your rights and move you closer towards your goal of a full recovery. You can contact our law offices at any time to schedule a consultation with a member of our legal team.
How to Handle Insurance Adjusters
Shortly after an accident, you will probably be contacted by an adjuster from the at-fault driver’s insurance company. The adjuster might tell you that the insurer accepts full responsibility, ask you to give a recorded statement, or even offer you a settlement. What should you do in this scenario?
The first thing you should do is think about the adjuster’s motivations. Is this person trying to do right by you? Or are they working for their employer’s best interests?
The answer is simple: the insurance adjuster is advocating for the entity that pays them, the insurance company, and not for you. The adjuster’s goal is not to get you the most possible compensation for your injuries. Instead, it is to resolve the claim for as little money as possible. Ideally, they would be able to deny your claim outright!
Keeping this in mind is the key to effectively handling insurance adjusters. It will help you see through common insurance company tactics like:
- Asking for a recorded statement. When you know the adjuster’s end goal, you will see that for what it is: a way to get you to say something on the record that they can take out of context and use against you in the future. Even if you say something as simple as “I didn’t see the other vehicle,” the insurance company may use that as “evidence” that you weren’t paying attention.
- Asking misleading questions. Insurance adjusters will often ask leading questions that are designed to trip you up and get you to say something incriminating. For example, an adjuster might ask, “Oh, so you weren’t following the speed limit?” When you know what the insurance company is trying to do, you can avoid falling into these traps.
- Offering lowball settlements. It isn’t uncommon for an insurance adjuster to make an early settlement offer. You might be elated, thinking that your case will be resolved quickly, so you don’t have to deal with the paperwork and bureaucracy. The amount might even seem like a lot of money. Yet if you understand that the adjuster wants to resolve the case for a low amount, that will allow you to evaluate the settlement offer and reject it because it isn’t a fair offer.
- Telling you that you don’t need a lawyer. Insurance adjusters will often tell accident victims that they don’t need legal counsel because they accept responsibility for the accident. Interestingly, the insurance company never tells you that it has its own team of lawyers to protect its interests. If you want to have a level playing field, you should have your own legal representation. At a minimum, having a Vero Beach car accident attorney review your case and any settlement offer will give you peace of mind in knowing that your interests are protected.
Keep in mind that the things that you say and do when dealing with an insurance adjuster can impact your overall claim. For example, if you agree that you were partially responsible for a crash, then your recovery might be significantly lower than it would otherwise be (even if it isn’t actually true that you were at fault as a matter of Florida law). If you sign a release for all of your medical records, then it could allow the insurance company to dig through your medical history and claim that your injuries were pre-existing.
Insurance adjusters also won’t tell you that when you accept a settlement offer, you are giving up your right to sue the at-fault driver. All settlement agreements contain a release of liability. This means that even if you discover 6 weeks or 6 months down the road that your injuries are more serious than you originally thought, you can’t go back and get more money. That door will be forever closed to you.
For this reason, the best way to deal with insurance adjusters is not to do it yourself. Instead, you should work with an experienced Florida personal injury lawyer who can advocate for you. They can handle all communications with the insurance adjuster, eliminating the risk that you might say or do something that will hurt your case.
Your attorney can also skillfully negotiate a fair settlement for you. In most cases, insurance companies are more likely to offer a good settlement when they know that there is a risk that the case will go to trial. Having a lawyer increases the pressure on the insurance company to settle the case because they know that you are ready, willing, and able to take your claim to court and ask a jury to return a verdict in your favor.
If you have been hurt in a car accident, our law firm is here for you. Contact us anytime to schedule a free consultation with a Vero Beach car accident lawyer.
Don’t Go It Alone. Call Our Law Offices Today.
Being in a car accident can be scary and traumatic. When insurance adjusters start figuratively knocking on your door in the days and weeks that follow, you might be unsure of how to handle it. Our team of experienced, compassionate personal injury attorneys is here to help.
At Gould Cooksey Fennell, we know exactly how to deal with insurance companies and how to get our clients maximum compensation for their injuries. We will work with you to help you get the money that you deserve for your injuries after a Treasure Coast auto accident. To learn more or to schedule a free initial consultation with a Vero Beach car accident lawyer, call our law offices at 772-231-1100 or fill out our online contact form.
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