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3 Don’ts After A Georgia Car Wreck

On Behalf of | Mar 7, 2023 | Firm News

It’s important for drivers to know what steps to take to protect themselves after a car crash. Taking certain actions may be crucial to someone’s physical safety and to their ability to recover the losses they suffer because of a collision.

It is equally as important to identify certain behaviors that could prove problematic for someone’s safety or legal rights following a car crash. For example, these three behaviors are ones that people should avoid after a car crash because they can compromise their wellbeing down the road.

1. Choosing to forego medical care

Waiting for the police to come after a crash can be a stressful experience, especially if someone was on their way to work or an important meeting when the collision occurred. After losing so much time to an unexpected disruption, people are often eager to get on with their days.

Unfortunately, that may mean that someone goes home or back to work instead of seeing a medical professional. There are many injuries that may not show obvious symptoms right after a crash and which could get worse if left untreated. Additionally, a significant delay in diagnosis will affect someone’s ability to make an insurance claim.

2. Accepting what seems like a low settlement

People frequently worry about how they will pay their bills if they can’t work following a crash. They may also have concerns about care costs when they don’t have very good health insurance. Hearing back from an insurance adjuster with a settlement offer can be a relief, but it can also lead to a different kind of stress.

People often see a settlement and start to worry that the funds won’t be enough for their needs. Recognizing that the settlement is well below someone’s policy limits and that more compensation may be possible is a valid reason to counter a low settlement instead of accepting it and cutting off the primary avenue for future compensation.

3. Handling a claim without a lawyer

It is surprisingly common for people to believe the chipper marketing slogans put out by insurance companies. They think that benefits are a given and that the company will seek to keep them comfortable and safe rather than protect its own profit margins.

The average person will have a hard time making sense of insurance settlement offers and evaluating whether the crash is legally actionable in civil court. An attorney familiar with car wrecks, insurance claims and personal injury lawsuits can help people avoid mistakes and oversight. That professional support can also diminish how much stress people have to endure during the claims process.

Knowing what mistakes to avoid after a car crash can be as important as knowing what actions to take after a collision. Keep both of these issues in mind if you’re ever faced with the challenge of navigating the aftermath of a motor vehicle accident.