Practical Accident Claims Advice On What To Do Following An Accident
With so much clamor in the accident claims market all vying to get your attention, with their promises of compensation for accidents, it's little wonder that many are left generally confused and haven't any idea where to turn for help and guidance without feeling cajoled or pressured into signing up for a service that perhaps you didn't even want.
Before you even think about who to instruct or concern yourself with the best way to choose which firm of solicitors to instruct, I want to start from the beginning and give you some practical guidance on what to do as soon after an accident, as is reasonably possible.
I've been a specialist personal injury solicitor for over 12 years and it wasn't until I had a motorbike accident myself that I appreciated how difficult it must be for innocent victims of accidents to navigate through what can appear to be a confusing claims process.
So in an effort to redress this issue I created a special report which I have outline here in this article for your ease of reference.
First thing that I want to say is that it's important that you appreciate that If you've been in any kind of accident, understand that your mental alertness immediately following an accident is likely to be compromised to some extent and physiologically your blood pressure skyrockets.
You'll most likely feel a mixture of anger, confusion and you'll probably be in a state of shock.
In this state of mind it's difficult for anyone to remain rational or calm.
However, it's important that you at least try to maintain a sense of clarity especially if you're the innocent victim in the accident.
Accident claims are a daily fact of life and the chances of you being in an accident is higher today than ever with so many vehicles on today's roads and because of the mere fact that we spend more time behind the steering wheel of a car than we ever did in the past.
It's also a sad truth that with vehicle costs going through the roof, drivers at fault and insurance companies, will do whatever they can to avoid paying out for a claim, whether in whole or in part.
Which means that you need to be prepared more than ever before for a potentially difficult claim.
The sad reality is that many drivers that are clearly at fault will deny liability or be advised to do so by his or her insurer, even in circumstances when it was clearly their fault.
So what do you do if you have an accident? Clearly, you need to place yourself in a position of strength from the very outset of your claim by being ready to uncover or expose some key factual pieces of evidence that may help you in proving who caused the accident.
There is work to be done and being in a state of panic, confusion or anger is not going to help the situation.
First and foremost, take a deep breath and try to maintain a level head.
Next, check whether you or anyone else involved in the accident has suffered any serious injury and are in need of immediate medical assistance.
I'm assuming for the purpose of this article by way of illustration that you weren't in a serious accident and you're physically able to take action on the steps that I outline below.
If that's not the case then what I recommend you do is to consider the information below and write down what you recall as soon after the accident as you can, whilst the incident is still relatively fresh in your mind.
The bullet points below are a brief outline of some of the things that you should either take a written note of or action, as the case may be.
1.
Make a mental note of the scene of the accident and surroundings and write down key factual pieces of evidence at the first available opportunity.
Each accident will be unique so I don't want to be too prescriptive here.
Some of the things that you should note are the date and time of the accident, was it dark or light, sunny or overcast; state what you believe happened and why; were there any external influences such as the weather, road conditions, road markings, road works and so forth? Clearly, the circumstances will be different depending on whether the accident is a road traffic accident, a work accident, or public liability tripping accident and so forth.
The key however is to take note of as much information as possible so that facts can be recorded either in writing or through images such as photos and sketches.
2.
Take photographs if you have a camera available.
Take plenty of photos as this will serve as both a visual aid to help you recall facts and also as direct evidence of the accident scene.
3.
Prepare a sketch plan of the accident scene if that helps to explain how the accident occurred.
4.
Ascertain whether there were any witnesses to the incident.
Independent corroboration of what happened is very compelling evidence in the courts of law.
This is very important as you may only get one opportunity especially if the accident happened in a public place as witnesses are likely to be just passers-by.
5.
If the accident is a road traffic accident and injuries were sustained, by law the parties involved in the accident are required to call the police.
Having police involvement at the time of the accident helps to record key pieces of evidence contemporaneously and can be very helpful evidence later on in any claim.
6.
It's very important that you visit your GP or if your injuries are more serious go to the hospital.
The importance of this cannot be stressed enough.
Simply attending and having your injury checked medically will ensure that the type and severity of your injuries are recorded.
Medical notes and reports form the core basis of any claim for compensation in accident claims.
It's important therefore that you don't skip on this by simply going home and taking a couple of paracetamols.
The key thing to note is that evidence tends to degrade over time unless it is somehow recorded as I've outlined above.
Cases will be won and lost depending on the availability of corroborating evidence that was collected timely after the accident.
Long delays after an accident in collecting evidence can be extremely detrimental and I would therefore encourage you to pick up a free copy of my report on my blog.
As a final note in closing.
Due to a lot of confusion in the market place I feel it necessary to add this reminder as a point of clarification.
You are not legally obliged to go with the panel solicitor that is appointed by your insurance company, if you have legal expense insurance, as you always have the right to choose your own solicitors in accident claims.
It's therefore important that you choice the right firm of solicitors that specializes in the relevant field of personal injury because the reality is that a general non-specialist personal injury solicitor will not have a strong enough grasp of the intricacies of specific types of accident claims such as workplace health and safety claims, motorbike accidents, medical negligence claims and so forth.
If you're in doubt as to which specialist solicitor to choose, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Before you even think about who to instruct or concern yourself with the best way to choose which firm of solicitors to instruct, I want to start from the beginning and give you some practical guidance on what to do as soon after an accident, as is reasonably possible.
I've been a specialist personal injury solicitor for over 12 years and it wasn't until I had a motorbike accident myself that I appreciated how difficult it must be for innocent victims of accidents to navigate through what can appear to be a confusing claims process.
So in an effort to redress this issue I created a special report which I have outline here in this article for your ease of reference.
First thing that I want to say is that it's important that you appreciate that If you've been in any kind of accident, understand that your mental alertness immediately following an accident is likely to be compromised to some extent and physiologically your blood pressure skyrockets.
You'll most likely feel a mixture of anger, confusion and you'll probably be in a state of shock.
In this state of mind it's difficult for anyone to remain rational or calm.
However, it's important that you at least try to maintain a sense of clarity especially if you're the innocent victim in the accident.
Accident claims are a daily fact of life and the chances of you being in an accident is higher today than ever with so many vehicles on today's roads and because of the mere fact that we spend more time behind the steering wheel of a car than we ever did in the past.
It's also a sad truth that with vehicle costs going through the roof, drivers at fault and insurance companies, will do whatever they can to avoid paying out for a claim, whether in whole or in part.
Which means that you need to be prepared more than ever before for a potentially difficult claim.
The sad reality is that many drivers that are clearly at fault will deny liability or be advised to do so by his or her insurer, even in circumstances when it was clearly their fault.
So what do you do if you have an accident? Clearly, you need to place yourself in a position of strength from the very outset of your claim by being ready to uncover or expose some key factual pieces of evidence that may help you in proving who caused the accident.
There is work to be done and being in a state of panic, confusion or anger is not going to help the situation.
First and foremost, take a deep breath and try to maintain a level head.
Next, check whether you or anyone else involved in the accident has suffered any serious injury and are in need of immediate medical assistance.
I'm assuming for the purpose of this article by way of illustration that you weren't in a serious accident and you're physically able to take action on the steps that I outline below.
If that's not the case then what I recommend you do is to consider the information below and write down what you recall as soon after the accident as you can, whilst the incident is still relatively fresh in your mind.
The bullet points below are a brief outline of some of the things that you should either take a written note of or action, as the case may be.
1.
Make a mental note of the scene of the accident and surroundings and write down key factual pieces of evidence at the first available opportunity.
Each accident will be unique so I don't want to be too prescriptive here.
Some of the things that you should note are the date and time of the accident, was it dark or light, sunny or overcast; state what you believe happened and why; were there any external influences such as the weather, road conditions, road markings, road works and so forth? Clearly, the circumstances will be different depending on whether the accident is a road traffic accident, a work accident, or public liability tripping accident and so forth.
The key however is to take note of as much information as possible so that facts can be recorded either in writing or through images such as photos and sketches.
2.
Take photographs if you have a camera available.
Take plenty of photos as this will serve as both a visual aid to help you recall facts and also as direct evidence of the accident scene.
3.
Prepare a sketch plan of the accident scene if that helps to explain how the accident occurred.
4.
Ascertain whether there were any witnesses to the incident.
Independent corroboration of what happened is very compelling evidence in the courts of law.
This is very important as you may only get one opportunity especially if the accident happened in a public place as witnesses are likely to be just passers-by.
5.
If the accident is a road traffic accident and injuries were sustained, by law the parties involved in the accident are required to call the police.
Having police involvement at the time of the accident helps to record key pieces of evidence contemporaneously and can be very helpful evidence later on in any claim.
6.
It's very important that you visit your GP or if your injuries are more serious go to the hospital.
The importance of this cannot be stressed enough.
Simply attending and having your injury checked medically will ensure that the type and severity of your injuries are recorded.
Medical notes and reports form the core basis of any claim for compensation in accident claims.
It's important therefore that you don't skip on this by simply going home and taking a couple of paracetamols.
The key thing to note is that evidence tends to degrade over time unless it is somehow recorded as I've outlined above.
Cases will be won and lost depending on the availability of corroborating evidence that was collected timely after the accident.
Long delays after an accident in collecting evidence can be extremely detrimental and I would therefore encourage you to pick up a free copy of my report on my blog.
As a final note in closing.
Due to a lot of confusion in the market place I feel it necessary to add this reminder as a point of clarification.
You are not legally obliged to go with the panel solicitor that is appointed by your insurance company, if you have legal expense insurance, as you always have the right to choose your own solicitors in accident claims.
It's therefore important that you choice the right firm of solicitors that specializes in the relevant field of personal injury because the reality is that a general non-specialist personal injury solicitor will not have a strong enough grasp of the intricacies of specific types of accident claims such as workplace health and safety claims, motorbike accidents, medical negligence claims and so forth.
If you're in doubt as to which specialist solicitor to choose, please do not hesitate to contact me.