What to do if you’re in a car wreck – Video

If you are hurt or injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, there are a few things you should do immediately.

First, make sure you’re OK. If you are hurt, seek treatment. Call for an ambulance if needed. If you wait to get checked out by a doctor, you could seriously jeopardize your insurance claim. And when you are at the doctor’s office, make sure you are very clear about all of your injuries, the severity of the injuries, and make sure the doctor understands what your complaints are. And, for crying out loud, follow doctor’s orders. If you miss appointments or do something before you should, you’re only hurting yourself.

Call the police. If you fail to make a report with the police, you again could jeopardize your claim.

Next, get information. If you are in a wreck, get the other driver’s name, contact information, and insurance information. Try to identify any witnesses and get their names and phone numbers.

Take pictures. I know one person who has a cell phone that doesn’t take pictures. Take pictures of the scene, the vehicles, if you have some cuts or bruising and swelling, take pictures.

Call a personal injury attorney. Experienced car wreck attorneys can assist you in guiding you through the insurance claim issues and even can assist you in finding appropriate doctors to treat your injuries.

Ultimately, the insurance company is going to look very hard for any reason to deny or underpay your injury claim. If you do the things noted above, you give the insurance companies less things to nitpick. If you have questions about your Texas injury claim, check out my blog posts on these topics, or just call us and schedule an appointment.