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When Do I Need to Hire an Attorney After a Car Accident? (405) 285-6878 – www.reams.law

May 19th, 2017 by admin

If you’ve been injured in a car or truck accident, you’re probably asking whether you need an attorney, and if so, when you should contact a lawyer. The answer is simple: contact Reams Law at (405) 285-6878 www.ream.law immediately after an automobile accident!

After a motor vehicle accident, you experience the immediate shock, pain and suffering, from catastrophic injuries. At the scene of the accident, police ask questions, take photographs, and maybe even give the other driver a ticket or place them under arrest. You exchange your insurance information with the driver who caused the accident. If you are injured, you are taken to the emergency room by ambulance or helicopter. As far as you know, the police spoke to the other driver (you’re not really sure), or the police may even come to the hospital to give you or your family a case number and the insurance information of the other driver.

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Now you’re back at home, still recovering from shock and pain, and you don’t know what to do next. You may be wondering, Do I need an attorney yet? YES, YOU NEED A LAWYER IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE ACCIDENT. Here’s several good reasons why contacting an attorney after an accident is in your best interests.

THE INSURANCE COMPANY OF THE OTHER DRIVER IS NOT TRYING TO HELP YOU – THE INSURANCE COMPANY OF THE OTHER DRIVER IS TRYING TO FIND WAYS TO AVOID PAYING YOU

Once you’re back home after the accident, you may have already reported the accident to your own insurance company. The accident wasn’t your fault, after all, so you may be thinking that your own insurance company should take the initiative and contact the insurance company of the driver who was at fault. The other driver who negligently crashed into you may have also reported the accident to his or her own insurance company. Your telephone number was provided to the police at the accident scene, written down on the accident report or provided to the other driver at the scene of the accident with your proof of insurance. The next thing you know the insurance company of the other driver is calling you, the adjuster trying to sound like he or she actually wants to help you. You may feel pleasantly surprised and even encouraged because the insurance company of the other driver is actually offering to pay for the damages to your vehicle. You may feel like the other insurance company wants to help with your claim. Do not be misled! It is actually against your interest to settle your vehicle damage claim separately from your personal injury claim!

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THE INSURANCE COMPANY OF THE OTHER DRIVER DESPERATELY WANTS TO SETTLE YOUR PROPERTY CLAIM BECAUSE, IN GENERAL, NEGLIGENT PROPERTY DAMAGE CLAIMS IN OKLAHOMA REQUIRE THE OTHER DRIVER TO PAY YOUR ATTORNEY FEES – SO IF YOU SETTLE YOUR PROPERTY DAMAGE CLAIM BEFORE SETTLING YOUR PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM YOU MAY BE GIVING UP STRONG LEVERAGE TO NEGOTIATE A SETTLEMENT OF ALL OF YOUR CLAIMS FOR THE AMOUNT YOU DESERVE

You may feel encouraged because you need a new car, after all, and the other insurance company is offering you a generous amount of money for your prior used vehicle. You know that you’re also going to be demanding money for your personal injuries. The insurance adjuster is intentionally trying to make you feel confident, as if you’re the one in control. Do not be fooled! The insurance company has an ulterior motive – it wants to pay for and settle your property damage claim as soon as possible. Once the insurance company pays you for your property damages your claims for attorney fees for negligent damages to your property may be gone. In any civil legal claim, if you have a strong case and there is a basis for recovering attorney fees for the prevailing party, then such a claim inherently has more value and force against the wrongdoers and their insurers. Consider, for example, that if you have a civil claim that is worth $10,000.00, that claim may have more strength when the wrongdoer is potentially faced with the prospect of paying an additional $25,000.00 in attorney fees, if ultimately approved by the court. And so, in your car accident case, the insurance company for the driver who caused the accident desperately wants you to settle your property damage claim first because it wants to devalue your personal injury claim. Thus, it is in your best interests to settle your property and personal injury claims at the same time, not separately, and you need an attorney to help you negotiate with the insurance company of the other driver.

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DO NOT SPEAK TO THE INSURANCE COMPANY OVER THE PHONE ABOUT THE ACCIDENT, YOUR INJURIES, YOUR MEDICAL HISTORY OR ANYTHING ELSE – THE OTHER INSURANCE COMPANY IS RECORDING YOU!

When you first receive a call from the other insurance company shortly after the accident, the adjuster is doing their best to sound like they’re your best friend (they’re not your friend!), and they’re probably telling you something like, ‘We’re just investigating your claim to reach a quick settlement.’ You may be thinking that sounds great. So you start talking to the adjuster about how the accident happened, thinking that the insurance company will readily agree that you were not at fault and pay you a settlement you deserve. Do not be deceived by the other insurance company!

Don’t try to negotiate or debate with the insurance company on your own. You may feel confident that you’re giving the adjuster the story that is in your own best interests. But can you honestly say that before being called by an adjuster without warning, that you had reviewed the Rules of the Road of Oklahoma? Do you know the elements of negligence, or the difference between comparative fault and joint and several liability, or how those legal issues can affect your claims? Did you know that your case can be devalued or even defeated if the other insurance company can get you to say anything that would suggest that you were partially the blame for the accident? You can bet that the adjuster is keenly aware about such issues, and he or she is doing their best to get you to say something to damage your claim. While you are talking to them, unprepared and probably surprised by their call, the insurance company is most likely recording you. In general, in Oklahoma, other people can secretly record you, and such recordings could potentially be used against you at trial after you file a legal claim. That casual discussion you had with an insurance adjuster could come back to haunt you years later at trial.

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As you can see, it is so important to immediately hire an attorney after the accident. The insurance company and its investigators are far better experienced in trying to undermine the value of your claim. If you quickly hire Reams Law, when the insurance company tries to contact you, you can just tell them to talk to your attorney and not tell them anything. Do not try to deal with the other insurance company on your own. Be sure to have an attorney familiar with your claims and defenses before speaking to an insurance company, investigator or anyone else. Reams Law can assist you with investigating your car accident claims, speaking to witnesses, preparing a comprehensive settlement demand, and negotiating with the insurance company.

DO NOT PROVIDE THE OTHER INSURANCE COMPANY WITH A MEDICAL AUTHORIZATION WITHOUT FIRST SPEAKING TO YOUR OWN ATTORNEY. DO NOT SPEAK TO THE OTHER INSURANCE COMPANY AT ALL WITHOUT AN ATTORNEY, AND ESPECIALLY DO NOT DISCLOSE YOUR MEDICAL INFORMATION OR DISCUSS YOU YOUR MEDICAL CLAIMS WITH THE OTHER INSURANCE COMPANY WITHOUT AN ATTORNEY

Maybe the insurance company of the at-fault driver has already offered you a tidy sum of money for the damage to your car, and now the insurance adjuster is telling you that they just need some more information about how the accident happened (and they’re recording you all the way), and they also want you to tell them the names of your medical providers and sign a medical authorization permitting them to independently obtain you medical records from medical providers you’ve identified. You’re probably thinking that the insurance company is going to offer you a lot of money for your injuries, especially since they’ve already paid you way more for that for your vehicle. And that is exactly what the other insurance company wants you to think! Do not be misled by the insurance company by providing them with an unlimited medical authorization!

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THE OTHER INSURANCE COMPANY ACTUALLY WANTS YOUR MEDICAL INFORMATION SO THAT THEY CAN TRY TO FIND WAYS TO DEVALUE YOUR PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM OR SIMPLY NOT PAY YOU AT ALL! THE INSURANCE COMPANY DOES NOT WANT YOUR MEDICAL RECORDS AND BILLS SO IT CAN PROPERLY INVESTIGATE YOUR AND PAY THE FULL VALUE OF YOUR CLAIM!

Remember that unlike your own insurance company, the insurance company of the other driver does not have a duty to investigate, evaluate and pay your claims in good faith; rather, the insurance company is trying to find ways to avoid paying you altogether. Say, for example, that you have a new and catastrophic injury to your back. You’ve already had one surgery and you’re going to need another one in addition to physical therapy and pain management. Without having an attorney, you gave the adjuster for the other driver a complete list of your medical providers and signed an unlimited medical authorization. After a month or two passes, while the other insurance company was supposedly evaluating your claim for payment, the adjuster was actually busily trying to search for any kind of medical information about you that could defeat or devalue your claim. The other insurance company is certainly not trying to find information to justify paying the full value of your claim. Instead, they are trying to pay you as little as possible.

Maybe you were in a prior car accident and had minor bruises and scratches for which you visited a chiropractor once. Since then you suffered catastrophic injuries to your spine from the most recent accident. But after the insurance company has obtain medical records showing a prior accident, which actually has nothing to do with your new injuries, the other insurance company contacts you to offer you a mere $3,000.00, even though you may have already had surgery costing over $250,000.00. The insurance company will try to tell you that your surgery after the accident was supposedly necessitated by your purported “pre-existing” conditions, not the new accident. The insurance company is trying to deceive you! Remember, even assuming arguendo that you had so-called “pre-existing” injuries to the same area of the body where you were injured, under Oklahoma law you are still entitled to recover for the new injuries to the same area of the body arising from the accident. Don’t let an insurance company try to tell you that they are not responsible for your claim because you supposedly had “pre-existing” conditions.

Of course, you’re shocked and upset with this mention of “pre-existing” conditions and a small settlement offer. You’d been dealing with the insurance company on your own, being misled to believe that you are making progress. Instead, you’re starting to feel like you never should have accepted payment for you wrecked vehicle because the amount of money paid, even if more than $10,000.00, suddenly seems like very little in comparison to your pain and suffering and mounting medical treatments and costs. You are better off hiring an attorney immediately after an automobile or truck accident so you don’t find yourself backed into a corner, especially when your personal injury claim may actually be very strong.

Isn't it easy to avoid the accident?

Contact Reams Law www.reams.law to handle your claim


CONTACT AN ATTORNEY AS SOON AS YOU CAN EVEN IF YOU’RE ALREADY SPOKEN TO THE OTHER INSURANCE COMPANY AND SETTLED YOUR PROPERTY CLAIM – DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED BY A LOW-BALL SETTLEMENT OFFER FOR YOUR PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM

Do not be discouraged if an insurance company offers you a small amount of money for your personal injury claim. By offering you even less than the amount paid for your wrecked vehicle the insurance company for the other driver is trying to demoralize you, trying to discourage you and make you think that maybe your personal injury claim isn’t valuable after all. You may even feel tempted to accept $5,000.00 or less because you need the money. Do not let the insurance company deceive you! It could be that you you’ve already had surgeries and are facing many other medical treatments and your claim could be valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars. The sole purpose of an insurance company is to make money for itself and its investors; it in the business of attempting to avoid paying claims at every opportunity. You can bet that if an insurance company gets you to accept $5,000.00 for your injuries that have required surgeries, then it is going to celebrate. The adjuster you’ve been talking to will probably receive an award and a round of free drinks at the next employee Bahama cruise.

It is imperative that you hire an attorney as soon as possible after an accident. Understandably, calling an attorney the same day of the accident may be the last thing you want to do when experiencing emotional shock and physical pain and suffering. Reams Law is ready to prosecute and defend your interests and will relieve you from the stress of trying to settle your claims, and provide you with the requisite advice and experience needed to avoid pitfalls when dealing with insurance adjusters who are working hard to defeat your claims. Reams Law will press the insurance company for the just compensation you deserve. Contact Reams Law today at (405) 285-6878 – contactus@reams.law — www.reams.law

Reams Law
(405) 285-6878
(800) 593-1974
contactus@reams.law
www.reams.law

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