5 Key Considerations In Determining Whether You Need to Hire A Car Accident Attorney

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Nobody wants to be involved in a serious car accident, especially if you're not at fault. However, almost all of us will either be involved in a serious accident, or know someone who is. To complicate matters, most people have never had to deal with insurance companies before, except to pay their insurance premiums.
There are generally five key factors that may indicate the need to retain a personal injury attorney to represent you after a car accident. If any of the following five things occur, It is strongly advised that you consult with an injury attorney to protect your rights - most injury attorneys offer a free no-obligation consultation, so you don't have to pay anything unless they help you recover for your injuries.
1. They Want You to Jump Through Hoops. If after an accident, the insurance company will likely demand that you jump through all sorts of hoops, and perform a multitude of tasks before they will compensate you for your injuries and damages, they may be looking for reasons to avoid paying you. If this occurs, it's generally in your best interest to consult with an attorney, who understands these tactics, and can advise you how best to protect your rights.
2. They Want You to Visit Doctors of Their Choosing. This is another common tactic used by insurance companies in order to avoid the payment of an insurance claims. Generally, people would like to believe that a doctor has their best interest in mind, even if an insurance company hires the doctor. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case, and many doctors employed by insurance companies are nothing more than "hired guns." Their main purpose is to minimize your claim, and undervalue your injuries.
3. They Want You to Provide Past Medical History. Whenever an insurance company asks you to fill out forms pertaining to your past medical history, be assured that they are looking to shift blame for your injuries to something in your past. This allows them to minimize or eliminate compensating your for your injuries. If they can blame your injuries on something other than the accident, they will certainly do so - and will generally refuse to offer compensation for such injuries.
4. They Want to Have Your Automobile Inspected by Their "Expert." Like medical doctors that are hired by insurance companies, property appraisers hired to inspect the damage to your automobile will almost always undervalue your cars value. If you agree to let their expert appraise your cars value, you'll usually get strong-armed into accepting compensation for damage to your vehicle that is thousands less than it should be when the car is properly appraised. Make no mistake about it; their so-called "expert" is there to pay you as little as possible for the damage to your vehicle.
5. They Want to Record A Conversation With You. In many cases the insurance company may even want to record a telephone conversation with you, as well as other any other persons injured in the accident. The recorded phone call is often used to shift blame to you, and generally involves questions that are used to trap and confuse injured persons. This recorded call is then used as evidence against you, resulting in your claim being reduced, or eliminated all together.
If the insurer uses any one of the above tactics, I would strongly advise you to seek out a reputable injury attorney who can assist you in protecting your rights. What's more, in many cases, even if you do all of the things the insurance company has asked you to do, they still may not want to pay out on your claim. Or, in some cases they will offer an immediate settlement check, which is generally tempting, but is usually never in your best interest to accept.
Make no mistake about it, the insurance companies don't care about you, regardless of what they say - they are a business, and the bottom line is that they really only care about making and saving money. The less they can get away with paying on a claim, the more money they make - which is why insurance companies rarely offer a fair settlement on an auto accident claim. This is why many injured persons choose to hire an injury attorney to represent them. Generally, injured persons represented by an attorney receive a much better settlement from insurance companies than those who are not represented by an attorney. This is because injury attorneys are familiar with the tactics employed by insurance companies, they can help you avoid these pitfalls, and can force the insurance companies into court if the insurance companies act in bad faith.
It may be true that where minor injuries are involved, a personal injury attorney may not be needed. However, most reputable personal injury attorney's will offer a free consultation, and can inform you as to whether you need an attorney, and how valuable your claim really is.
Therefore, in my professional opinion, a person should consult with a reputable personal injury attorney before negotiating in any way with the insurance company. Failure to retain a injury lawyer before negotiating an insurance company may, and in many cases does, significantly impairs your chances of recovering the amount that you would have received otherwise, and to which you would be entitled to.
For these reasons, we generally recommend consulting with a reputable injury attorney as early in the process as possible.

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