What Is the First Thing to Do After a Car Accident?

No one wants to find themselves on the side of the road or, worse, in the hospital after a car accident. This leads to many questions, such as, “What is the first thing to do after a car accident?”

Knowing what to do and how to protect your legal rights could assist you in getting a resolution to your damage claim sooner rather than later. While your insurance company might pay for some of the damage to your vehicle per your policy with them, the damage associated with your injuries might exceed policy limits. In those cases, you need a personal injury lawyer to help you.

The attorneys at Morgan & Morgan have extensive experience in helping personal injury victims file compensation claims to recover damages and to move forward after an accident. We often help people figure out the first thing to do after a car accident to protect their legal rights and give them the best possible chance of medical recovery. If you're in the process of thinking about filing a lawsuit to recover compensation, our personal injury attorneys can help you to determine what evidence is needed and what is involved in getting you the support that you need.

Most personal injury victims are dealing with substantial medical bills and need assistance in figuring out what is the first thing to do after a car accident. Read on to learn more about some of the best tips from accident victims.

Should You Get Medical Attention?

It may not occur to you in the immediate aftermath of the accident that you need medical attention. Even if you're not yet feeling any symptoms from the accident, it's a good idea to have a medical professional look you over and confirm this. This also begins a paper trail documenting the severity of your injuries in case you begin to experience symptoms later. Many people who have been critically hurt in accidents do not start to feel the impact of the accident until much later. This is because it takes time for things such as whiplash or brain and back injuries to develop and for you to start to experience that pain.

If you find yourself in these circumstances, it is best to consult with a qualified lawyer who will do everything possible to prepare you for your next steps. Getting medical attention makes it easier for you to show the ways in which your life was changed by the accident, and this can become important for your insurance claim and for your civil lawsuit.

Should You File an Insurance Claim?

While it's not the first thing to do after a car accident, communicating with your car insurance company is an important component of starting the process of recovering compensation. Your insurance company must be notified about the accident so that they can begin to conduct an investigation. If you have never been through a vehicle accident with this car insurance company before, you might request that they explain to you how this process works and what details they'll need from you.

The support of an attorney is crucial in helping you to recover compensation, but you may inform your car insurance company that you've been involved in an accident before communicating with a lawyer. It is best to have all future communication with the car insurance company and its representatives. However, go through your attorney, as you will be dealing with enough while trying to recover from the accident.

Should You Find a Personal Injury Attorney?

The next most important step for recovering compensation in a vehicle accident is hiring a car crash attorney near you. A car crash attorney near you should be an attorney who has extensive experience in representing victims, either in settlement conversations before trial or going into litigation after settlement negotiations are unsuccessful in yielding positive results for a victim. Most people in an accident are overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork, requests, appointments, and details linked to recovery from an accident. Others may be shocked by the length of time necessary for them to recover from their injuries. And others still will not ever fully recover from the accident.

This can change your schedule, your daily pain level, and your ability to live your life in big ways. This is why it is vital to have car crash lawyers who are familiar with the legal landscape to help you to file a suit. And it all starts with knowing that the first thing to do after a car accident is to get medical attention. Your lawyers will use many different types of evidence to tell the story of how you got hurt in the accident and how it has impacted your life.

Your attorney should also be someone who you can turn to and ask questions of during this process. There are plenty of challenging aspects of pursuing a personal injury claim, but your lawyer is there to support you and assist you with any problems that arise. Do not hesitate to get help from the experienced attorneys at Morgan & Morgan. Our lawyers know what it takes to fight for justice on behalf of our clients.

How to Be Prepared for Trial?

Although you might be able to resolve your claim with the insurance company outside of court, you might also realize that you aren't able to successfully close out the claim. This is when hiring the right lawyer is so important to your case. Knowing when to continue pushing forward is extremely important.

Keeping all your information organized can help with this process, and working with the right lawyer ensures that someone is working on the legal case on your behalf. If you need to go to trial, your lawyers will help you understand the different phases of the case.

Should I Speak to the Insurance Company After Opening a Claim?

While you do have an obligation as a policyholder to inform your car insurance company as soon as possible after an accident happens, you may eventually want to turn your communication over to your personal injury lawyer. This is because your personal injury attorney can help you with the first things to do after a car accident, and can also help in any communication with the insurance carrier. This decreases the possibility that you will make mistakes in your case, or make statements that could be misconstrued by the insurance company. Most people trying to recover from an accident already have enough on their minds and do not need the additional stress of worrying about an insurance carrier.

If you are concerned about what's involved in protecting your legal rights, you need to be prepared to work with a lawyer who will advocate for your best interest and keep you informed about developments in your case.

When Should I File a Lawsuit?

It may seem as though the days are blurring together after an accident happens, but you cannot wait too long to file a car accident lawsuit to recover damages and to pay for your medical bills. If you exceed your state statute of limitations, you will no longer be able to pursue compensation under personal injury law and may be individually responsible for the bills for your treatment and other accident-related expenses. Most people do not want to deal with these negative aspects of a claim and need support from a qualified and dedicated lawyer to handle those details. Talking with an attorney as soon as possible puts you in the best position for recovering compensation in a timely manner.

It is very common for someone who has just lived through an accident to be confused and overwhelmed with all of the options available to them. You may recognize that you likely have grounds to pursue compensation as a victim, but you may not know what steps come first in this process.

If you have already gotten medical attention for your injuries and notified your car insurance company about the accident, it is a good opportunity to use a free initial consultation with a qualified personal injury lawyer to discuss the legal aspects of your case. This will help you to determine whether or not your damages meet the grounds to proceed with an additional lawsuit and will give you a chance to ask them important questions about your legal rights. You need to understand your legal rights when proceeding with a personal injury lawsuit because no one else in this process, including your insurance company, is as invested in protecting your best interest.

If you know that your next step is to speak with an injury lawyer, set aside time to hold that meeting. Before you come to the meeting, organize your evidence and prepare a list of questions so you can make the best use of your time. Knowing that you have someone committed to fighting for you in court is powerful.

Morgan & Morgan understands the difficulty of what you’re going through and can help. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation case evaluation.