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The moments after a crash are stressful and confusing, especially if you’ve been hurt. It can be difficult to know what to do after a car accident. As soon as you’re able, you should call 911 to report the collision and request an ambulance if there have been any injuries. If you’re in a position to get out of your car or the other driver comes over, it’s very important to exchange contact and insurance info.
How to Exchange Insurance Information
Write down the other driver’s name, address, phone number, email, insurance company policy number, driver’s license number, and license plate number. This will help ensure that you can make a claim against their policy for your damages if they were at fault. Be sure to give them all of your information, as well.
Once you’ve had a chance to get treatment for your injuries, you’ll need the assistance of an experienced Georgia car accident lawyer. Attorney Ali Awad rapidly grew the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law firm into one of the fastest-growing law firms in the country. He can also be found on social media, delivering engaging yet informative posts about legal topics. If you’re dealing with the aftermath of a car crash, the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm will provide a free consultation so you can better understand your options.
What if the Other Driver Offers to Pay for the Damages but Doesn’t Want the Police or Insurance Company Involved?
This is a great way to end up paying the bills yourself. You cannot guarantee that the other driver will do what they promised, and without a police report, it may be difficult or impossible to get their insurance company to cover your costs. The insurance carrier representative can easily say that you have no proof an accident occurred or that it had anything to do with their client if it did. That’s why it’s essential to report the crash.
What if the other driver takes off without giving you their info? Unfortunately, this can happen. Do your best to get whatever info you can – ideally, the vehicle’s license plate number. If you cannot get the license plate, write down the description of the car, including any unique features like bumper stickers or damage from the accident. Also, note the driver’s description to the best of your abilities. The police may be able to track them down; if not, your attorney’s investigative team will also try to find the other driver. If they simply can’t be found, we can claim your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.
Whose Insurance Company Should I Contact About These Medical and Car Repair Bills?
The at-fault driver’s insurance is supposed to pay for damages in an accident. However, fault is often disputed in car crashes. The police report doesn’t always indicate who is to blame, especially if there is little evidence at the scene one way or the other. Sometimes, it comes down to what you said versus what they said. In these cases, we always investigate in the hopes of finding additional evidence, such as witnesses, traffic or doorbell camera footage, electronic data from vehicles, etc. If our team can locate new evidence, this may help your case.
Another critical point to understand is that fault can be proportional. Georgia relies on comparative negligence standards in personal injury cases like car collisions. Should your case be decided in court, the jury will be asked to assign a percentage of fault to each driver. This can be 0 and 100, but it can also be 70 and 30, 80 and 20, or any other combination that adds up to 100. The idea of this system is to take into account that many collisions are not just one party’s fault. Often both drivers make mistakes that contribute to the crash.
How does this affect your claim? If you are less than 50 percent responsible for the accident, you can collect damages from the other driver’s insurance company. Your final award will be reduced by the percentage of fault you did have, so if you were 20 percent at fault, you would lose 20 percent. This is one reason why fault is so frequently contested in car collisions. If the other party can convince a jury that you are more than half responsible, they can get out of paying anything. If they can make a convincing argument that you are partly at fault by less than 50 percent, they can at least pay you a lower amount.
So far, we’ve talked about proving fault in court, but you should know that most car accident cases settle out of court. However, that doesn’t mean that fault is unimportant. The insurance company will still use the concepts of fault and comparative negligence to avoid paying damages. They may say that they don’t have to pay your claim because you were “mostly” at fault and that you’re likely to lose if you take them to court. Unfortunately, many believe this and give up without seeking legal advice. That means the insurance company neither pays the claim nor the legal costs of a court case – a big win for them!
It’s also easy to think that maybe you were at fault, especially if an insurance adjuster has implied as much. Even if you know you made an error, it’s possible that it had nothing to do with the accident or only contributed a small amount. Trying to determine fault can be complicated, and we don’t recommend doing it on your own. Instead, seek qualified legal advice from an experienced car accident lawyer.
The last thing to understand about insurance companies is that it’s not necessarily a good thing if they seem to accept your assertion that their client was at fault. If the insurance company makes you an offer quickly, without arguing that you were even partly responsible, this could very well be a lowball offer. When an insurance adjuster realizes they probably can’t get out of paying a claim, sometimes they offer a lower amount than your damages are actually worth in the hopes you’ll accept. Naturally, the offer will include some fine print about how you’re releasing them from any further responsibility in the matter. If you accept, you may realize later that you had more bills associated with the accident, but now you can’t get them paid by the other party’s insurance. This is another reason why consulting a lawyer is essential – especially if you’ve received an offer from the insurer. Always get legal advice before accepting any offer.
Injury and Accident Attorneys from the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm Can Help
If you or a loved one have been hurt in a car accident, please contact the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm for a free, no-obligation consultation. We’ll be delighted to answer your questions and lay out all your options for seeking compensation. If we take your case, there is no up-front cost – we work on a contingency basis, so there is no fee until we win.