Posts Tagged ‘consumers’

Car Accident Settlement Checklist: Things to Do At Crash Scene

Monday, May 30th, 2011

At the car accident scene, there are several actions you can take to increase your car accident settlements.

By following these actions, you can pay for your vehicle damages, personal injuries, medical bills and related fees.

If you want more money from the insurance companies, you have to minimize how much responsibility you get for the car crash. The lower fault you get, the more money you can get from your car insurance claims. Avoiding fault also helps to protect you from having any lawful action being taken towards you.

So exactly how do you keep clear of fault and get more money?

To accomplish this, you are going to collect facts at the accident scene that details the auto crash was the other car driver’s fault. Even if you’re partly to blame, you’ll need to clearly show that the majority of of the responsibility is on the other car driver.

Here is what you should do at the car accident scene:

Stay Calm

This is rather simple but really essential.

You were just in a accident and your adrenaline is high. Being irritated and shouting at the other driver is really not going to repair your vehicle or cause you to appear less liable for the crash.

Don’t argue with the other vehicle owner. The damage is done. Give attention to what needs to be done next.

Call the Police

As soon as possible after a accident you should dial 911 and explain you were involved in an collision. Let them know the spot where the accident happened and if you need an ambulance.

Get Other Driver’s Information

To get compensated for your damages, you will need to get the other driver’s information.

Take note of the following critical information:

*Name and Driver’s License Number * Car License Plate Number * Name of Insurance Company and Insurance Policy Number Read the insurance policy to make sure it isn’t out of date. If the name on the insurance policy does not match the vehicle owner’s, ask for insurance policy holder’s name and contact information.

You’ll use this personal information to get in touch with the other car owner’s insurance company and begin a car accident claim.

Take Pictured and Write Notes

You should use your cell phone or digital camera to take lots of pictures of the car accident scene. In addition, you should make quick notes about how the auto accident took place. As time goes on, your memory about the auto accident will fade. You want to jot down as much critical information as possible in case you don’t recall a crucial detail. Record as many details as you can remember. For instance, at what time did the car accident happen, where were you driving to, how fast you were going etc.

You will use these details to describe to the police and insurance companies how your car accident took place.

Locate Witnesses

Finding anyone who saw the car wreck happen can back-up your story. Ask the people at the vehicle accident area if they observed who was to blame and where the other driver was driving from. If they are ready to work with you, record their names and contact information.

Speak with the Cops

When the police appear, they will take you and other car driver aside to ask questions about the accident.

They will collect information about your insurance company, vehicle, traffic conditions and write statements from any witnesses at the scene

If your car is extremely damaged, then a tow truck will be called to move your car and be taken to a garage.

Always remember to take pictures of your accident when you move your vehicle.

Once the police have talked to everyone they will file a car accident report. This report contains details about the accident that you will need for your accident claim. Make a note of the police officers badge number and ask when the auto accident report will be completed. Once the report is completed, you can go get a copy of the report to go over all the details.

Once everything is treated at the accident scene you should contact the insurance companies.

Call Car Insurance Company

Call up your insurance company first. Then if you feel the other car driver was to blame, call the other driver’s insurance company to start a claim against them.

After you have started your car accident claim, you can begin gathering and recording information that will help get you get compensated for any car damages and personal injuries.

Read how to get more money from your car insurance and your personal injuries

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Starting Your Car Accident Claims the Right Way

Monday, May 30th, 2011

The best way to get more money from your auto accident settlement is to begin your compensation claim the right way.

Below are the steps you will want to follow when starting your auto accident claims versus another driver’s insurance:

Watch out for Blame Questions

In the beginning of your auto accident claims, the insurance company may ask you questions that will try to make you at fault for their insurer’s car accident.

For example, a common questions asked by the insurance companies is : “How could you have avoided the car accident?”

If you read it carefully, you will notice that this question assumes that you were the person who was responsible for the car accident. That the accident may have been avoided if you were driving more attentively.

At the outset of the car accident injury claim, the matter of fault is still undetermined. The insurance company can’t certainly know who is the cause for the accident until eventually they examine the car accident report, get in touch with witnesses, look into the evidence etc. That takes a lot of time and research.

By asking this question this early in the claims process, the insurance company is setting you up to take blame for the auto accident.

The more responsibility they can give you, the lower your auto accident claim.

To avoid this trap, simply respond to this question: ” I couldn’t have prevented the accident as your crashed into me.”

Whether or not you could have averted the accident is irrelevant at this point. If the accident was your fault, the evidence will clearly point to it.

But at the moment, don’t presume you’re already to blame for the auto accident. Doing so will only damage you and greatly reduce your odds of getting more money. So always make sure you listen really carefully to how the insurance companies phrase their questions to you.

The basic thing you are attempting to do at this point …

Focus on the Other Driver

Right after tell the insurance company about the accident, talk about how the other car driver was involved.

Do not say: “I was in a car accident with your insurer”. Say things like:

“Your insurer crashed into me” “Your insurer hit my car coming from the back” “Your insurer crossed the red light and wrecked my car.”

By shifting the focus on the other car owner, you are staying away from getting responsibility for the car accident. This helps improve your likelihood of getting a higher settlement.

It’s extremely important to realize that you should NEVER lie to the insurance companies about your auto accident. If you do lie, the evidence will clearly expose you and you can face serious charges.

If you start your auto accident settlement the right way, you increase your likelihood of getting more money from your insurance claims.

Find out more ways to increase your money after a car accident and personal injury

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No Fault States: How to Start Auto Insurance Claims

Saturday, April 16th, 2011

The main disadvantage of living in a no fault state is that if you’re ever injured in a car accident, your insurance might not be enough to cover all of the medical costs. The reason is your no fault car insurance policy will only pay for your medical costs up to your policy limits. When you need more cash, you will want to start a personal injury claim.

Starting Your Personal Injury Claim

Several of these no fault state’s have specific requirements before you can begin your personal injury claims. For example, some states will only let you file an injury claim if your injuries are believed to be “truly serious”. These states have what is sometimes known as an “injury threshold”. Which means that if your specific injury fails to fall inside the criteria of exactly what the state views as “serious”, you will be unable to begin a car accident claim and get back money for your medical bills.

What is Thought as a “Serious” Injury?

Just about every no fault state has a slightly different meaning of what is considered as a “severe” injury. But nevertheless, there are certain kinds of injuries that generally fit in the “serious” category. For example:

Bone fractures (ex: you’ve got a cracked or chipped bone in your arm or leg )

Permanent Injuries (ex: damages to the neck, spine or head).

Disabling injuries: (ex: a back injury that drastically limits your movement )

Permanent disfigurement: (ex visible scars, broken nose, burn marks)

How You Can Demonstrate Your Injuries are “Severe”

In order to really show that your injuries are serious, you must know how your specific no fault state has specified a severe injury. Your no fault state is going to have a description of which groups of injuries it believes are severe and serious. You should review the description for your specific state. Since each state has a slightly different interpretation of a severe injury, your injuries may perhaps be considered severe in one state and not in another.

When you’ve reviewed the description, you can then see whether your injuries meet those criteria. Since the descriptions could in fact be interpreted in lots of ways, you should attempt to create an argument that helps your claim. In that way you can begin your auto insurance claim.

Whether your interpretation is valid or invalid could be a question of negotiation with the insurance company. This is why it’s very important that you understand the seriousness of your injuries and how to negotiate auto accident settlements.

If your injuries have crossed the “injury threshold” you can then begin on understanding how to calculate your personal injury settlements.

Read more about car insurance claims and personal injuries

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