After being involved in a truck accident the most important thing that you need to focus on is your own personal health, but unfortunately, there are some other things that you will need to either delegate or do yourself to ensure that you get the compensation that you are rightfully entitled to. Taking these steps can be overwhelming, and oftentimes victims of vehicle accidents may either not complete the necessary steps or give up on these important entirely.
Take a look below to see the most important things for you to do after an accident, and get started today. If you are looking for the abridged version of this checklist, then here it is: call 911, call your doctor, and then click here. Time is essential, so make sure that you take these steps as soon as possible.
Call 911
In minor collisions, people often choose not to call 911 or the police to report the accident, hoping to save time and hassle with this decision. Unfortunately, if you do not call the police after an accident you will not have any official accident report that will support your case. An at-fault driver can quickly change their tune if there is no official record of the event, and it becomes your word against theirs.
Talk to the police at the scene of the accident and inform them of exactly what you saw, especially if the other driver was engaging in any sort of reckless or dangerous behavior that you believe may have caused the crash.
Get Medical Care Immediately
When you call 911, police, firefighters, and EMTs all arrive to the scene in order to provide emergency support and care. Get examined by the EMTs at the accident so that they can make note of any initial injuries or potential problems that you may have suffered, whether or not you think that you will need to take an ambulance to a hospital. As with an accident report, any injuries that do not have official proof can be harder to prove.
See Your Primary Care Physician
If you speak with the EMTs and decide that you are able to leave the scene of the accident under your own power, this does not mean that you do not need additional medical care. In fact, you need to see your doctor as soon as possible so that they can create yet another official record of issues relating to your accident.
If an insurance claim includes injuries that do not have clear records attached to them, the insurance company will push back aggressively on covering these injuries. Trying to “suck it up” after an accident is bad for your health, and bad for your insurance claim.
Hire a Lawyer
Many people would understandably believe that the next step would be to contact the insurance company in order to initiate a claim, but this is actually a counterproductive decision to make. As soon as you contact the insurance company, they will assign an adjuster to your claim who will begin to pick apart every detail of the accident, your statements, and the way that you have handled your side of the claim in order to limit the amount of money they ultimately pay you.
When you are working with an attorney, they will be able to handle all of these administrative steps with years of experience behind them, ensuring that each step is taken with the intention of getting you the money that you deserve.
