Every Year, thousands of car accidents take place. The accident happens in a matter of seconds and can completely alter the course of a person’s life, if not completely take it away. Not all accidents are alike, some of the accidents are relatively minor and involve only whiplash and property damage. Unfortunately, sometimes the injuries can be far worse. After nearly a decade of focusing on personal injury cases, Kirakosian Law has become one of the best-known and most renowned law firms in Bakersfield California. We have helped hundreds of people injured in car accidents, slip and falls, catastrophic personal injuries, and other personal injuries. If you or someone you know is injured by someone else’s negligence, then it is your right to seek the claim.
There are certain steps to be followed by a person who is involved in the accident to make sure that they are compensated appropriately for their losses. Let us look into it step by step:
1) Document the Accident
- Actions taken by an individual within minutes of an accident make a significant difference to the injury claim process.
- Firstly, check for the well-being and safety of yourself and the co-passengers. Despite the injuries, police should be informed about the accident, and creating police reports at the accident time is very important
- Additionally, try to obtain the name, address, driver’s license number, phone number, vehicle’s license, and insurance details of the driver included in the accident.
- If any witness is available collect the name and contact number.
- If possible, collect the information related to accidents like take photographs of the accident site with you and any vehicles involved in the accident, location of any traffic signals, any debris, collect weather and road conditions as well.
In addition, check for any nearby surveillance cameras in which the whole incident has been captured.
2) Seeking Medical Care
- Make sure to visit your doctor even if you feel fine and be honest with them. Explain to the doctor that you have been involved in an accident and give details on even your minor symptoms.
- If you are not fine you need to make sure that there is no gap in the treatment, if there is any gap in the treatment, the Insurance company then makes an understanding that the injury is healed which is not actual.
3) Claim your Accident with Insurance Company
- Now contact your insurance company at the earliest. Depending upon the coverage chosen by you, you may cover all or a portion of the total accidental costs involved. One might also receive a call from the insurance company of the other driver.
- It is not advisable for a personal injury attorney to provide any recorded statement. In addition, as the experienced personal injury lawyer declares, one has the right to refuse to sign any kind of authorizations. One should also avoid accepting any quick cash to get full justice in areas like
4) Medical and Accountability Investigation
- Now a team of best personal injury attorneys in Bakersfield will take care of the further process. It is only once the person involved in the accident is in good health that only the final cost of medical treatment can be assessed and, therefore, claim compensation from the insurance company.
- They also evaluate the loss in terms of property and wages.
- At this stage, many insurance firms try to negotiate hard but if you feel that the settlement is not fair then one can choose to file a case against the Insurance company with help of the best personal injury attorney.
5) Primary consultation with Personal Injury Attorney
- Sometimes dealing with insurance companies all alone might get difficult, so, in order to get the best assistance, one should consult or hire a personal injury lawyer because they have a better understanding of the real cost of an accident. The attorney not just reviews the facts and costs of the accidents but also ensures to get the optimal insurance coverage.
6) Discovery Phase
- This means that personal injury attorneys need to find out detailed information not just from you but also from the other party. This process involves lots of interrogations, submissions, photographs, and even your medical records.
- The Discovery phase will consider all the people associated with the accident.
- During the discovery phase, where an impartial third party guides the case between two parties, the team needs to actively work with the other party’s insurance company to reach the best possible settlement through mediation.
7) A Trial in the court
- Sometimes the trial really takes a long time to be held considering the busy counties like Bakersfield. This can be a long process with lots of complications involving multiple testimonies in the court. After multiple and long sessions of the court, the jury reaches its verdict and announces its result in the court, and accordingly, the amount is recovered from the insurance firm.
The best personal injury attorney has been successful in recovering a huge number of victims as they are dedicated to providing the best legal assistance in every sense.
If you think that you are facing similar issues then today.
These blogs are meant purely for educational purposes. They contain only general information about legal matters. They are not legal advice, and should not be treated as such. If you have any specific questions about any legal matter you should consult with an attorney.