Would you know what to do if you were driving and another vehicle hit you? It's equally important to know what NOT to do in those circumstances. I'll share a couple things I've learned from handling thousands of accident cases successfully over the years. A lot of people who are hurt in accidents become victims for a second time by making the wrong decisions. First, they are the victims of a bad driver. By making bad decisions after the wreck, they become victims again, typically of the insurance companies.
Here's a scenario that's become an epidemic. The wreck happens and the hurt person goes to the emergency room. The doctor decides to either treat and release or admit for a hospital stay. Within hours at either place, a telephone call comes. It's from an insurance adjuster for the guy who hit you. He talks nice and friendly and says how sorry he is that you were hurt and that he's there to help. To become a victim twice from the wreck, go ahead and talk to him. Let him take the recorded statement he'll ask for, as he'll say, "just so I can document my file." You'll be his at that point. Then, it's easy to be led down the path by the adjuster intent upon manipulating you into giving up your case for pennies on the dollar, because by then he will have gained your confidence through the sales techniques adjusters are taught.
State insurance regulations require an adjuster to be fair, but what's written on paper and what actually happens are vastly different things. Why are adjusters suddenly beating a path to injured people's doors? Because we're in an economic downturn. Insurance companies are hurting, too. They know with certainty, like the gambling casinos know the odds are stacked in their favor, that if they can keep wreck victims from getting professional help, they will save a bundle of money, all at injured peoples' expense. The claims manual for one of America's biggest auto insurance companies tells its adjusters to get there fast, before the victim has a chance to call an attorney, and to get the confidence of that victim. The manual tells them why this is important for the insurance company: the company on average will pay only one-third of the value of the injuries if the adjuster can prevent the hurt person from hiring an experienced injury attorney.
Another mistake, this one occurring minutes after a wreck, leads again to legal troubles after the wreck. The careless driver or the police officer asks, "Are you hurt," and in the confusion of the moment, standing on the side of the highway, you say, "Oh, no, I'm fine." That seemingly innocent statement can immeasurably complicate a legal case when in a few hours or a few days pain begins and gets worse from injuries that were unknown at the scene. A true response to the question would have been, "I'm not sure."
The moral of the story is, (1) at the accident scene, don't assume that you haven't been injured, and (2) get professional help with the complexities of an accident case. Don't become a victim the second time.
