After a car accident, it is vital to take the steps needed to recover from your injuries and to recover economically from the impact of an accident. Getting the treatment you need and getting damages for your injuries are both important parts of one process that a car accident injury lawyer can help you with.
First, it is vital to collect evidence at the scene of the crash. From there, you want to seek medical attention and follow all recommendations. Then, you will contact a lawyer and interact with insurance companies to try to get the damages you need. Ultimately, your case might end up in court as part of a lawsuit to recover any outstanding damages or to push the insurance companies into paying what they owe you.
For help recovering after a car accident, call The Martello Law Firm’s Westchester car accident lawyers for a free case review. Our phone number is (914) 685-6950.
Collecting Evidence at the Scene of the Crash in New York
Immediately after a car accident, you need to stop your car in a safe place and report the crash. If anyone was injured, call 911 immediately to get medical assistance and to report the accident to the police. At the scene, there are steps you can take to gather information that your New York car accident lawyers will need later.
First, you should get the contact info and insurance info from each driver involved. Next, you should take photos of any vehicle damage and injuries at the scene. Also snap pictures of the positioning of the cars and any lighting, signs, traffic lights, road conditions, or weather conditions that might have contributed to the accident. Lastly, get the name and contact info of any witnesses and the officer that responded to the call.
Ultimately, if you are too injured to stay at the scene of the accident, worry about your health first. As long as a police officer responded to the accident, your Yonkers car accident lawyers can get a copy of the police report, which should include much of this same information – though the officer might not be as thorough or tenacious in retrieving and recording this information.
Getting Medical Attention After a New York Car Accident
Getting the medical attention you need is important for two reasons. First, it will be vital to your physical recovery and put you on the right track to getting back to 100% or as close to it as you can. Second, getting medical attention will create a firm record of your injuries, documentation as to how severe they were, and financial records of bills and statements showing how much your recovery cost, in part.
This information will be vital to your New Rochelle car accident lawyer’s injury case. It is always important after an injury to show that you are doing everything in your power to avoid letting the injuries get worse. Getting medical attention and following through with your doctor’s recommendations for physical therapy, rehab, and other treatment is important to this point.
Additionally, the records of your injury will be vital when proving that the injuries exist in the first place and that they were caused by the car accident. If you have no record of treatment, but your injuries are healed by the time your case goes to court, there will be little evidence that the injuries ever happened. Additionally, if you wait to receive care, the defense will argue that your injuries weren’t caused by the car accident but rather by some other event that happened in the meantime.
Dealing with Insurance After a Car Accident in New York
New York uses a no-fault insurance system, which means that you need to get damages for medical bills and lost wages from your own insurance as the first resort after a crash. However, if your White Plains car accident attorneys can prove your injuries are sufficiently “severe,” we can claim damages from the other driver’s insurance as well.
Getting insurance companies to pay what they owe you is often complex, even when dealing with your own insurance company. Ultimately, deductibles and limitations on what percentage of damages your insurance company will pay might reduce what you could receive in total damages. Moreover, the other side might not be willing to admit fault and pay damages at all.
It is vital to always have your lawyer deal with the insurance companies to prevent any statements from being misinterpreted and to avoid low-dollar settlements.
Going to Court for a Car Accident Injury Case in NY
Ultimately, if the insurance companies drag their feet or fail to pay the full value you are entitled to for your injury case, our New York car accident lawyers can file a lawsuit against the defendant. In a lawsuit, the court can order compensation for any damages related to the accident, even if the insurance company is unwilling to pay those damages. Ultimately, this could result in better compensation, even after the cost of trial and legal fees are taken into account.
Most cases end before trial, with settlements appropriate to the victim’s needs. However, our attorneys are prepared to take your case to trial if need be.
Ultimately, trials are very involved legal processes, and you should never try to take your case to court without the assistance of an experienced lawyer. Our Mount Vernon car accident lawyers can hire expert witnesses to help build your case, take strong depositions from witnesses to lay out all the facts before walking into court, and present strong arguments at trial to support your case.
Call Our New York Car Accident Injury Attorneys Today
If you were hurt in an accident, call our lawyers for help getting on the path to recovery and getting the damages you need. For a free case review, contact the Westchester personal injury attorneys at The Martello Law Firm today by calling (914) 685-6950.
