Settle Your Car Accident Case Without An Attorney

The U.S. Census bureau reports that every year, there are over 10-million car accidents a year, resulting in over 1-million injuries and well over 40,000 deaths. Oftentimes, the negligent parties insurance companies trick the injured party into accepting an amount of money well below what they should receive compensation for, or even worse-nothing at all. Obviously, there is no substitute for an experienced personal injury attorney, but if you follow these steps, you may be able to negotiate a settlement for yourself, or at the very least have set up excellent prep work for your attorney to follow.

If you are in a car accident, you first must calm down and assess the situation taking notes of all your surroundings and your personal well-being. Once you have determined the extent of your injuries, it is important to turn to other potential injured parties.

1. Always Seek Medical Treatment and Diagnosis Immediately

Always seek medical treatment for even the slightest of soreness in your head, neck, back or any other part of your body as it may be more serious than initially thought. One big problem many people have when they first are involved in a motor vehicle crash is that they turn away medical care or an ambulance ride because they feel embarrassed or that they are not hurt enough to necessitate an ambulance. This is wrong for two main reasons.

First, many injuries that a person sustains in automobile accidents do not instantly appear. Whiplash, slipped discs and strained vertebrae often do not present themselves for a day or two after the accident-sometimes even months down the road. If you do not go to the doctor immediately, they will not be able to properly diagnose you and get you healed properly.

Secondly, not seeking immediate help from ambulance staff or medical personnel on the scene makes your case look bad in the eyes of the insurance company. They will immediately think that you were never injured to begin with or became injured in some other way post-accident. This can be used against you should the case go to trial and the insurance company knows that if they hold these types of details over your head, they will be able to force you into accepting an extremely low settlement or no settlement at all.

2. Organize and Keep Track of your Medical Bills

It is essential to keep accurate records of all of your medical bills and lost wages due to the injuries you suffered in your accident. The insurance company will need these bills along with an authorization from you so that they can see what the actual bills are that are related to the accident. You cannot begin negotiating a settlement until you are finished treating your injuries. But be careful-most states have a 2-year statute of limitations for car accident cases!

Your medical bills should be organized by total amount owed to each medical care provider as well as total amount of bills paid by your health care insurance or med-pay provision of your own car insurance policy. There will be two-amounts, the actual bill amount and the lien amount.

The actual billed amount is the total amount of all your bills added up. This will be the number that you begin negotiations with the insurance company with. The lien amount is the amount that was actually paid by the insurance company to pay your medical care providers. Example: you owe $10,000.00 to the hospital. Your insurance company pays that amount, but because they have a "negotiated rate" with that hospital, only have to pay $3,000.00, this is the "lien amount" that you will have to pay the insurance company once you settle your case. So, you negotiate with the negligent drivers insurance company based on the actual amount, not the lien amount.

3. Do Not Accept the Insurance Companies First Offer

Insurance companies make millions of dollars every year (many make billions even). They are able to be so profitable because they know that they can use their power and their money to force you into submission.

Most insurance companies will begin the process by first denying your claim. This is because they know, through analysis of literally millions of cases across decades that the vast majority of people, even though due money for an accident that was not their fault, will simply give up and walk away. Do not let this discourage you from seeking what you deserve.

Once the insurance company realizes that you are not going away, they will attempt to offer you an extremely low amount to settle your claim. Usually, this is less than half of whatever your "special damages" are. Special damages are the actual losses you incurred-medical bills, x-rays, etc. Pick a number that is at least 3-times your special damages and demand that they pay that amount. Of course, they won't, but that will now put them on notice that you know what you are doing and are not to be pushed around.

4. Acceptance of an Offer and Knowing When It's Time to Settle

Insurance companies will only negotiate to a certain extent unless a lawsuit is actually filed. To avoid this, you need to know when its time to settle. Many times, settling for the actual Special Damages amount for what would be considered a minor injury or a soft tissue case should be acceptable. This is because, oftentimes, the lien amount and the special damages are very far apart. Here is a normal situation: Special Damages = $10,000.00. Lien Amount = $3,000.00. If you were able to settle for the amount of special damages, you would be able to pay your insurance carrier back and walk away with $7,000.00-all without using an attorney!

Good luck! And remember, if you feel as though the insurance company will not settle with you for a fair amount, it may be time to hire an attorney. Just make sure that you do so well in advance of the statute of limitations or your right to recover may disappear!