If you or someone you care about has been injured in an accident, an insurance adjuster will likely contact you. Filing a personal injury claim can be a difficult process and it’s hard when you’re in that situation to trust whether the insurance company has your best interests at heart, but to be honest, the insurance company wants to pay you as little as they can to settle the claim. They’re not on your side like they may want you to think they are. They are trained to find a reason not to pay your claim.

Each year, thousands of people accept compensation far lower than they deserve because they don’t know what to do once they’re in that situation. Some people receive bad advice from insurance companies or get intimidated into accepting the money offered by insurance companies because they think that’s all they can get. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the big secrets insurance companies don’t want you to know so you can be prepared and well-equipped to know what you should and shouldn’t do following an accident. 

1. Insurance companies don’t want you to hire a lawyer.

In 2014, the Insurance Research Council released a research report entitled “Attorney Involvement in Auto Injury Claims.” This study showed that, on average, victims involved in a personal injury claim who were represented by a personal injury lawyer received a settlement 3.5 times larger than those who settled on their own without a lawyer. Even after paying a lawyer’s fee, victims could still receive two times the amount they would’ve had they not hired a lawyer to help them with their case. 

For example, an insurance company paid someone who wasn’t represented by a lawyer $10,000. Then, another person who had the same injuries and experience was represented by a lawyer, and they would be paid $35,000. Let’s say they have to pay their lawyer a fee of 33% of what they received, they would still get $23,450. That’s $13,450 more than they would’ve made without representation, almost twice as much in payment. Insurance companies don’t want you to hire a lawyer when, in the end, they’ll have to pay you 3.5 times as much compared to if you didn’t hire a lawyer.

When choosing a lawyer, you want someone who cares. Someone who will work with you and fight for what’s fair. At Smith & Beckey Injury Lawyers, we’re proud to say that our lawyers work with you, paying personal attention to you and prioritizing your case. 

2. You must take immediate action to preserve your rights.

Doing nothing and waiting is exactly what the insurance companies want you to do. As time passes, details become fuzzy, evidence gets lost, and witnesses forget. In the civil justice system, an injured party has the responsibility, or “burden of proof,” to prove that the other party was at fault and prove their damages. There are a lot of things that have to be done right away for you to receive the compensation you deserve. Witnesses should be contacted, physical evidence should be collected, and you need to go to the doctor so they can assess your injuries. 

After an accident, it’s important that you seek medical attention. One thing people often do is say, “Oh, I’ll just tough it out,” and not seek medical attention when they’re in pain. One of the insurance company’s favorite things to say is that the injured party didn’t even go to the emergency room or seek medical treatment after the accident. This diminishes your injuries in the eyes of the insurance company, and they may even claim that since you didn’t seek medical attention, you weren’t really injured.

On top of that, there’s a statute of limitations in South Carolina on personal injury cases. This limits the amount of time you have to make a claim, and if you get close to the end of the deadline, you may be tempted just to take what the insurance company offers you the first time around. Doing nothing is exactly what insurance companies want you to do and exactly what you shouldn’t do.

3. Keep receipts, take photos, and write everything down.

It’s very important to document everything, even though it may seem like overkill. When it comes to damages, insurance companies will insist that you provide documentation of every type of injury or loss you’re claiming. Right after the accident occurs, it’s important that you begin documenting everything. This can include taking photos of your injuries, keeping receipts of all costs involved in the accident, and also writing a journal or keeping a “pain log.” This is where you document your everyday life of dealing with this injury and how it affects you on a daily basis. Lawyers can use this as a way to show what it’s like living in your shoes while you’re trying to recover from your injuries.

While it may seem tedious, these cases involve a big back-and-forth of paperwork and documentation. If you want to get the compensation you deserve, it’s crucial that you document everything related to your case, no matter how small you may think it seems.

If you or your loved one has been involved in an accident, the most important thing you can do is contact us at Smith and Beckey Injury Lawyers to help you. Your family is already dealing with the trauma of the accident and the injuries you may have received. The last thing you need to do is deal with the insurance company alone. It can seem like an overwhelming time, but that’s why it’s important to have help on your side. Someone willing to fight for you and ensure you get the compensation you deserve. The attorneys at Smith & Beckey Injury Lawyers are highly trained, serving South Carolina and North Carolina with over 50 years of combined experience between the two of them.