Covington Car Accident Lawyer
In Newton County and the surrounding areas, thousands of people are injured in auto accidents every year, and hundreds lose their lives in these collisions. With all the entertainment industry hubbub in the area, these statistics may be initially shocking, but not really surprising.
After a car wreck, you are legally required to contact your insurance company, even if you were not at fault. Every company has their own rules regarding how quickly a collision must be reported, but generally you need to let them know you were in an accident within 24 to 48 hours after the incident.
There are a few reasons for this deadline, but it all comes down to the insurance company protecting their bottom line. They may offer a quick settlement that will almost certainly be less than what you are actually owed. How? By using your words against you and, in some cases, implying that you will not receive a better offer.
You can avoid these conversations altogether by speaking with an attorney before you call the insurance company. At Scholle Law, our lawyers have over 25 years of experience standing up to insurers and making sure they pay our clients the full compensation they deserve.
Call us at (866) 592-1296 or contact us online for a free, no-obligation consultation with a Covington car accident lawyer today.
How Insurance Companies Handle Car Accidents
Insurance companies pour millions of dollars into advertising, and virtually all of their commercials are designed to get you to trust them. They appear friendly, like they are on your side after a wreck.
While they are hoping to earn your business, they are also hoping that you will trust them to cover all of your expenses after an accident – and will therefore accept their first settlement offer.
When you report the incident to your insurance company, whether over the phone or through their website or app, they will record the entire conversation.
Despite what they say, the main purpose of recording the conversation is not for “quality and training purposes.” Rather, interactions are recorded so the agent can find holes in your story or otherwise figure out how to deny or minimize your claim.
How they use your words against you
Insurance agents and adjusters are trained to listen for anything that could reduce or negate your claim. For instance, say you are in a rear-end accident on Alcovy Road, and the collision caused you to hit the car in front of you as well. When you call the insurance company, they may ask how close you were to the car in front of you, and how fast you were traveling at the time.
You tell them you were traveling at 55 miles per hour, which was the general speed of traffic. However, the car in front of you had slowed down, and you had not compensated for this change of speed yet. As such, you were about a car length behind them.
In this case, the insurance agent can say that, since the speed limit is 45 miles per hour on Alcovy Road, your speeding caused the wreck. In addition, not leaving enough space between you and the car in front of you was the reason you collided with them. As such, you deserve very little, if any, compensation.
How a Covington Car Accident Attorney Can Help
Even if the accident was caused completely by another person’s actions or negligence, the insurance will likely still try to pay out as little compensation as possible. They will likely offer a low settlement in hopes that you will accept it, since they know you are likely in a financial bind after the crash.
Before you accept any settlement offer – and ideally before you speak to the insurance company at all – you should seek guidance from an experienced car wreck attorney. At Scholle Law, our lawyers have over 25 years of experience standing up to insurers and making sure they pay our clients the full compensation they deserve.
Call us at (866) 592-1296 or contact us online for a free, no-obligation consultation with a Covington car accident lawyer today.