Arizona Car Accident Lawyers – Tempe, Chandler, Ahwatukee, Scottsdale, Avondale, Glendale, Peoria, Sun City, Phoenix, – Arizona Personal Injury Lawyers Warn About Pursuing An Auto Injury Claim When You Are Unrepresented
Arizona car accidents hurt innocent people every day. Our Arizona Accident Book details the legal system for people who have injury claims in Arizona. As Arizona personal injury lawyers and since our practice is limited to only very serious injury and wrongful death claims we thought we would put information in a book to help others. Even those who need a lawyer, the book helps them understand more about the legal system, the adversarial relationship with the insurance adjuster, and the 13 biggest mistakes that can destroy your Arizona Accident Claim.
Arizona Injury Book - FREE
The reason I bring up our Arizona Injury Book is because I got a call this week from a man who was very seriously injured in a car accident. The car accident had happened about a month ago. Nothing had been done with his vehicle. He was self employed and was unable to go back to work. The adverse insurance company was not calling him back. His daughter had ordered him a copy of our book and had given it to him. It was obvious that he never read it though because he had already given a recorded statement to the adverse insurance company, which is something you shouldn’t do! He had not got a lost wage statement from his doctor, which is necessary to collect lost wages! He had left the car at the tow yard and an abandoned title had been applied for by the tow yard and the tow yard was requesting almost a thousand dollars in storage fees.
If you don't know the answers to these questions think what this means
I asked him some further questions about his own insurance. Did he know if he had medical coverage? Did he know how to handle Medicare? He was on Medicare and with Medicare you need to get a conditional lien amount – and then a final lien amount – to settle your claim. He had no idea about this – Of course, he didn’t he’s not a lawyer. He didn’t know that he could use his underinsured from his two different automobile policies. He had another separate auto policy that did not have underinsured on it and he didn’t know that the insurance company is required to have a person sign off on different documents and that he might be able to get more underinsured coverage. Of course, he didn’t know this either because he’s not a lawyer and knows nothing about insurance coverage.
Lawyers know how to look for additional coverage
Most importantly, the adverse driver was in on a cell phone for what appeared to be a work related call. This means that the company insurance may apply even if the adverse driver was not in his own vehicle.
At the end of the conversation, the man was still convinced that he could handle the Arizona car accident claim on his own. This is what I don’t understand. This man had a life changing very serious injury. He should be protected and will have no idea how to protect himself. Maybe it is that some people still feel bad hiring an attorney for a car accident claim. Maybe that is it. I have talked to some people who have said that they felt bad hiring a lawyer or that it was something that they did not feel comfortable doing. Some people have told me that for religious reasons they felt like they could not file a claim against someone who caused the accident.
I respect everyone’s opinions and it is an individual choice for each auto accident, motorcycle accident, pedestrian accident, trucking accident, whatever the motor vehicle accident or any other injury victim for that matter – it is their individual decision what to do. I just think that when you are seriously injured or have a loved one who has been killed by the negligence of another individual that it is necessary to consult a lawyer in depth to find out all your rights. Some car accident cases do not require a lawyer. But other cases do require a lawyer. We all pay for car insurance. Many of us pay thousands of dollars each year for car insurance. So shouldn’t we all be protected if we are injured to make sure that the car insurance company pays the most that they have to. Why should as a victim if you lose wages you want to give the insurance company an advantage to not have to pay everything that they are entitled to?
As I got off the phone with this man who was confident that he could handle his case on his own, I reminded him to go read the book. At least if he was not going to hire a lawyer, he could get some pointers on what not to do. His son was smart to order the book and his son understands that there are a lot of dynamics to an injury claim that lay people do not know. If you are in a small car crash and the injuries are not too significant then even though you may do better with a lawyer, ultimately it is not a life changing amount of money so it does not have as big of an impact.
Serious injuries from a motor vehicle accident
When you are seriously injured from a car accident though and have injuries that are permanent, or excessive lost wages, or excessive medical bills, there is simply too much to lose by trying to handle a claim on your own. At least that is my opinion. Of course, I see insurance companies day in and day out deny claims to people who tried to handle it on their own so I come from a completely different perspective. I know that insurance adjusters on not on the injured victims side and we try to get this point across to victims, but at least on a positive note many people still have trust in others. I guess in that way these people are to be commended because they trust that others will look out for them and do the right thing even when it is an adversarial position.
Insurance adjusters are not your friend
The simple fact is an insurance adjuster is not going to point out that they have more coverage, is not going to tell you to get a lost wage note, is not going to tell you the ramifications of leaving your car in storage, is not going to tell you that you may have additional underinsured coverage, is not going to inform you that the person driving might have a company policy because they were on the phone and the list goes on. Bottom line, when you are in a car accident it is an adversarial situation and as a victim it is in your best interest to be protected.
