By The Cagle Law Firm | June 24, 2024 | Car Accidents

First Steps After a Car Accident are Important

Car accidents are always unexpected, yet the average American is in 3-4 car accidents in their lifetime.

Whether you are driving in Missouri or Illinois, you should know what to do after a car accident.  The Cagle Law Firm pursues compensation in the bi-state area successfully.  Our firm has represented seriously injured car accident victims spending time in St. Louis County Court, Boone County and Cedar County. If your crash happens in urban or rural, we can help.

Steps to Take After a Car Accident

1. Call 911. Prioritize your safety. If your vehicle is directly impacting safety, move your car to the side. Ideally, your car remains at the crash site until the police arrive. Missouri’s “Steer It Clear It” law.  Calling the police ensures a report will be done and assist in avoiding secondary crashes.
2. Collect Evidence– Insurance adjusters rely on “ground truth” data, thus use your phone to capture:
   • Dashcam Footage- dashcam footage is ideal for evidence support
   • Panoramic Views- Video and photos show traffic signals, weather conditions, road obstructions and the vehicles at the crash site
   • Other Driver’s Details: Gather all information that you can regarding the driver’s name, insurance information, license plate and photos of their vehicle
3. Seek Medical Treatment.  Seek medical treatment after the crash if you were not taken via ambulance.  Often, we are operating on adreneline and pain may be delayed. Often, we are operating on adrenaline and pain may be delayed. If you develop pain, seek help immediately.
4. Don’t Discuss Your Injury with the Insurance Adjuster.   Your goal is to heal, the insurance adjuster’s goal is to deny claims or find issues with your treatment.
   • The insurance adjuster said I had to tell them if I was hurt.  Yes, tell them that you are hurt, but your answer to everything else is “I am still treating“.  You do not have to identify the part of your body that is hurt, where you sought medical treatment and whether or not you have health insurance. You should NOT discuss any of those things in your call to the insurance company
5. Property Damage vs. Bodily Injury– when you are in a car accident, you have a property damage claim and a bodily injury claim. They are separate claims. You can go ahead and take care of your property damage claim (your vehicle). If you are hurt, you don’t know the extent or severity of injuries in the first few days or weeks.
6. Call a Lawyer–if you are hurt, you will need an expert car accident attorney.  If you are hurt, you have to seek medical treatment and it will not be an overnight solution. As well, while you are treating, you do not want to be talking with any insurance adjuster so they can begin building a claim against you.  Consult an attorney so they can gather evidence and focus on dealing with the insurance carrier while you focus on your well-being.

Missouri Comparative Fault

Missouri follows a pure comparative fault rule, RSMo § 537.765. This means even if you were 30% responsible for the crash (e.g., speeding while the other driver ran a light), you can still recover 70% of your damages. Never admit fault at the scene; fault is a legal conclusion that our attorneys determine through evidence.

Insurance companies argue percentage of shared fault in order to reduce the overall number.  Standard insurance defense involves two parts: One, arguing percentage of fault. Two, arguing the severity of the damages. Meaning, they argue the crash is partially your fault and you are not hurt as badly as the medical records reflect.  We counter those arguments with evidence and testimony.

Common Questions After a Car Accident

There are so many questions after a car accident. If you are hurt, then the list of uncertainties is even greater.  Each car accident is different. There is no formula for calculating damages. Damages are losses due to your injuries.  After talking with car accident victims, these are the most common questions that keep folks up at night.

Q: What do I do in the first day after my crash?

If you are hurt, see the doctor.  You do not immediately have to call any insurance carrier.  You have a duty to report your crash to your insurance carrier according to your policy, usually 24-72 hours.  You should contact your insurance company even if you think it is minor. You can chose later to not file a claim, but it protects you in case it ends up being a bigger deal or you are hurt.

Q. How long is this going to take & How Much is it going to Cost?

Everyone is ready to move on from a car accident right after it happens.  We understand that.  If it is just property damage, then it can be wrapped up fairly quickly depending on whether you are filing against the other party’s insurance carrier or your own.  If you are hurt, the bodily injury portion of your case is going to take a while.  The length of that time table depends on the severity of your injury and the medical treatment required.   You do not now the length of time nor the cost in the first few weeks after a crash. We would love to be able to give that answer.  We do run that marathon WITH you.

Q: How do I know the other driver’s insurance is going to take care of things?

You do not know. If we were placing bets, we would bet against the insurance company stepping up and taking care of your injuries to your satisfaction.  In fact, our experience has shown us that insurance companies will do about everything but offer you a fair settlement.  Because of that fact, we are expert car accident lawyers who fight every day on behalf of our injured clients for fair compensation.

Q: Doesn’t the insurance company HAVE to cover my property and injury losses?

The only thing an insurance company is required to do is “investigate the claim”.  Frankly, they usually investigate far enough to find some type of evidence that you could have some shared responsibility.  If you have full coverage auto insurance, then your insurance company is contractually required to pay for damages to your vehicle which translates to the actual cash value of your vehicle.  They have an obligation to “repair or replace” your vehicle.  If you think it is a fight for the worth of your vehicle is difficult, imagine the fight regarding your body.

Q: Will an Accident Make My Insurance Premium Increase?

An accident could make your insurance premium increase based on the terms of your policy. If you were at fault for the accident, you can expect your insurance company to raise your premium rate. However, it is also possible for an insurance company to raise your premium after an accident when you were not at fault if they deem that you are a high-risk policyholder. In reality, insurance carriers never really need a reason to hike rates. Thus, if you have coverage and need to use it, you should. Refer to the terms of your individual policy to learn the ways in which your premium may increase.

How The Cagle Law Firm Can Help

Our attorneys specialize in serious car accident personal injury cases.  While you are focused on the medical treatment needed, we do the following:

• Investigate your crash: In some crashes, we involve an accident reconstructionist
• Gather evidence: Evidence includes all photos, videos, dashcam, traffic cameras, business video footage, black box data, police reports and witness statements
• Gather medical documentation.  We work with your medical providers, requesting your records and expert testimony
• Negotiate with the insurance carriers.  Hiring an attorney means you do not have to deal with an adjuster wanting updates or asking you to run around requesting your records and bills to be uploaded to the adjuster so they can work on denying your claim.
• Mediate and litigate your case:  Depending on the case and the insurance carrier response, we act in the best of our client regarding settlement, mediation or litigation. Ultimately, it is your case and decisions are not made without you.

Why Should I Hire a Lawyer?

You should only hire an expert car accident lawyer if you want to win.  Unlike so many other things in life, you only get one chance to pursue your case correctly.  It is very difficult for an attorney to come in and try to clean up errors even a very smart client may make on their own.  Legal work and medical treatment are not Do-It-Yourself kinds of projects.

The insurance industry is multi-trillion-dollar industry and it did not get that way by paying out fair claims.  Even the insurance industry reports that represented individuals recover 3.5 times more than unrepresented individuals.  Considering our attorneys only work on contingency, we more than triple what you can do on your own.  In reality, we find that we often can do far better than 3.5 times, but each case is unique and dependent on the severity of the injury.

We Have a Proven Track Record of Helping Clients

The only reason you would care about case results is to determine if our firm could do the same for you.  Our attorneys are diligent and known to love to litigate cases.  The upside of that reputation is that insurance companies know which firms go to trial and which ones they can lowball.  We work on contingency basis.  One, when you are injured, that is not the time to have to come up with legal fees. Two, by working on contingency we only take cases we can believe in supporting. Three, we support those cases by assuming all of the financial risks.

Schedule a free consultation with a University City car accident lawyer. Call us toll-free at (1-800) 685-3302 or locally at (314) 276-1681

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