Hi, my name is Matt Eason. In this video, I’m going to address a question that I get a lot: ” What happens if someone hits you with a car?”
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To answer that question, context is required. Are you referring to physical injuries? What happens to your body? Or are you referring to the claims process? What happens with a claim? In this video, we are going to discuss both of those.
Concerning physical injuries to the body, some are apparent, such as broken bones and bleeding and stitches and things like that. Some injuries aren’t so obvious and are often called soft tissue-type injuries. Most of those soft tissue injuries will reach a maximum pain threshold. Usually, about 24 hours after the accident and with proper care from a physical therapist or chiropractor, something like that usually resolves itself completely in eight to ten weeks. Unfortunately, some cases take over eight to ten weeks and may require an MRI or other diagnostic testing to determine precisely what is wrong. But the good news is that for the large group of people, the bell curve so to speak, 80-90% of people will reach maximum recovery in about eight to ten weeks after an accident.
The other part of the question is, “What happens in the claims process after an accident?” Once the insurance companies know the claim, they will call and try to get recorded statements. You want to understand what they are trying to accomplish with those recorded statements. They are a business trying to reduce expenses, and you are an expense. So when they call you, they are trying to get information from you that will be negative to you but beneficial to them so they can reduce their expenses.
We recommend that when they want to ask about the injuries, you say that you were physically injured, but you don’t want to discuss the extent of your injuries until they are fully known and treated. Now, understand that there are statutory periods to bring in action. If you don’t bring it within those periods, it is waived. Generally speaking, you have two years to claim in California for a car accident. There are some exceptions when the claim is against a government entity or someone driving within the course and scope of their employment with a government entity. It might be as short as six months. But it is undoubtedly a much extended period than a week later when the insurance company tries to get a statement from you.
Concerning what happens after a car accident, the issue boils down to trying to resolve the case before going to court or resolving it in the court system. When you are done with all your treatment, a demand package is typically given to the insurance company responsible for the accident. In that demand package, we usually provide information that provides evidence of your medical treatment, your medical bills, any proof of any wage loss, and things of that nature. From that demand package, we attempt to settle the case, and if we don’t get a responsible offer, unfortunately, we usually don’t, then we will file a lawsuit with the court. When we file a lawsuit with the court often, we get a more senior adjuster and an attorney to look at the file, giving us another opportunity to settle the case sooner rather than later. The chances of settling at that stage go up, but unfortunately, not all cases settle, so you begin the litigation process. The first step of the litigation process is usually called the discovery phase. In the discovery phase, we provide responses to written questions about your injuries and provide them with documents that provide information similar to ours. Then, there might be a deposition, which is not as bad as it sounds. Usually, it lasts about an hour in most personal injury cases, and then we will try one more time to resolve the case. Unfortunately, if unresolved, we will go to a trial and ask a judge and jury to decide your claim’s value. Statistically speaking, only about 2% of cases go to a judge or jury, but you have to treat every case like it will go because if you don’t, that’s the one that does.
Hopefully, this video answers your questions about what happens after a car accident. My name is Matt Eason. If you’ve been involved in a car accident and would like a free consultation with an attorney about personal injury claims, I hope you will consider calling me or my firm, Eason & Tambornini. We are located at 1234 H Street, Sacramento, California, 95814.
