You definitely want to notify your own insurance carrier in order to obtain your no-fault benefits as well as any other benefits that you might be entitled to under your policy. It also allows your own insurance company to start their investigation, and possibly seek reimbursement, or subrogation from the other driver, depending on the situation. Whether the injured party should notify the other driver’s insurance company would depend on specific circumstances. Many times at a scene, most drivers are already on the phone with their insurance companies.
If, for some reason, you suspect that the other driver has not notified their carrier, then I believe it is a good idea to notify them, or have your attorney notify them.
What Should I Do if the Other Party’s Insurance Company Contacts Me?
You are not required to give a statement to the other driver’s insurance company. Your response should be, “I am represented by an attorney”, or, “I am seeking counsel, so I am not going to give a statement at this time”. Most people see no harm in giving a statement to the other driver’s insurance company, but it can end up being problematic. Do not provide a statement without speaking with your attorney.
What Happens if I Have Delayed Medical Treatment After an Auto Accident?
It is not uncommon for people to start feeling pain, particularly neck, back, and shoulder pain after an accident. The initial trauma sometimes does not result in pain until later on. Your adrenaline kicks in, and they do not feel pain until a day or two later. That, in no way, shuts you out from filing a claim, or a lawsuit. In that instance, again, the first thing you want to do is make sure that you get the required treatment. Go to a doctor as soon as you can. You should not hesitate to pursue a claim just because the pain started a day or two later.
How can Gaps in Treatment Impact an Auto Accident Claim?
Gaps in care are those periods where injured people stop their treatment, but then they go back at a later date. This can hurt their case and potentially decrease its value.
It is very important that you get the treatment recommended by your doctors and that you do not miss your appointments. We want to be able to show the other side that your injuries require a certain amount of treatment, and that you, the injured party, did not have anything to do with the injury getting worse, or not treated appropriately. We want to be able to say we did everything that the doctor recommended, and that based on his recommendations, we needed X, Y, Z treatment. If you seek treatment for a month and then stop going, whether it is physical therapy, or something else for months, and then you try to start it up again at a later date, it can present a problem for us in terms of relating the injury back to the accident itself.
How Long do Auto Accident Claims Typically Take to get Resolved?
Each auto accident case is different, but to give you a general timeframe, it can be as short as four to six months if everything is straightforward and the treatment resolves itself quickly. If the case requires litigation, it is probably more towards the eighteen months to two years to get a car accident case resolved in New York.
For more information on Notifying Insurance Of An Accident, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (855) 228-7369 today.
