Insurance Claims Attorney in Atlanta

After any kind of loss, accident, or injury, you should file an insurance claim as soon as possible. If you need medical care, make sure you make that a priority. Then your next steps should be hiring an Atlanta insurance claims lawyer and filing the insurance claim.

If you are filing a claim against your own insurance policy, the policy declarations or contract likely require you to file one as soon as you are able. Waiting to file one can increase the risk of further damages and possibly decrease your financial recovery.

An insurance policy is a legal contract between the insured and the insurance carrier. When an accident occurs, the insurance company has a responsibility to fulfill their end of the agreement to take care of you.

You also have obligations that are in the cooperation clause of your policy. Typically, you are required to take part in and cooperate with any investigations involving your claim.

For instance, you have the responsibility to:

• Promptly report your accident
• Share any information necessary for the investigation of your claim
• Sign medical releases so that the insurance company can review your medical records

Not upholding your contractual obligations can result in your insurance company refusing to renew your policy. They could also raise your rates or potentially even cancel your policy.

Once you decide if you should file a first-party or third-party claim, you should report your accident to the appropriate insurer as soon as you can. These reports can be done by phone, in-person if the insurer has a local office, or through an app or their website.

One of our knowledgeable insurance claims attorneys can help you report the accident and file your claim.

First, you will need to collect related paperwork and information that you can, including the:

• Contact and insurance information for the other driver
• Police report (if not available, the insurer can make arrangements to get it directly from the responding police department)
• Names and badge numbers of any law enforcement officers that responded to the incident scene
• Witness contact information and statements, if available
• Medical reports detailing your injuries
• Notes you might have recorded about what happened before, during, and after the accident or about your injuries

When you report your accident and file your claim, you not only need to be prepared with the above documents and information, but you also need to be ready to answer many questions. These questions begin the insurance company’s investigation into the accident. You must answer them as thoroughly and accurately as you can. However, be honest and don’t speculate. If you just can’t be certain of your answer, tell the insurance company you don’t know.

Prepare for these questions, among others:

• When did the accident happen?
• Where did the accident occur?
• Who was involved?
• How did the accident happen?
• In your opinion, who caused the accident?
• Were you injured? If so, what are the types and extent of your injuries?
• Are you under the care of a licensed physician?
• Did someone file a police report?
• Call us. We can help you answer those questions honestly without jeopardizing your claim.

Car insurance companies handle the majority of personal injury claims.

After sustaining an injury in an auto accident, you have the choice to file either:

• A first-party claim with your insurance company
• A third-party claim against the other driver’s insurance policy

The party that pays the insurance policy’s premiums is the first party, and the second party is the insurance company. The individual who suffers injuries or property damage because of the first party’s negligence is the third party.

To determine which type of claim to file, you will need to examine the facts of your accident and be familiar with Georgia’s insurance laws. Many injury victims elect to hire an Atlanta insurance claims attorney to handle these details for them while they heal.

If you file a claim on your own insurance policy, the deductible is the dollar amount you have to expend before your insurance policy kicks in and covers the remaining expenses.

Deductibles aim to help lower policy premiums. Most of the time, if you have a higher deductible, you will pay a lower premium for your coverage and vice versa. Suppose the value of the property damage is less than your deductible. In that case, you won’t receive anything from the insurance company for it. You will need to pay for it entirely out of your own pocket.

For example:

Your car insurance company finds that your vehicle needs $3,000 worth of repairs. You have a $1,000 deductible for property damage coverage. You take your car to an insurance-approved repair shop and pay your $1,000 deductible. Your car insurance company must pay the remaining $2,000 directly to the repair shop. You owe nothing further after your deductible. However, if your damages were only worth $800, you would be responsible for paying them on your own since the repairs don’t exceed your deductible amount.

Since an investigation is a significant portion of handling any insurance claim, it may take as many as four to six weeks until completion. A thorough investigation could take longer if the claims adjuster lacks information or the accident was incredibly complex. You can help keep the process moving by responding to any requests for additional information from your Atlanta insurance claims lawyer or the insurance company as quickly as you can.

Unfortunately, insurance companies often attempt to drag out their investigation process to confuse or frustrate the claimant. If they succeed, the claimant might miss the statute of limitations or even lose the desire to pursue their claim. Insurance company tactics like this frequently allow them to indirectly shirk their obligation to pay on a claim.

Even if you’ve already filed your claim, you can still hire an Atlanta insurance claims attorney. It doesn’t matter where in the process you are, as long as you have not accepted a settlement offer. Many times, claimants hire us after waiting far too long to even receive a settlement offer from the insurance company. They know that the insurer is intentionally dragging their feet. They want the protection and backing that our legal representation can provide them.

Also known as a claims adjuster, an insurance adjuster will be assigned to your insurance claim after you file. An insurance adjuster is a type of investigator. Internal insurance adjusters provide an estimate of repairs or damage compensation. They gather documents and other required information about the claim to make an informed decision about fault, financial responsibility, and a claim’s value.

Always remember that the claims adjuster works for the insurance company; they do not work for you. As such, their goals and loyalties are to benefit the insurance company and not you. In the insurance company’s eyes, their job is not to pay you fully and fairly for your claim. Their job is to save the insurance company as much money as possible and to employ whatever games or tactics are necessary to make that happen.

You don’t have to speak to the insurance adjuster. In fact, it’s generally a bad idea to do so unless you have your attorney there with you or your attorney is aware and okay with your communications. Anything you say to an insurance adjuster can be twisted and turned around to use for their benefit of the insurance company. In other words, you could naively devalue your claim by speaking to the insurance adjuster.

Insurance adjusters may come across as friendly and genuinely concerned about your well-being after an accident. However, they are generally great actors. Most of the time, this is just one technique they use to pay claimants less. They want you to trust them and feel comfortable telling them anything, even though you shouldn’t. If they can get you to be friendly back and build a positive rapport with you, you might slip up and accidentally say something to hurt your claim.

Once an Atlanta insurance claims attorney represents you, simply and politely refer the adjuster to their office. They shouldn’t attempt to engage with you once they are aware of your legal representation. From then on, they will need to go through your attorney to talk to you or get information from you. This is just one benefit of having an attorney on your side. Not only do you not have to risk your claim by talking to the adjuster, but you can have the time and space you need to heal from your injuries by not dealing with them directly.

No. And you shouldn’t—not until your lawyer advises you to, and generally not unless your lawyer is present.

When an insurance adjuster calls you, they will ask for a recorded statement. It might seem routine, simple, and innocent to oblige. However, you should think twice and talk to an attorney before agreeing to give one. Not only will the adjuster attempt to get you to say something to hurt your claim, but they will also have it recorded. There’s no denying that you said something if there’s a recording.

During this time, they will often ask leading or confusing questions, such as:

• You did see the car coming, right?
• You said the sun was in your eyes?
• You apologized at the scene of the accident, correct?
• Are you feeling better now?
• Whom were you texting when the accident happened?

Speaking to the insurance adjuster, especially providing a recording statement, is ill-advised by nearly all insurance claims attorneys.

Far too many accident victims falsely believe that they must accept an insurance settlement offer or that they don’t even have a choice. This couldn’t be further from the truth. You are under no obligation to accept any insurance settlement offer. Always discuss your offer with an experienced attorney to determine if it is full and fair, and if not, what your next steps should be.

Whether you are just filing your claim or have received a settlement offer and want to find out if it’s fair, give our office a call today.