Immediately after getting into a car accident, people often don't anticipate how much chaos a serious auto collision injury brings into your life.    

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Contacting an attorney should be your priority if: 

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• you or anyone else has been severely injured​

• you think you will lose income and wages because of your accident​

• you expect to incur medical and auto repair costs​

• anyone in the accident was uninsured or under-insured​

 

What if the insurance company makes me a reasonable offer without having to get an attorney?

 

In some circumstances, people are offered some small amount of money from an insurance company, along with a seemingly reasonable-sounding offer to pay some medical expenses. This raises a few questions. For example, how could the insurance company possibly know the extent of your injuries when they have not seen any medical records and, quite possibly, the person has yet to be diagnosed?

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Also, what happens if the injury does not resolve right away? We’ve all seen situations where a seemingly minor problem continues to linger, or even worsens, becoming a long-term chronic problem. How would someone feel if he or she settled that case for a token payment, only to learn that as a result, she could never be made whole for the full value of her injuries? 

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Call our office for a free consultation in order to reasonably determine if you should accept an offer from an insurance company without having to obtain an attorney.

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Should I talk to an attorney before I talk to the insurance companies?

 

Ideally, yes. Usually by the time an attorney is retained, however, the insurer will have conducted much of the investigation, including taking your statement.  This is in part because statements often give the insurance companies a psychological edge in dealing with your attorney. 

 

The statements you make before you hire an attorney become an effective defense tool for the insurance companies when parts are quoted which show proof that can weaken the merits of your claim. 

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By understanding how insurance companies conduct investigations, our office can help you:

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• Better understand why settlement proposals are at times downright insulting​

• Retrace and discover flaws in the investigation​

• Discover material evidence that may strengthen your case

 

With nothing but an insult on the table, there is no downside to going to trial.  Injured plaintiffs may seek justice through the courts.  The Law Offices of Hector C. Perez will stand with you all the way through trial if your case does not settle.   ​

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Is it too late to call an attorney after I’ve already talked to the insurance company?

 

No. Normally, people retain an attorney after the claim has been reported to any first-party and third-party insurers. At the Law Offices of Hector C. Perez, we send initial letters to each insurer as soon as possible. Essential information is obtained and express instructions are given to the insurance companies. This is an important step because it will create a record that will allow you to outline any potential failures on the part of the insurance companies’ statutory duty to produce documents in light of a claim being filed.

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By identifying and promptly contacting the insurance companies involved, our office may be able to minimize negative insurance activity and appropriately determine what litigation path to follow.

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