Unless you happen to be an electrician, you probably don’t feel too comfortable messing with wires in your home. If you aren’t a runner, it’s unlikely that you are going to try to run a marathon. And if you don’t know how to drive a manual, you probably aren’t driving a sports car on a racetrack.
In all of these cases, it is an obvious situation where unless you are proficient with certain skills, you aren’t going to try something.
However, there are some things that we try to do, despite not being the most qualified. A perfect example of this is trying to get a maximum deal from an insurance agency following a car accident.
The Reality of Insurance Agencies
Have you ever tried to find a shortcut to something? Of course, you have. While it probably wasn’t illegal or wrong, it may have been somewhat incorrect to try to cut corners.
Insurance agencies are the same way. An insurance agency has one purpose: to make money. Yes, I know it can come as a shock to think that all of the feel-good commercials about full protection and helping to get you back on your feet are actually just trying to make money, but here we are.
Again, I am not claiming that insurance agencies are doing anything illegal; however, they do have some interesting strategies to help them come out on top.
For example, if someone has a deductible on their health insurance and meets that deductible, a health insurance agency may try to push for future appointments to be scheduled after the end of the cycle so that they aren’t having to pay 100% of the bills. Is this illegal? Not really, but it is definitely not in the patient’s best interest.
What to Do Yourself
If you read the title of the article, you’re likely wondering when the attorney part comes in. Don’t worry, we’ll get there.
Before you seek the help of an attorney, however, you do need to do some work yourself. Immediately following a car accident, you need to take photos of both vehicles. This will provide clear proof of what happened at the site of the crash as opposed to it being only your word against the other drivers.
It would also be good to have photos of your vehicle as it is today so that you can compare photos and present a stronger argument if things go wrong for whatever reason with the insurance agency.
Knowing your policy will also be very beneficial because there’s a chance that the insurance agencies will be very easy to work with. Knowing which areas of car coverage you are paying for (and for what premium) will not only make you more knowledgeable, but it will make you sound like you know what you are talking about when the insurance agent is asking very specific questions.
When to Get an Attorney Involved
Getting an attorney involved probably isn’t a bad idea unless the coverage that you are getting and expecting is less than $1000. The reason for this is that an attorney will be able to look over your information very quickly and know whether or not you are getting all you should be getting.
Yes, you may take a small risk of losing a few hundred dollars to pay the attorney to look over things, but at the same time, you may be entitled to hundreds if not thousands of dollars by having an attorney in your corner. Similar to the earlier example of not trying to wire your home without prior electrician experience, trying to fight for the money that you feel entitled to have following an accident is a very uphill battle by yourself.
You should really consider an attorney if any of the following happen following a car accident.
- Medical bills
- Loss of work/wages
- The other driver has no insurance
- There seems to be irregularities or resistance from the insurance agency
- The small print of the insurance agreement isn’t 100% Clear
In other words, at least having an attorney aware of the situation and in the loop is likely in your best interest; at the worst, it will provide you with the ease of mind that you aren’t losing out on any money.
