What to do if You've Been Injured in a Personal Injury Accident

In many circumstances related to a personal injury accident, the responsible person or party will attempt to limit the victim’s rights or their personal injury claim. It is important to understand that the sooner you pick up the phone and call a personal injury lawyer, the better your chances are to obtain the compensation you deserve following an accident. Time may not be your friend after an incident such as this. If you or a loved one has fallen victim to another party’s negligence in San Antonio and you find yourself wondering what to do if you’ve been injured in a personal injury accident, a Carabin Shaw San Antonio accident lawyer is here for you.

The expert team of lawyers at Carabin Shaw has over 25 years of claims experience in personal injury law and personal injury cases. One of the most important and often overlooked factors regarding personal injury claims is the fact that insurance company adjusters hired by insurance companies to process and oversee a personal injury accident are not tasked to help you as the victim, but instead they concern themselves with a three part goal: reducing the size of the claim, lessening the amount that should be paid, and lessening the amount of forthcoming medical care or attention for injuries accrued.

Insurance adjusters work quickly and efficiently to reduce their assumed risk in a given claim. If a personal injury victim waits too long to arm his or herself with proper legal protection, they may provide the other involved parties or their insurance companies to gather evidence that can sometimes tip the balance of full claim reparation opportunities in their favor, instead of yours.

In some cases that evidence is even lost, filed, misplaced, or even destroyed in the hopes of further decreasing the victim’s chances of compensation. In hundreds of cases, the insurance adjusters move swiftly to seek out witnesses and obtain physical evidence before you have even been made aware of your options or had a chance to seek legal counsel. In cases such as this, you deserve to have an accomplished team of San Antonio attorneys on your side, working for your protection and defending your claim.

It is much too common for victims of personal injury cases to call the lawyers at Carabin Shaw much too late after an accident. Often, concerned individuals experience an initial hesitation to contact someone within the law community. They most likely will call an attorney sooner or later regarding a serious injury, sometimes long after the incident itself. Some people postpone contacting someone within the legal community for counsel in the hopes that they feel better over time, or perhaps because they believe the insurance adjuster or other involved parties will treat them fairly.

Sadly, this is not always the case. The truth is, an injured party’s claim often becomes more futile with the passage of time, as they wait too long and unforeseen variables change; for example, evidence they may need to fight a winning case in court disappears, or new, unanticipated issues arise that damage the merit of their claim.

The best thing you can do for yourself and your case is to gather as much information as you can as quickly as possible, and preserve all evidence immediately in order to safe-guard your case. Then, you should call the attorneys at Carabin Shaw immediately following an accident in the San Antonio area. We are willing to offer a consultation, free of charge, to help make you aware of your best option or options to handle the claim.

If you or a loved one has been injured due to another party or parties’ negligence, there are a few crucial steps you can take to help yourself secure the best possible chance at fighting a winning legal battle with your personal injury claim. Beyond seeking legal counsel later on, what to do if you’ve been injured in a personal injury accident begins and ends with your own awareness and conscientiousness in the moment.

Immediately following the incident, these are just a few of the best ways to handle yourself:

• Identify witnesses. Obtain their names, addresses, phone numbers, and other important personal information. After some time has passed, witnesses often disappear or are unwilling to get involved or give accurate statements of what they saw or heard.
• Do not speak with the other party or parties’ adjusters or attorneys until you have spoken with your own. If you enter into an agreement with them or sign a release or other document before receiving your own lawyer’s advice, you may unknowingly limit or prevent your right to a fair recovery.
• Take pictures/document everything, especially if there is very little presence of witnesses at the scene.

Victims of personal injury cases are not alone, and deserve to know and understand their best option in dealing with the circumstances surrounding their case and any questions they may have about what to do if you’ve been injured in a personal injury accident. That is where the experienced San Antonio lawyers at Carabin Shaw come in. Contact us via email, or call us today in San Antonio at 210-222-2288, or toll-free, day or night, at 800-862-1260, for a free consultation. You’ll be glad you did.