If you have just had an accident, the most important things for you to preserve the value of your accident case are:

1. 1. Most important point: Do not talk to any insurance adjuster before talking to an Orlando auto accident lawyer.  This could make your Orlando personal injury attorney’s job much more difficult later.  Insurance companies absolutely want to pay you the least amount of money possible for any injuries resulting from your accident.  Many times they will offer to pay only your immediate medical bills (like your ER bills). But they never tell you that you should also get future medical, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

1. 1. Insurance adjusters actively seek information from you, or about you, which will lower your injury value.  They fish very creatively for this evidence.  They do this by asking, in a concerned, friendly way, things like “how are you feeling?” “what was your treatment,?” “did you have any pain in this area before?” etc.  They sound like very nice people.  But those questions are designed so that they get information to lower the value of your accident case.  Don’t answer them.  I repeat: Do. Not. Answer. Them.  Call an Orlando personal injury attorney instead.

1. 1. You don’t know what statements can lower your car accident case value! Trust me! You would be shocked at the innocent answers that can and will be twisted and used against you.

1. 1. You are allowed to not answer or return the other driver’s adjuster phone calls.  In moderate to serious injury accidents, insurance adjusters may also be very aggressive with their phone calls.  They leave message after message.  But you can freely ignore any calls from the at-fault driver’s auto insurance company until you have decided what to do.  BUT, your own insurance company may have requirements under your policy that you report and assist them, often within 30 days or less in some cases.  But those things should be done with the help of an Orlando personal injury attorney.  Unless it is your own insurance company, you owe them NADA.  Nothing.

1. 1. Beware of false “deadlines” created by insurance adjusters to scare you.  They make up fantasy deadlines and rules that have no basis in the law.  In Florida, you must seek treatment within 14 days from some doctor or chiropractor to get PIP coverage.  (You can still recover if you treated after 14 days from bodily injury insurance coverage, which is a different type of coverage than PIP.)  Besides that 14 day deadline, the only other important deadline is that auto accident lawsuits must be filed within 4 years.  Insurance companies and their stupid “policies” can’t change that reality.

1. 1. An Orlando car accident lawyer very often can get you a lot more money, especially if you call them faster.  Although there is no legal deadline, a car accident attorney needs to talk to you very quickly to make sure you are preserving all evidence, medical and otherwise.  Evidence disappears quickly, plus you need to know how to interact with medical providers to get the most money possible.  Lastly, insurance industry statistics have shown that accident victims with lawyers get far more money than those without.  If you have a moderate to serious injury or pain, then you are making a very big mistake if you choose not to hire an Orlando personal injury attorney.

1. 1. Critical point: Go to the doctor right now.  If you haven’t already been, go to the doctor, and call or text me from the waiting room.  Ideally, you would go to the ER by ambulance right after the accident.  Otherwise, you can go to the ER, a walk-in clinic, your primary care, or any other doctor.  We absolutely need medical records showing treatment as quickly as possible after an injury caused by an accident.

1. 1. Take photographs.  Take pictures of any vehicles involved, close up and wide angle of any spots showing vehicle damage.  If possible, take pictures of the roadway, and any skid marks.  Also take pictures of any of your injuries, bruising, medical devices, bloody clothing, etc.  Also, save any medical devices or bloody or torn clothing, and tell your lawyer you have those things.  Basically, you want any evidence that shows vehicular damage or injuries to your body.  Those pieces of evidence help prove your case.

1. 1. Try to get any witness contact information.  If there were any witnesses, try to get their full name, phone number, address, and email address.

1. 1. Call us.  There are a number of other steps involved in preserving evidence for any case involving moderate to serious injuries, or wrongful death caused by car accidents in particular.  There are also some pitfalls that you want to avoid, and I explain those, such as not posting anything about your auto accident on social media.

1. Read more on our Orlando car accident lawyer page, including how to get the most money from your case, and how we evaluate & handle auto accident cases, from start-to-finish.