If you have been injured in a Charles County, Maryland, car accident, you can seek money to compensate you for your injuries and other losses. It is obviously important to obtain the highest settlement amount possible. For this reason, after the accident, you must do certain things to ensure that your claim is fully protected. Doing these things will make a significant difference to the speed at which you can expect your settlement and the amount.

Things Related to Medical Care

The first thing you should do after an accident is to seek medical attention. This means taking the ambulance to the emergency room or getting to your family doctor or other care facility as soon as possible after the accident. This is crucial since the doctors will prepare medical records that will show the injuries that you suffered.

Second, follow the instructions you are given by the doctor. Some accident victims think that this is not important, but it is. If the doctor confirms a back or neck injury and says: “Do not lift heavy objects,” follow the instructions. This is good for your health and recovery and also prevents an insurance company investigator from taking a photo of you lifting a heavy object. That photo will be used to prove that you were not really injured.

Third — and related to the second point — go to any follow-up care or evaluation that your doctor recommends. Again, failure to follow your doctor’s instructions will make it seem like you were not really injured. The insurance company will tend to lower its settlement offer when it learns that you did not go for the follow-up care that was recommended.

Note that all of these steps relate to your medical care following a Charles County, MD auto accident. The reason to focus on medical care is because you want to recover completely after the accident and also because health and medical care costs are often the largest component of your recovery. Since you are likely to recover ALL medical costs, there is no reason not to follow your doctor’s instructions and obtain the most complete medical care that you can.

Other Things to Do

In addition to the above, there are a number of additional things you should do to protect your insurance settlement. These include:

• Stop posting on social media — this may be difficult, but many accident victims post messages, videos, and photos on social media that hurt their cases; if you are shown dancing at a party, mowing the lawn, picking up heavy objects, etc., the insurance company will argue that maybe you are not as injured as you say?
• Gather evidence like photos of bruises and other visible injuries — but, as noted, keep these for your lawyer and do not post them on social media
• Gather other evidence like wage/work loss claim forms and repair estimates for your vehicle
• Seek legal assistance — your case will go quicker and, almost always, you will obtain a higher settlement offer if you have a good lawyer helping you

Contact Waldorf, MD Personal Injury Attorney Robert Castro Today

This article has been provided by the Law Office of Robert Castro. For more information or questions, contact our office to speak to an experienced Maryland personal injury lawyer at (301) 870-1200. We are Waldorf, MD, Personal Injury lawyers. Our address is 2670 Crain Highway, Waldorf, MD 20601.