In my last blog post, I talked about the first stage of a personal injury claim, the intake process and treatment. In this article, I will be talking about the second stage: investigation of scene, property damage and injury.
In this stage, the insurance adjusters are usually the ones responsible for investigating the scene of the accident and property damage. However, it is extremely important for the client to be involved (if they are physically capable) to take pictures of both the accident scene and of the damage done to all vehicles, particularly their own (if the personal injury is associated with an auto or truck accident). It is the insurance company’s job to try to settle a personal injury case for as little as possible. That is why it is so important to have a lot of evidence to support your case.
Another tool regarding investigation of the accident scene is the police or narrative report. When the police arrive at the accident scene, they evaluate the scene and determine who caused the accident. In most cases, the person at fault is the one who receives a citation. There are instances however, where there is comparative negligence and more than one party may be at fault.
When a new client comes into our office, we will ask them about the injuries they received as a result of the accident. We will ask them about any prior injuries that the accident could have possibly aggravated. Once we have investigated the injury and have taken pictures (if necessary) we will leave the rest of the investigating and treating to the doctors. That brings us to our next stage: Treatment of injuries until reaching MMI-Maximum Medical Improvement.
