If you’ve been injured in a bus accident, check out these 4 things to learn about your bus claim. Then, contact our Kansas attorneys today!
1. Common Mistakes To Avoid
We talk to a lot of people who have been in a bus accident in Kansas and have injuries. We often see some common mistakes a lot of people make. One is that oftentimes people just walk right off the bus and don’t even report their injury to someone; they don’t tell the bus driver or anyone else. Another common mistake is people don’t document the evidence that they are aware of or they see. They think that there are records or other people documenting things for them, and evidence ends up getting lost.
Another common mistake is people don’t go get the treatment that they need. They think or hope that they’ll start feeling better soon, so they don’t go to the doctor, or sometimes they’re traveling or there are other things interfering with their ability to get treatment, but it really is important that you stop and go get treatment right away so that you can start to get better, and you can also document that you were in fact injured in that bus accident.
Yet another mistake is people will talk to the insurance carrier and give a recorded statement to the insurance carrier, thinking they can’t do any harm to their case by doing that when, in fact, they can. The insurance carrier’s whole goal in taking your statement is to come up with evidence to delay or deny your claim entirely, and they’re skilled at doing that. You really want to make sure that you do not give a statement to the insurance carrier and get an attorney who can help you through that process.
Finally, probably the biggest mistake that we see people make is that they hire the wrong attorney. You really want to make sure that you have an attorney who is experienced in bus accidents, who is familiar with and knowledgeable about the ins and outs of these types of cases, and experienced in dealing with the insurance carriers who handle these types of cases.
2. Insurance Investigation
We got a call the other day from somebody who was injured in a bus accident case here in Kansas. They were getting contacted by the bus company and their insurance carrier and wanted to know if it was a good idea for them to go ahead and talk to the company or insurance carrier. No, it is not a good idea to do that.
The insurance carriers in general do a great job through all their advertising and commercials in making us think that they’re our friends, that they care about us and that they’re going to take care of us in this type of situation, but, in fact, they’re sole goal in wanting to talk to you is to gather evidence that will help them deny or delay your case. They’re very skilled at doing this. They can ask questions in a certain way or a certain order to gather the evidence they need to delay or deny your claim. Even though to you it may feel like you’re just telling the truth – what do you have to lose? – it really is a detriment to your case to talk to the bus company or the insurance carrier without an attorney representing you, so make sure you get an attorney involved and, on your side, before you speak to anyone.
3. Attorney Fees
We got a call this morning from somebody who had been injured in a bus accident case here in Kansas, and they were concerned about hiring an attorney and wanted to know how much it would cost to hire an attorney to help them with their bus accident case. We can help you with your bus accident case, and it won’t cost you anything. You don’t have to pay a retainer to get started. We’ll never send you a bill. You don’t have to come up with any money. Our fee is what we call a contingency fee, which just means it’s a percentage of the amount that we recover for you from the insurance carrier, and we get paid when you get paid. You don’t ever have to pay me anything out of your pocket.
4. Accepting the First Settlement Offer
A question we get a lot is, “If I’ve been injured in a bus accident case in Kansas, is it okay to take the initial settlement offer made by the insurance company?” Our recommendation is, no, do not take that initial offer. First, the insurance company will sometimes want to offer you something early on, before you’ve even finished treatment that you need or before you’ve really fully recovered from the injury, and, at that point, you don’t even know the extent of your damages and whether the offer is a fair amount. Even once you are done with all your treatment and you have an idea of what the value is of your case, the initial offer from the insurance company is usually not the top dollar that the insurance carrier is able to pay.
There usually requires a fair amount of back-and-forth, negotiations with the insurance company, to get them to that top dollar and to an amount that’s fair for the injuries you’ve suffered and is a good recovery for you, so it really is helpful to have an attorney who can help you through that process, help with those negotiations and make sure that you are getting a good recovery from the insurance carrier.
Were you or a loved one severely injured in a bus accident in Kansas and have questions about these 4 things to learn about your bus claim? Contact our experienced Kansas bus accident lawyers today for a free consultation and case evaluation.
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