Mistakes to Avoid After a Truck Accident in Charleston

There are a number of mistakes to avoid after a truck accident in Charleston. Among them include apologizing at the scene, talking with opposing insurance adjusters, refusing medical treatment, and not paring with a dedicated truck accident lawyer. An attorney could help you rebuke the claims made by opposing parties and build a case that could lead to your complete recovery. If you have any questions, reach out to a compassionate attorney for more information.

Why and How Admitting Fault at an Accident Scene Hurts a Victim’s Case

When an individual is in an accident in Charleston, the best advice is to cooperate with law enforcement and not make any statements to anyone other than law enforcement if possible. The meaning of what people are trying to say could be distorted. Questions from an insurance adjuster or an insurance company lawyer may be designed to get the injured person to say things that appear one way in an attempt to avoid responsibility for the accident.

The best thing to do is to cooperate with law enforcement and let the facts speak for themselves. The person should give an account of what happened from their perspective, but not make any conclusions or assessments about who is at fault. The facts of the case determine who is at fault, law enforcement determines who is at fault, and those decisions are based upon facts, not feelings of what somebody might feel as opposed to the truth based on the facts of the case.

Apologies and the Associated Risks

In Charleston truck accident cases, an apology could sometimes be misconstrued to mean someone thinks they are at fault, or they are admitting they did something wrong even though they do not believe they are at fault. This is a major mistake to avoid. In a potential litigation situation, defendants, insurance companies, adjusters, and their lawyers might try to twist an individual’s words to make it appear they were admitting fault or did something wrong. The facts may bear out that they did not do anything wrong and that they were not at fault.

Anyone who is thinking about making an apology needs to use their best judgment and consider all of the ramifications. They should proceed with caution because, while it is good to apologize, in these cases, sometimes insurance companies use the apology against them in a way that is unfair.

The Refusal of Medical Treatment

In accident cases in Charleston, if someone is uninjured, they should not pretend they are hurt. If they are injured, they should not make the mistake of thinking the injury is minor and might go away within a few hours or days. It is a mistake to not get checked out medically. Insurance companies tend to believe that when people do not go to the hospital after their accident, they must not be injured.

Sometimes, the injury does not go away and the person must deal with a chronic, life-long problem. When someone does not get checked out right away, the insurance companies use that to blame the person’s injuries on past accidents or anything that may have happened between the time they had the accident associated with their case and the time they started to claim their injuries.

The injured party needs to document their injuries. If someone has multiple medical issues, they need to have a discussion with their doctor about each and every issue. Failure to document injuries can be used against them by insurance companies later by claiming that the injury did not happen or if it did happen, it was not from the accident. It is important to be truthful when injuries have occurred, seek treatment, and have the injury documented for diagnosis purposes to develop a medical treatment plan.

Common Reasons People Refuse Medical Attention

There are many reasons why people in South Carolina refuse treatment. For example, someone is in an accident and they have children in daycare and no one else can pick them up. Occasionally, a person does not want to admit they are hurt. They are embarrassed or think there is something weak about being hurt. They might be uninsured and are worried about the medical bills that they are not able to pay. It is always a mistake to delay seeking medical help because later, the insurance companies could try to use that against them and make a claim that the individual is not injured. It is always best practice to get treatment as soon as possible.

Avoid Mistakes after a Charleston Truck Accident with a Lawyer’s Help

If you were recently injured in a Charleston truck accident, the mistakes you should avoid are numerous. Perhaps the first and most crucial of mistakes is choosing to not partner with a dedicated truck accident attorney who could see that your claim leads to a favorable recovery in either court or settlement negotiations. Call today to start your confidential consultation.

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