An auto accident is a traumatic event that leaves the mind racing and the nerves ablaze. But as frightening as an accident can be, it’s critical that accident victims gather their strength and calm their senses before interacting with insurance adjusters.

Below, the Chattanooga injury lawyers from Dennis & King explain how to deal with insurance adjusters after an accident and what victims can do to protect a potential injury claim. 

Who Are Insurance Adjusters?

Insurance adjusters, also called claims adjusters, investigate insurance claims by interviewing the claimant, witnesses, police, and hospital personnel. They also inspect and document property damage to determine the extent of liability in a claim.

More importantly, the role of an insurance adjuster includes negotiating with the claimant. And contrary to popular belief, adjusters don’t work hard for their policyholders; rather, they work hard to keep payouts low for the insurance company.

An adjuster’s job performance is based on keeping payouts low and processing claims quickly. To achieve this end, adjusters are known to ask leading questions in an effort to discredit your claim, limit the payout, and push toward a quick settlement.

If this doesn’t sound fair, you’re not alone in your thinking. At Dennis & King, we fight hard and push back against greedy insurance adjusters. We’re tough negotiators and ready to stand behind injured victims who need our help.

If you’ve been injured, call our Chattanooga office today at 423-417-1379, or contact us online.  

How to Deal with Insurance Adjusters

After an accident, it’s very common for people to call their insurer before they contact an attorney. Talking to your insurer is fine following a minor crash, but you should keep the conversation brief and avoid the urge to help the adjuster gather information or piece together what happened.

For serious crashes or injuries, it’s best to let an attorney handle all interactions with insurance. And here’s why: by the time you speak to an adjuster, they already have a pretty good idea of what happened and who’s responsible.

The real reason they’re interested in talking to you is to gather statements that could limit your claim.

If you must talk to an insurance adjuster, keep comments neutral; don’t embellish. Avoid guessing, estimating, or supposing about anything. If you don’t know the answer to a question, it’s okay to say you don’t know.

If you’ve been seriously injured, the best way to handle an insurance adjuster is to hire an attorney to do it for you.

Protect Your Claim

The last thing an insurance adjuster wants a policyholder to do is to hire an injury lawyer. Adjusters are aware that most people don’t understand the claims process well enough to navigate it effectively; they exploit this every chance they get.

An experienced injury lawyer is an intimidating adversary who knows the playbook and will make decisions in the interest of their client—not the insurance company!

Plus, victims that hire an attorney are more likely to win a comprehensive settlement; this might include compensation for things like medical bills, lost wages, pain, and suffering, and property damage.

Don’t let an insurance adjuster push you around after an accident or injury. If you’ve been injured, Dennis & King is ready to be your advocate and fight for your legal rights.

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One of the most stressful moments after a car accident is dealing with your insurance company.

If you’ve been in multiple car accidents, then dealing with insurance becomes even more stressful. Insurance companies usually categorize people who have been in multiple accidents as “high-risk drivers.” This means the insurance company believes you’re more likely to get into accidents than other drivers.

Being categorized as high-risk can make life difficult. Insurance premiums are often higher and many companies will not take you seriously if you have multiple accidents on your driving record.

Being a high-risk driver does not have to be a major stressor in your life. Here are some ways you can deal with insurance companies if you have been placed in this category.

Have Everything Documented

If you can prove that past accidents were not your fault, you may be able to lower your insurance rates.

When you present your case, make sure you have everything regarding your previous accidents documented. You can present documents such as the accident report, witness accounts, or reports and paperwork from the auto repair shop.

If you think it will help you out in proving to the insurance company that the accident was not your fault, then present it. Every little detail and document matters.

Shop Around for New Insurance Plans

If you feel that you are not getting the best service and coverage from your current insurance company because you are a high-risk driver, you may want to shop around for a new insurance provider.

There are insurance providers that specialize in providing insurance to high-risk drivers. Some companies will let you customize your payment plan and can be very flexible overall in regard to your situation.

An ideal insurance plan for you is out there; just keep searching.

You Don’t Have to Be High Risk Forever

You can get yourself removed from the high-risk list. A lot of car insurance companies will suggest ways for you to clean up your driving record.

If you take the initiative to attend classes on defensive driving and traffic safety, insurance companies will take that into consideration when determining changes and pricing related to your plan.

Showing the insurance company that you are taking active measures in cleaning up your record is a great way to get affordable car insurance and will help get you off the high-risk list 

 When All Else Fails, Hire a Lawyer

If the tactics listed above don’t work, then seek out legal help. A lawyer will be able to look over your case with a fresh set of eyes. They will be able to give you advice on what to do next. They will also be able to use their resources to conduct research on what plan of action to come up with regarding your case.

Chances are, your case is similar to others. A car accident lawyer can see how those cases were handled and will be able to adapt the course of action that was taken before and apply it to your case.

Being categorized as a high-risk driver does not have to be something to stress over. There are ways that you can get over this hurdle. Following the advice listed here is a good way to start your journey. You don’t have to be high risk forever and there are ways to make your situation easier.

If you are currently categorized as a high-risk driver and in need of guidance, contact Dennis and King. Let us help you out!

Chattanooga voted in favor of redacting personal information when releasing accident reports after a federal lawsuit challenged the effectiveness of an ethics rule that requires attorneys to wait at least 30 days before contacting people who were involved in serious car crashes.

Many believed that the original law was not serving its purpose because attorneys were contacting victims of accidents in as little as five days following a car wreck in Chattanooga.

Personal information such as driver’s license numbers, names, and addresses will only be given to people in the accidents, their lawyers, and their insurance companies.

Anyone requesting information has to prove they are entitled to it. People wanting information for wrongful purposes, such as solicitation, could face misdemeanor charges. Violators could spend a maximum of 11 months and 29 days behind bars.

The lawsuit was filed in September after a woman, who was in a car crash, received a call from a medical company offering to refer her to an out-of-town attorney just a few days after her car accident.

Many people are still confused about what this new law means for them and the benefit they will receive from this new protection.

If you have recently been involved in a car crash in Chattanooga, this new law means that your personal information is safe from anyone looking to profit from your accident. It’s common practice that out-of-town law firms will try to represent you after an accident. Often times, these law firms will get your information from public crash reports or from hospitals.

Victims of the Woodmore bus crash in Chattanooga last year were hounded by unethical out-of-town lawyers (and some fake lawyers) who kept trying to get the victims to file a wrongful death suit.

Many out-of-town attorneys try to contact victims because it means that they can charge higher rates, citing travel expenses or any other extra time that is spent researching the laws of the area the client lives in. Not only does this become more expensive for you, but the attorney may not even be effective when they represent you because they are unaware of how different the local laws might be.

There have also been cases where fake attorneys have tried to cash in on victim’s grief. A mother whose child was killed in the Woodmore school bus crash was told by a local funeral home that she would be referred to an attorney through the funeral home. The mother was forced to sit down with the fake lawyer in the funeral home and sign a fake legal agreement. This trickery was possible because the personal information of the victim was readily available to the public in the form of crash reports.

The redaction of personal information in car crash reports will protect you. You won’t have to worry about unsolicited offers from out-of-town attorneys or from opportunistic professionals looking to capitalize on your stressful situation. It is your right to be protected from unethical business practices that try to pry on you in your time of need.

If you have any questions about Chattanooga’s new redaction laws or questions regarding what to do after a serious car accident, contact Dennis & King today for a free consultation.

Every year, Chattanooga gets an average of 2”-4” of snow. That may not sound like a lot, but consider the treacherous mountain passes coming down into the city. That snow could turn into ice.

In 2016, there were around 70 crashes in the same day due to icy conditions according to the Times Free Press. Winter will be coming sooner than you think. This is a good time to start thinking about winterizing your vehicle and remembering the following safety tips to stay safe on the roads in winter weather.

Maintain Your Vehicle

The first thing to do is to keep your vehicle maintained, especially your brakes and tires. Bald tires will make your car harder to stop in wet or icy conditions. Bad brakes make it hard to stop quickly. Both of these can cause an accident that could easily be fatal. If you’ve been neglecting this all summer because of the dry and clear conditions, now is the time to get those repairs done.

Check your windshield wipers and replace them if they are getting worn out. In snowy or rainy conditions, your wipers help you see clearly in front of you. You might also want to put no-freeze fluid in your windshield washer reservoir to help melt snow and ice buildup.

Finally, don’t go out on the road if your windows aren’t clear of snow and ice. Keep an ice scraper in the front of your vehicle.

Practice Cold Weather Driving

Southerners get a lot of hassle from our northern neighbors for their inexperience driving in severe winter weather, but we get enough snow and ice here that knowing how to handle these situations is important.

If you feel your car start to skid, turn your wheel in the direction of the skid. This will force the vehicle’s front tires to drag against the direction you’re going and bring you out of it.

Know what kind of brakes you have. Anti-lock brakes are standard on most vehicles these days. With this kind of braking system, it’s okay to stomp on the brakes to come to a stop. But in older vehicles or ones with a broken ABS sensor, the brakes must be pumped to avoid a lock-out. This is a very dangerous situation where the brakes are applied but won’t slow the car down.

Stopping distances are much further on ice and snow, especially in the passes where the road grade makes stopping distances longer. Don’t be afraid to put a lot of distance between yourself and the car in front of you in dangerous conditions.

Winter weather also means that you should double down on your usual safety procedures. Never drink and drive. Keep a sharp eye out for pedestrians, especially in snowy conditions. And if you plan to go on a long car trip, stop every three hours for a break.

Dennis & King encourages you to practice safe driving during the upcoming winter season. It is one of the most dangerous times of year to be out on the roads. Follow these safety tips and you’ll go a long way to preventing a crash.