Richmond Injury Lawyer Scott D. Fitzgerald

Author: Scott D. Fitzgerald, Richmond Personal Injury Lawyer

Yes.  Regardless of fault, it is important to call your insurance company and report any accident that involved injuries or property damage.

A common myth is that you do not need to contact your insurance company if you were not at fault.  This is false, because there are several coverages on your insurance policy that you may want to use.  In order to use any of these, you are required to notify your insurance company.  The first coverage is our collision coverage.[1] If the at-fault driver’s insurance company is slow to accept responsibility for the accident, then you may want to get your car repaired or replaced under the collision coverage of your own insurance policy.  Then your insurance company will seek reimbursement from the  at-fault party’s insurance.  To use this coverage, you must promptly notify your insurance company of the accident.  Otherwise, you might have to pay for repairs out of your own pocket, and then negotiate your property damage settlement with the at-fault driver’s liability carrier, which could take months. In addition, while you are waiting for the liability carrier to accept responsibility, you may have storage charges accruing while your car is sitting wherever it got towed.[2]

The second coverage you may want to use is towing insurance.  Again, this will pay the cost of your vehicle being towed, and then your insurance company will seek to be paid back by the other person’s insurance.  Otherwise, you may have to pay the towing charge while you wait for the other person’s insurance to accept responsibility.  Under both collision coverage and towing insurance, if your company is able to recover the money they paid from the at-fault driver’s company, then neither of these claims will affect your insurance rates.

Third, you may want to use any medical payments or medical expense coverage you may have on your policy.[3] This coverage will pay any medical expenses you have as a result of the accident, regardless of who is at fault and regardless of any other insurance.  Under Virginia law, if you make a claim for this coverage, the insurance company cannot raise your rates.

Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, the other driver may claim that you are at fault and pursue a claim against you.  Even if you know you are not at fault, you do not want to have to pay the cost of defending yourself.  Under the terms of your insurance policy, your insurance company is required to provide a defense to you – free of charge – if a claim is brought against you.

To have the benefit of any of these coverages on your policy, you are required to report the accident to your insurance company.  You must do this within a reasonable amount of time.  If you do not, your insurance company is permitted to deny coverage.  Do not fall into the trap of believing that notification is not necessary because the at-fault party should pay your claim.

There is a type of insurance coverage available to you through your own insurance carrier that does not require you to notify your insurance company of an accident within a reasonable amount of time.[4] This type of insurance coverage is called Uninsured and  Underinsured Motorist (“UM/UIM”) coverage.  If the at-fault driver in your accident either does not have insurance or does not have enough insurance to cover your loss, then this type of coverage may provide a source of payment.

However, although you should promptly notify your carrier of the accident, you should be careful what you say when you call.  Tell them that you were involved in an accident and give them general background information, including the date, time, location of the accident, and names and addresses of all parties involved.  But it is best not to discuss the issue of fault until you have consulted with an attorney.  Politely decline to give a recorded statement until you feel better.

In sum, it is important to report any accident to your insurance company promptly in order to avoid giving your insurance company a basis for denying coverage that may otherwise be available to you, but it is equally important not to discuss the issue of fault with anyone until after you have sought the advice of an attorney.

About Scott D. Fitzgerald: Scott Fitzgerald is the great grandson of the Firm’s founder, George E. Allen, Sr., and is the fourth generation of the Allen family to join the Allen Law Firm. He is a Richmond personal injury lawyer focusing his practice on car accident cases in the Richmond, VA area.  Scott is dedicated to protecting the best interests of his clients and defending their rights against insurance companies.

Click to download the accident guide.

Click to download The Glove Compartment Quick Reference Guide: What To Do After An Accident.

If you are involved in a motor vehicle accident, it is important to know what to do next. The Glove Compartment Quick Reference Guide has easy to follow steps and a place to log important information regarding the accident. Designed to fit conveniently in your glove compartment, the Quick Reference Guide will help guide you through the steps of what to do next if an accident occurs.

If you would like a hard copy of The Glove Compartment Quick Reference Guide, click here to request one. Please provide your mailing address with your request.

What To Do After An Accident:

1. Stop – If you are physically able and your vehicle is operable, you should stop as close to the scene of the accident as possible without obstructing traffic. Activate your emergency flashing lights if they are working.

2. Call the police (#911) – Call the state or local police to report the following: location of your vehicle, your name, address, driver’s license number and vehicle registration number. Cooperate and answer the officer’s questions regarding the facts of the accident truthfully. However, do not admit fault or discuss the accident and how it happened with anyone else.

3. What if I am injured? Tell a law enforcement officer immediately that you are injured and describe your injuries. If other passersby stop at the scene before the police arrive, tell them you are injured so they can call 911 or the rescue squad.

4. Get the following information from all parties involved: Name, address, and phone number of each driver; vehicle(s) license plate numbers; driver’s license number; automobile insurance company and the policy number; the make and model of all vehicles involved in the accident; company name and identifying information if a commercial vehicle is involved. (SEE BACK OF GUIDE)

5. Take photographs of the accident scene and the damage to your vehicle if possible.

6. Identify any witnesses: Get the names and phone numbers of any witnesses. This could be key in identifying who is at fault in the accident.

7. Should I go to the hospital? If the rescue squad recommends taking you directly to a hospital Emergency Room after examination, you should go. If you do not go to the hospital from the accident scene, but believe you are injured, have someone drive you to the hospital Emergency Room or to your doctor’s office as soon after the accident as possible.

8. Call your insurance company to report the accident. Give a description of the accident but do not admit fault. We do not recommend giving a recorded statement without consulting an attorney.

Bree King, Claims Consultant

Attorney Melinda H. South

Recently I received a call from a young man who had signed a Release to settle his personal injury claim. He wanted to know if he had any recourse. It turns out he had signed a Release only three weeks after his motor vehicle accident even though he was still in pain. He thought he would get better, so he accepted an offer of $750 cash plus $10,000 to pay for doctor visits incurred in the following 60 days only. Unfortunately, his pain worsened, and his doctor referred him to physical therapy. The young man completed therapy over the next two months, but he was still in pain. His doctor then referred him for an MRI of his shoulder which showed a full tear of the tendon that could only be repaired by surgery. Since the 60 days had passed, his claim was forever closed because he had signed the Release too soon.

Lessons learned: Do not be too eager to settle your personal injury claim. Make sure you have recovered one hundred percent before you sign the Release. Your health will affect you for the rest of your life; allow enough time to pass to be sure of your recovery before you settle. Generally, if you are over 18 years old, the Statute of Limitations in Virginia is two years from the date of injury. By that time, you must either have settled your claim or have filed suit. (Note there are some exceptions, and in some cases you must give a specific written notice as soon as six months after the injury, so it’s best to consult with an attorney regarding your specific case).

Don’t let the insurance company pressure you into settling. It’s always worth getting some legal advice to “level the playing field” before settling your claim. All companies have goals, and don’t think the insurance companies are any different. They have goals to settle as quickly as possible and for as little as possible. An insurance adjuster is a trained professionals whose job is to meet those goals; you need a trained professional on your side, too, who is looking out for your interests instead of the insurance company’s interests. Some insurance companies actually offer incentives to adjusters who settle the most claims within the first 30 days after an accident.

Most of the time, after you sign the release, you are stuck. There are some ways to “break” a release, but these are difficult. For example, there are some legal requirements a release must meet, and if a release doesn’t conform to these requirements, then the release may not be valid. In 1999, the Virginia legislature passed a statute stating that when a person signs a release within 30 days of the accident, the person shall have 3 days after signing to revoke the release provided: (1) the signer was not represented by an attorney; (2) the revocation is made in writing to the person or persons seeking the release, their representative or insurance carrier; and (3) any money received is returned to the person or persons seeking the release. In 2000, the legislature added that release must contain a notice that the signer has a right to revoke the release. See Virginia Code 8.01-425.1. If a release is missing that notice, then the release may not be valid.

Additional facts that may cause a release to be invalid or “voidable” are (1) if the person who signed the release can prove that the release was signed under duress; (2) the release was signed due to fraud or a misrepresentation of a material fact; or (3) there was some mutual mistake or there was no “meeting of the minds” when it was signed. Obviously these are very technical matters, and proving them almost certainly requires the assistance of an attorney.

So, BE SURE – BE VERY SURE – before you sign a release that gives up your rights. Getting the release signed may be good for the insurance company, but may be bad for you.

About the Authors: Bree King is a claims consultant in the Richmond and Short Pump branches of Allen & Allen. A former insurance adjuster, she works under the supervision of Attorney Christopher Meyer helping clients settle their personal injury claims. Melinda South has been an attorney with Allen & Allen for over 20 years. She is known as a keen legal researcher and assists in the preparation of firm briefs and legal memoranda.

Claims Consultant Chris Cloude

Author: Chris Cloude

You are driving to the grocery store taking your time and following your normal route. As you approach an intersection, the stoplight is green and you proceed into the intersection. Out of the corner of your eye you see a flash, and your car is hit on the passenger side.

A few days later, an adjuster calls you from the insurance company for the person that hit you. The adjuster informs you that the insurance company is denying your claim from your auto accident because their insured says they had the green light, not you.

This story is one we hear almost every day. Without other witnesses, often there is not much that can be done to make a recovery. If the insurance company won’t discuss settlement, the only option is to file suit and go to court. At court, the injured person has the burden of proof. That means the injured person has the burden to prove the other driver is at fault. If it’s just your word against the other driver, that’s usually not enough. There needs to be evidence to prove you had the green light. Even if the investigating officer charges the other driver, that’s not enough to prove your case in civil court. The best way to prove your light was green is through the testimony of a witness.

If you are involved in an accident, you should ask the people who stop for their names and contact information. Even if they didn’t see what happened, they may remember facts that would should you are being truthful about what happened and the other driver is not. Usually witnesses will have more information than just the actual crash facts. That information can support your credibility and undermine the other driver’s credibility.

Of course, to have the testimony of a witness, you must be able to contact the witness. It is important to secure the names, phone numbers and addresses of the witnesses at the scene. Ask the investigating officer if he or she obtained the names and contact information of everyone who was present at the scene, but don’t just rely on the officer. If you can, or if someone else at the scene with you can, then get the information directly. Many times the police officer is so involved in getting medical attention for anyone who is injured, obtaining the information of the people involved in the accident, and avoiding another accident from occurring while all this is going on, that the officer does not get names and contact information for everyone at the scene.

The officer’s first responsibility at the scene of an accident is to attend to the people involved who are injured, and then to assure safety of the scene for other motorists. If you are first to a scene, those should be your priorities also. But if those responsibilities are being taken care of by others, then you can help by getting witness information.

You should obtain the names and contact information of people present at the scene, especially eyewitnesses to the crash, and give that information to the police officer and to persons involved in the crash. That information could mean the difference between whether an injured person is or is not able to recover for injuries and losses caused by someone else, and that difference can mean a lot to someone in that situation. Sometimes all we’ve gotten was the license plate number of a vehicle at the scene, but with some investigation we’ve been able to locate a witness who made all the difference in the case.

About the Author: Chris Cloude is a claims consultant in the Fredericksburg, Virginia branch of the personal injury law firm Allen & Allen. A former insurance adjuster, Chris works under the supervision of Attorney Edward Allen to assist clients in settling their personal injury claims.

What About My Car?

You may or may not have had severe injuries after your unfortunate car or truck accident but WHAT ABOUT YOUR CAR? If your car was damaged and the accident was not your fault, here are some guidelines to help you in dealing with the insurance companies and getting your car repaired.

What is covered?
You are entitled to payment for any damage done to your car and personal property, such as, clothing, eye wear, sports equipment, or personal belongings that were in your car at the time of the accident if the accident was entirely someone else’s fault. Items that may have been lost or stolen from your car are not covered.

How am I paid for damages?
You may be able to recover your losses from the following three sources:

Liability Coverage under the Defendant’s Insurance - If the other person’s insurance company accepts fault in your accident, they will normally pay a standard amount to have your car repaired. Unfortunately, insurance companies often take days or weeks to decide whether to accept fault in the accident. Therefore, your car may not be repaired in a timely manner.

Collision Coverage under Your Insurance - This is usually the fastest and easiest way to get your car repaired. Your car repairs will be paid under your own insurance policy regardless of who is at fault in the accident. You are responsible for paying any deductable up front. This deductable will be returned to you if your insurance company is repaid by the other party.

You may also be responsible for any rental car fees during the time your car is being repaired if you do not have rental reimbursement coverage under your own policy.

Uninsured Motorist Coverage under Your Insurance - If the person who caused the accident does not have any insurance or is not able to be identified, you are protected under the uninsured motorist coverage of your own policy. Depending on the type of accident, you may be responsible for paying a deductible.

How do I get my car repaired?

If your car is drivable – You should contact the other party’s insurance company to ask for an estimate of the cost of repairing your car. An insurance adjuster may arrange to come by and look at your car or you may be asked to take your car to the insurance company’s location. Once you get an estimate from the insurance company, take your car to a body shop of your choice for a second estimate. If the body shop feels the repairs to your car cannot be repaired as estimated by the insurance company, ask the Manager of the body shop to call the insurance company on your behalf. The insurance company will then issue you a check to the body shop to pay for the repair to your car.

Some insurance companies do not have local estimators and will ask you to get 2-3 estimates from local body shops for repairing your car. They will then issue you a check for the lowest estimate.

If your car is not driveable - The insurance company will send an adjuster to estimate the damage to your car. They will then issue a check to pay for the repairs. If your car has been towed to a repair shop or salvage yard, it is very important to have your car moved as quickly as possible to the body shop of your choice. Most of these locations charge a daily storage fee that you may be responsible for paying.

What if my car is “Totaled”?
The insurance company will compare the amount your car could have been sold for before the accident (fair market value) to the estimated cost of repairing your car (plus rental charges and salvage value) and pay you whichever amount is less. A car that costs more to repair than it was worth before the accident is called a “Total Loss”. The fair market value of your car is determined by the current price for a car similar to yours as listed by area car dealerships, newspapers, dealers surveys, and car value books.

When your car is declared a total loss, you have two options:

1. You can accept the total loss value of your car less the salvage value and keep your car.

or

2. You can accept the total loss and salvage value of your car by signing your car over to the insurance company. You will be required to sign the title and odometer reading statement. You may also be asked to sign a power of attorney to allow the insurance company to dispose of your car.

Rental Cars
While your car is being repaired or you are waiting on payment for a car that is a total loss, you may want to rent a car. Provided the rental is comparable to your car, rented at a reasonable price, for a reasonable amount of time, the insurance company will reimburse you. Under the law in Virginia, the insurance company must only reimburse your expenses; therefore, you are often responsible for renting and paying for a rental car in advance.

Insurance companies often argue the amount of time a rental car is used, so it is important that you follow up with the body shop to make sure your car is repaired in a timely manner.

Conclusion
We hope you find this information helpful in resolving the damages to your car. If your injuries are serious and you feel you need an attorney, please call Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen for a free consultation at 866-388-1307.

This guide describes how to handle your property damage in general. Please note that your insurance company may follow different procedures.

What should I do at the accident scene?

Car and truck accidents create confusing and chaotic scenes. Knowing what do to at an accident scene can help protect your rights after the accident.  Here are some general guidelines to follow at an accident scene:

Do I have to stop?

Yes. The driver of any vehicle involved in a motor vehicle accident (including car accidents, truck or tractor trailer accidents, or motor cycle accidents) must stop immediately if (1) a person is injured or killed or (2) if an attended vehicle or other attended property is damaged.

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Where do I stop?

If you are physically able and your vehicle is operable, you should stop as close to the scene of the accident as possible without obstructing traffic. Activate your emergency flashing lights if they are working.
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Should I call the police?

Yes. You should call the State Police or the local law enforcement agency and report the location of your vehicle, your name, address, driver’s license number and vehicle registration number.

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What should I tell the investigating police officer about the accident?

Cooperate with the officer and answer his questions regarding the facts of the accident truthfully. However, do not admit fault or discuss the accident and how it happened with any one else.

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What if I can’t call the police at the scene of the accident because of my injuries?

Make the required report to the State Police or local law-enforcement agency as soon as you are able. You should also make a reasonable effort to locate the persons involved in the accident. Give these persons your name, address, driver’s license number and vehicle registration number.

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What if I don’t do these things?

You may be charged with a felony or misdemeanor, depending on the circumstances.

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What information should I get at the scene from the drivers of other vehicles involved in the accident?

You should get the name, address, and phone number of each driver along with the vehicle(s) license plate numbers and each driver’s license number; the name of his or her automobile insurance company and the policy number; and the make and model of all vehicles involved in the accident (If they are commercial vehicles, write down the company name on the vehicle and any other identifying information).

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Can the investigating police officer obtain insurance information from the other drivers for me?

The law allows any law-enforcement officer present at the scene of a motor vehicle accident to ask the drivers of all motor vehicles involved in an accident to furnish proof of insurance.

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Should I take photographs of the vehicles and the accident scene?

If you are physically able to take photographs at the scene and it is safe to do so, photographs of the accident scene and the vehicles involved can be helpful. These photos may be used by your insurance company or your lawyer if you decide later to make a claim against one or more of the other drivers for injuries and other damages. Use your best judgment here and make sure you are safe.

If your vehicle has sustained substantial damage in the accident, you should have the vehicle photographed before it is repaired or destroyed. Scene photos can be very important to your insurance company or if you pursue legal action. After an accident, skid marks, debris, the appearance of the surroundings and other evidence may change or disappear within just a few days or less. For these reasons, you may want to return to the accident scene shortly after and take photographs. These photographs should be taken from different perspectives and at varying distances.

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What if I was a passenger in a vehicle which was involved in an accident, but my driver did not stop at the accident scene and did not report the accident to law enforcement officers?

If you were 16 years of age or older and have knowledge of the accident which caused injury to a person or property damage, you must report the name and address of the driver and other relevant information you know to the State Police or local law-enforcement agency within 24 hours.

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What if someone else is injured in the accident?

Under the law, the driver of any vehicle involved in an accident should render reasonable assistance to persons injured . This includes calling for medical help or taking injured persons to a doctor or hospital if medical treatment is necessary or requested by the injured person(s).

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What if I am injured in the accident?

When the law-enforcement officer arrives at the accident scene, tell him or her immediately that you are injured and describe your injuries. If other passersby stop at the scene before the police arrive, tell them you are injured so they can call 911 or the rescue squad.

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Should I go to the hospital?

If a rescue squad or ambulance is called to the scene, you should allow squad members to examine you. If they recommend taking you directly to a hospital Emergency Room, you should go. If you do not go to the hospital from the accident scene, but believe you are injured, have someone drive you to the hospital Emergency Room or to your doctor’s office as soon after the accident as possible.

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Suppose I’m a driver involved in an accident that involves an unattended vehicle or unattended property is damaged?

A driver must make a reasonable effort to find the owner of such property and give this person his name, address, driver’s license number and vehicle registration number. If you cannot find the owner then you must leave a note containing this information in a conspicuous place at the accident scene. You must also report the accident to the law-enforcement agency in writing, within 24 hours. This written report must contain the date, time and place of the accident and the driver’s description of the property damage.

Should your injuries keep him from complying with these requirements, you should make the required report to law enforcement officials as soon as reasonably possible. You should also make a reasonable effort to locate the owner and report the relevant information to him.

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Do I Need An Attorney?

If you were injured and believe you were not at fault in causing a motor vehicle accident (including car, truck or tractor trailer, or motor cycle accidents), you may need a lawyer to investigate the accident and help determine whether or not you have a case of negligence against one or more of the other drivers. If you do, you may want to engage the lawyer to pursue your legal claims against the negligent driver(s).

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What Should I Do After The Accident?