How Do Auto Accident Claims Work in Bozeman, MT?

Posted in Accident Data,Personal Injury on February 19, 2023

It’s inevitable that if you spend enough time driving around in a car (and are distracted by

Front of silver car get damaged by crash accident on the road. Car repair or car insurance concept

smartphones), an accident might occur. For example, in Montana, 75% of adults report always wearing a seatbelt and 55% of teenagers report texting and driving (on average).

All this is the perfect recipe for a disaster occurring on the road which will necessitate the need for an auto accident claim. How do auto accident claims work in Bozeman, MT? Keep reading to find out.

Inform the Auto Insurance Company Right Away

If you are injured in a car accident, then you might not be capable enough to contact anyone. But it should be one of the first things you do once you are awake, conscious, or ready. Hopefully, someone called the police and emergency services, so a report was filed regarding the accident.

Contact the auto insurance representative and let them know that you have been in an accident and the details regarding it. Some questions they might ask you are:

When and where the auto accident took place?
If you filed a police report or not?
Whose fault was it?
Did you get any injuries?
Did you get a medical checkup or not?

Collect All the Evidence and Documents Necessary

Another thing that you or a loved one would have to do as soon as possible is to collect as much evidence regarding the accident as possible. The auto insurance rep will do this for you, but you should have some documents supporting your claim as well.

If you believe that the other driver was at fault, then you will need evidence to prove that. Were they in the wrong lane or were they swerving? What exactly did they do which caused the accident?

There might be witnesses that you could contact. Also, touch base with emergency services to see what they remember of the scene.

Submit Documents Related to Your Auto Accident Claim

Once you have all these documents, you will want to submit your auto accident claim. If you are still injured and in the hospital, then the auto insurance rep might do this on your behalf, which is why it’s so important to contact them right away.

Also, if you aren’t the most meticulous person out there or are not good with documentation, then request help from the auto insurance rep or a loved one with all these demands. It’s important to do it all right, so your auto accident claim doesn’t get thrown out for some silly error.

Visit a Medical Professional as Soon as Possible

If you weren’t transported to a hospital right away which is usually the case in severe accidents, you will have to ensure that you see a medical professional asap. Even if you feel perfectly fine, you must go see a medical professional and get checked out.

Sometimes you feel fine the day after the accident, but a few days after, you start feeling achy or unwell. That’s why it’s important to get checked out asap, so the medical professional can make sure you don’t have any internal injuries or any other untoward issues like that.

Hire a Lawyer if You Feel You Were Wronged

There is a 3-year statute of limitations on submitting car accident injury cases to the courts in Montana (similar to personal injury cases of all kinds). That might seem like a very long time, but even so, you don’t want to waste a single second of this precious time.

Contact a lawyer, even if you feel like the car accident was quite minor, to get their opinion on your case. You might be surprised to hear them say you have a chance of getting compensation in court when you expected nothing of it.

There’s no point in making this judgment on your own since you are not an expert in the matter.

If you feel like you don’t want to collect evidence, witnesses, or any of that on your own, then hiring a lawyer right away might be the best way to do this. They can go out and start collecting evidence on your behalf, so you can win in the car accident injury case down the road and get the compensation you deserve.

One thing to note is that if your accident was severe enough, your auto insurance company will hire a lawyer on your behalf and submit the case to court for you.

Go to Trial and Be Patient

In a lot of cases, car accident cases don’t go to court but are settled beforehand due to some mediation or negotiation on the part of the lawyers involved. That would be the ideal case, of course.

But even if that doesn’t happen, and you end up in the court system, don’t take it to heart. You are doing all this so you can get compensation which will allow you and your loved ones to live a comfortable life despite your injuries and the damages you suffered.

It could rewrite your entire family’s destiny going forward, with such an influx of cash into your coffers.

Stay patient throughout the process and keep your faith in your car accident lawyer so they can do their best for you.