Part of our job is to attempt to keep up with what our opponents (the insurance industry and their lawyers) are thinking and doing. One of the many ways we try to do that is by reading insurance industry publications such as Claims Journal. In a recent Claims Journal article, the author interviewed Harish Kapur, CEO of Across America Insurance Services. Mr. Kapur’s comments are nothing new to us, but they are a good reminder to anyone who is considering filing a personal injury or wrongful death claim. Here are three key take-aways:
- The insurance companies handle injury claims all day-every day, while this is hopefully your one and only injury claim.
Mr. Kapur bragged about his “crack team of in-house adjusters” and how they “have to know everything about the file.” The insurance adjusters know what information is critical. They know how to ask questions and frame the narrative during a recorded statement. They are trained how to interview witnesses and scour the internet for information on you.
In other words, handling your own personal injury claim is like pitching your first game of baseball and the first hitter is Dylan Dreiling. (For those of you who do not follow baseball, Dylan is the University of Tennessee outfielder who won the MVP award in the College World Series this year.) You might strike him out, but more likely than not if you get the ball anywhere over the plate it will never be seen again. If you hire an experienced injury lawyer like the award-winning attorneys at The Law Offices of John Day, then you can have someone on your side who has done this work every single day for more than 30 years. We can help you bring your claim to a successful outcome.
- The insurance company has more resources than you.
In addition to a “crack team of in-house adjusters”, most insurance companies also have nurses on their staff. Some companies employ former body shop employees to help with the property damage aspect of cases. And, of course, the insurance companies have lots of lawyers at their disposal.
Another sports reference will help give the situation some perspective. You are not playing man-on-man when you are handling your own claim; you are playing man v. professional team, and they are double or triple-teaming you.
At the Law Offices of John Day, our lawyers work with a team of seasoned paralegals. We have a nurse on staff full-time to help with the medical side of your case, and we know when it is necessary to hire other experts such as engineers, accident reconstructionists, biomedical engineers, doctors, life-care planners and more.
- The insurance company almost always gets a head-start.
If you have been seriously injured in an accident, your top priority is your health. For most people, the next priority is getting back to work so that bills can be paid.
During the time that you are trying to recover physically, emotionally, and financially, the insurance company has been hard at work. They have taken scene photos, secured the police report, interviewed witnesses, etc.
By hiring an experienced personal injury lawyer quickly, you can catch-up. Our firm will immediately begin gathering crucial evidence and, in appropriate cases, working to ensure ensure that important evidence is maintained by writing what is known as “preservation letters”, which require the at-fault parties to preserve any evidence related to the accident whether it be driver logs, a videotape of the accident, witness information, etc.
If you have been seriously injured in an accident, you can go it alone. In fact, we have written an information page about that process. But we advise against it for the three reasons above and many more including the fact that injury victims who have an experienced lawyer recover more than those who do not have one.
We offer a free initial consultation so you can find out if you think you have a case, and we handle all accident cases on a contingency basis, so we only get paid if we win. To get started, give us a call at one of our three Middle Tennessee locations:
Nashville: 615-669-3993
Murfreesboro: 615-867-9900
Brentwood: 615-742-4880
Toll-Free: 866-812-8787