You have been involved in an accident, which has been caused by the fault of another. The other driver, who may have had a number of accidents in the past or is driving with a suspended license or has some other challenge that he does not wish to make known to his insurance company, insists that you not involve his motor vehicle insurance company. You are told that he will pay for the damage to your vehicle and will make sure that your medical bills are paid for so you will not have any type of out-of-pocket expense. What should you do?
First and foremost, you should make sure that the police are contacted and come to the accident site to prepare a report. You should tell the police officer why the other party is at fault. You should also make sure that you are taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital if you are not feeling well or have suffered any type of an injury. When you arrive at the hospital, you should go into great detail in explaining all of the accident related problems that you are experiencing and after being discharged from the hospital you should follow-up with the appropriate healthcare provider should you be experiencing ongoing pain or accident related problems.
The other driver has insisted that you not involved his insurance company and wants you to deal directly with him. The first thing you should do is to contact an experienced Connecticut personal injury lawyer so you can have your rights explained to you so you can understand what you should be doing and what you should not be doing and so that you do not make any missteps in attempting to handle your own Connecticut injury case. As a general rule, most accident attorneys will advise you to go through the at fault party's insurance company because there are too many opportunities for misunderstandings, empty promises, the inability for the at fault party to properly compensate you for your injuries and damages and many other challenges that make this option a very bad one.
The other driver is asking you to place your trust in him so that you are properly compensated for your injuries and damages. You don't know how much it's going to cost to repair your car. You don't know how much medical care and treatment you are going to receive. You don't know if you're going to incur any lost income. You don't know what other expenses you are going to have related to your accident. These expenses could easily exceed $10,000 and the expectation is you will provide the at fault driver with bills for $10,000 and you will get a check.
As you can well imagine, this is a very bad idea. You might also run into problems if a timely claim is not submitted to the insurance company. Most importantly, you need to speak with an experienced Connecticut accident attorney as soon as possible so that you can properly develop your case from the start. The other issue that should be a concern is the fact that this other driver is asking you to keep his insurance company out of the picture because of some reason that will cause additional problems for that driver. If this accident is reported to the other driver's insurance company, then this driver might not be able to operate a motor vehicle in the future and you might spare someone else from being injured in an accident caused by this negligent individual.
If you are ever asked by the other driver not to involve his insurance company then you should politely indicate that you will have to check with your lawyer so that you do not have to be the bad guy. The police must be called, an accident report must be prepared, you should get the proper medical care and attention as soon as possible, and you should contact an experienced Connecticut injury lawyer at the earliest possible moment.
People want to be helpful and assist others that appear to be in need. This is not the time or the place to engage in this type of conduct because ultimately it could cost you a significant amount of money. To find out more about what you should and should not be doing, please download our free book on Connecticut accident and injury law and contact us should you require any additional information.
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