You are stopped at a red light, waiting your turn and minding your own business, when you’re struck from behind by another car. You’re hurt, you’re taken to the hospital, and afterward you cannot work. What happens now? What about the damage to your car? Who pays your medical bills? Where do you get money to pay your household bills?
If you’re reading this book, it’s likely that you, a member of your family, or someone you know was recently injured in a car accident. For most people, this is an entirely new experience, and they don’t know where to go from here.
I’ve been an attorney for fifteen years, representing injured people in many areas of Western Pennsylvania and I hear these questions on a regular basis. Following an accident, many people don’t know where to turn or what to do. I wrote this book to provide you with the basic information you need to get you through the experience of a car accident.
Every car accident case is unique to its own circumstances, but there are general rules governing what should happen and what should be done for you after an accident. This book is a general guide to take you from the beginning of your accident case through the possible complications that may arise as your medical treatment and your case progresses.
There is a chapter in this book titled “Do I Need an Attorney?” The answer, in most cases, is yes. I say this not because I am an attorney but because it’s important that you understand that the insurance companies are represented by well-trained, experienced people, whose job it is to keep the insurance company’s money for the insurance company.
People are usually surprised to learn that their own insurance company may become their adversary after an accident, but such is often the case. If you choose to deal with them on your own, you will deal with them on their turf—and it’s hard to win a case on your own.
