Norfolk Car Accident Attorney

The time following a car accident is crucial, which can make it incredibly stressful.

Filing a lawsuit with an auto accident lawyer guiding you through it may be the last thing on your mind. Still, it is important to take specific steps in the aftermath of your accident, as they can affect any legal claims you decide to file later.

1. Get a medical evaluation: Your health and well-being should be your number one priority following your accident. If you are not transported to a hospital from the scene of the crash, you may want to see a doctor yourself. The doctor will identify, diagnose, and treat any injuries you’ve sustained, significantly reducing the likelihood of complications in the future. Your medical evaluation will be an imperative piece of evidence when you later file an auto accident claim.
2. Report the crash: Report the crash immediately. An officer will arrive to survey the scene and document the incident. The officer’s report will contain important details relevant to the accident that could get lost, including current weather conditions, eyewitness testimony and information, and traffic conditions.
3. Gather evidence: Start by taking photos of the scene of the accident, the damage to any involved vehicles, and your injuries. We also recommend writing down your recollection of the event, as this can help to refresh your memory later.
4. Refuse preliminary settlement offers: Recovering compensation after a car accident in Norfolk is not easy. To help receive compensation for your injuries, it may be better to not speak to the insurance companies until you have consulted with an auto accident attorney.
5. Contact an attorney: Hiring a car accident attorney may be able to help you maximize the amount of compensation you receive for your injuries and damages. Call Montagna Law today to schedule a free consultation with our experienced legal team.

Being involved in an auto accident is often both terrifying and confusing. Whether you were severely hurt or received minor injuries, the impact of an accident may not be fully evident until weeks or even months down the road.

Regardless of your level of involvement or fault, knowing the next steps to take after a car accident can remove some of the anxiety. Montagna Law in Norfolk, Virginia is here to help with valuable information and legal assistance.

You may think your job is done once you’ve exchanged contact information with other drivers and the police are on their way. Contacting an experienced team of Norfolk auto accident lawyers immediately can help your case immensely. You’ll learn what information you should share and with whom to keep insurance companies and other interested parties from trying to evade blame or, worse, shift undeserved blame to you.

At Montagna Law, our Norfolk auto accident lawyers are familiar with the judges and courts in the area. We care about you as a person and a client.

If you are injured because of the negligence of another, you should not leave the accident scene without obtaining other parties’ contact info and contacting the police. Virginia state law only requires you to report accidents involving serious injuries, death, or property damage of $1,000 or more. However, it can be difficult to assess the situation in detail amid the chaos, so it’s better to err on the side of caution. You will want to call 911 to report the accident and any obvious injuries immediately.

Because every case is so different, there are no stats on the average time it takes to settle a car accident claim in Virginia.

Several factors go into determining how long a car accident takes to settle:

• The severity of the resulting injuries
• The length of medical treatment required for the victim
• Whether or not an agreement is reached as to who is at fault for the accident
• How quickly the insurance adjusters provide a fair settlement offer

You can file a lawsuit if the insurance company fails to offer a fair settlement in their allotted time. The earlier you involve us in your case, the better. We’ll hit the ground running, collecting evidence to prove negligence and determine the at-fault driver. While for many cases, this requires just a police report and eyewitness testimony, some cases are much more complicated and require the testimonies of other specialists to prove negligence.

We recommend that you jump into action as soon as your injuries allow you to. Contact us to set up a free consultation.

Virginia is a “fault” state for car accidents. To recover damages in an auto accident case, you must make a claim against the at-fault driver’s insurance or file a lawsuit against them in court and prove that their negligence caused your injuries.