Personal Injury Insurance Claims

Giving Notice of a Claim

If you plan on filing a claim for your injuries, you should inform potential defendants of this shortly after the accident. You do not have to positively know who is liable, but you should begin weighing the options. When you initially notify your insurance company, you are not even required to provide them with names; you simply have to give notice that an accident occurred at a specific time and place, you were hurt in the process, and you plan to file a claim.

Determine the potential suspects.

Prior to filing a claim, you should inform anyone who could be held accountable. Knowing who you must notify often depends on the type of accident you are involved in. If you are a victim of an automobile accident, you must let all the drivers know who have a connection with the crash, the owners of the vehicles, the drivers' employers if it was a company car, and your personal insurance provider. A slip and fall accident will have an entirely different set of circumstances.

Send out notification letters.

Once you've narrowed down who could be liable for the accident, you need to compile letters making them aware that you were injured at the time of the accident. For instance, you may have to send one letter to the business where you fell and a separate one to the property owner in the event of a slip and fall accident.

Even if the others associated with the accident have guaranteed you that they will tell their insurance companies, you should still send out a letter of notification. I should be a very basic typewritten note providing the bare minimum amount of information and requesting a written response. In the letter, there should be no mention of liability or severity of injuries, as you will discuss those topics at a later point in time.

Do not hesitate to give notice.

It is recommended that you get the ball rolling within the first week or two of the accident, and give notice to those involved. Keep in mind that if you send a notice of a personal injury accident to people or agencies, you are not obliged to file a claim against them. However, once a claim is filed which includes them among the accused, they will not be able to hold it against you if you did notify them beforehand. An accident lawyer can give you some suggestions how to handle the notification process on time and in a manner that doesn't offend others.