When you get into a car with someone else driving, you should have a reasonable level of expectation that they will drive safely and within their legal bounds to keep you safe during your travels. Sometimes their safety precautions and driving may not be enough and they cause an accident, or their actions may have been perfect but another driver acted irresponsibly and collided with you. Either way, you will need to file a claim in order to get the compensation that you deserve if you are injured in the accident, regardless of who was driving. 

The first step towards filing an insurance claim as a passenger is to figure out who was at fault for the accident because you will be filing a claim against their insurance company to recover your damages. You can connect with experienced accident lawyers through 1800injured.care. Read more about how to navigate this process with or without an attorney, but keep in mind that it will be a much more productive and simple experience with the help of qualified legal counsel.

Filing an Insurance Claim

The filing process for an insurance claim is fairly simple after you have identified the at-fault party in the accident. In your case as a passenger, you will be able to file a claim against someone else's insurance either way, since as a passenger it is highly unlikely that you are the individual who is responsible for the collision. If you are somehow at fault for the accident as a passenger, you need to hire an attorney immediately. 

Once you have identified the responsible party, you will need to contact their insurance company to initiate a claim. From there, the company will assign a claims adjuster to your case who will investigate your claim, research the accident and the surrounding impacts and circumstances, and ultimately make a recommendation to their employer, the insurance company, about how much they should offer you as a settlement. Even if you had a very nice experience working with the adjuster, you need to remember that they work for the insurance company, and their job is to find every possible reason to reduce the amount of money that they pay you.

Working With a Car Accident Attorney

In order to make the entire claims process as smooth as possible, and to maximize your chances of getting a settlement that is actually equitable, hiring a personal injury lawyer is a very good step to take at the very beginning of this experience. When you are working with an attorney, each step you take and every action throughout the claims process is with intention, and their experience in these situations will be a significant benefit to your own outcome. An insurance company and its team of professionals are highly skilled in understanding accidents, claims, and damages and identifying the best ways to limit the amount of money that they pay for any given claim. 

This is true regardless of how clear the facts are in an accident because an insurance company that pays the full amount that a victim deserves is not going to stay in business for long. Instead, an insurance company will identify every single detail that allows them to reduce the amount from every possible line item in the claim, and ultimately pay a victim the minimum amount of money possible that will still clear them and their driver from additional legal action. 

Get an attorney, and get the help that you need and deserve.