How Our Office has Been Affected by the Pandemic
The current pandemic (Covid-19) has changed so much about our lives from how our children attend school to how we do our jobs. While my profession has been considered to be a necessary business since the beginning, allowing us to stay open and work with our clients through this process, that doesn’t mean we haven’t had to change the way we do business as well. We have had to adjust our operating hours, be more aware of our working environment to limit the exposure of ourselves and our clients, and of course, we now have to clean a lot. So far it has worked pretty well with our clients and I don’t think our office services have been impacted too negatively, it’s just been a change for our clients in how we help them with a lot less in person contact and much more electronic communications.
When You Should Speak to an Attorney After an Accident
What about folks who have been injured but don’t have an attorney? When should you be seeking a consultation with us? The answer to that question is that you should at least be having a consultation with a personal injury attorney within the first few weeks following an injury that was caused by another person’s negligence, such as from a car collision. The reason for that is that the insurance companies are not stopping how they are processing claims during this period. In fact, from what I have seen, the insurance companies are acting the same now as they did before Covid-19 became our reality. This means that once a claim has been made to the insurer, an adjuster is still being assigned, they are conducting an investigation, they are evaluating claims and they are trying to settle claims. With this in mind, let’s face it, you are at a disadvantage in dealing with an insurance adjuster. They are trained to deal with these cases, you are not. They know what to look for and you don’t. And they won’t help you to identify and pursue all of the compensation you are entitled to. So if you are dealing with an insurance adjuster without at least having talked to a personal injury attorney, you are allowing yourself to be at a distinct disadvantage in being fairly compensated for the injuries you sustained because of someone else’s carelessness. It’s equivalent to taking a job from someone without being fairly paid for your work.
Needing an Attorney Will Depend Mostly on Your Injuries
Are you going to need an attorney in every case? No. I often speak with individuals about their claims and provide them some guidance without ever becoming involved in their cases. If your injuries are minor you probably only need an attorney to point you in the right direction and give you some suggestions. But if you sustained injuries which require extended care or surgery, you should always be communicating with a personal injury attorney to make sure you protect yourself and your family. Many times people think that the insurance company is going to do the right thing and compensate them fairly without much fuss. Don’t be fooled. Insurance companies care about protecting their insureds (by making sure that no money comes out of their pockets), but beyond that, insurance companies are all about protecting their bottom lines, ie, their profit margins. Don’t let yourself become a source of an insurance company’s profits. Protect yourself by giving us a call before you talk to an insurance adjuster so that you can be armed with information to use in deciding whether you need legal representation, and if not, so you can have information to level the playing field in your discussions with the adjuster.