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West Virginia Personal Injury Claims DOs and DON’Ts

After a car accident in West Virginia, you may find yourself facing serious injuries or perhaps injury symptoms that surface over the period of days and weeks and have progressively gotten severe.

When you've had to deal with those injuries because of another driver's actions on the road, it may help to know that you have the option to file a West Virginia personal injury claim. But before you jump into the claims process alone, it may benefit you to talk with a Clarksburg personal injury attorney about some West Virginia personal injury claim Dos and Don'ts, especially when it comes to dealing with insurance adjusters.

Since this may be your first accident experience, it may surprise you to know that when you're dealing with insurance adjusters, there are a lot of things you can do to help your West Virginia personal injury claim, as a well as a lot of things you can do to inadvertently harm it and jeopardize your much-needed compensation.

What to Do When Dealing with Insurance Adjusters

While you may not have had your Clarksburg personal injury attorney with you at the scene of your accident to coach you on what information to get from other drivers or the photographs and information to collect, you can still take steps to improve your chances at a fair settlement from your West Virginia personal injury claim.

This means that when you're dealing with insurance adjusters, you'll want to do the following:

go over your insurance policy with your Clarksburg personal injury attorney;
contact your insurance company as soon as possible but avoid any recorded statements before talking with your Clarksburg personal injury attorney;
keep a written log of all your conversations after dealing with insurance adjusters (or anyone involved in your claim, for that matter);
save bills and receipts from car repairs, hospital stays and medical treatment; and
be candid when dealing with insurance adjusters to avoid the appearance of fraud (answer their questions openly but don't offer extra information).

Your Clarksburg personal injury attorney can coach you on what actions you can take to help your West Virginia personal injury claim. But it's just as valuable to know what mistakes to avoid. Far too many accident victims have damaged their claims and lost the compensation they truly need because of innocent missteps that insurance adjusters use to their own advantage.

What Not to do When Dealing with Insurance Adjusters

When dealing with insurance adjusters for your claim, don't:

admit to any kind of fault;
give any written or recorded statements to adjusters;
wait too long to file your claim (you could miss the West Virginia statute of limitations); and
accept any payments or checks until you have them reviewed by your attorney.

Following some of the above tips can definitely guide you through the West Virginia personal injury claims process but to be sure of what to do at each stage of your case, you'll want to work alongside a Clarksburg personal injury attorney.

Contacting a Clarksburg Personal Injury Attorney

Unfortunately, car accidents are a regular occurrence on West Virginia roadways such as I-79, I-77, Route 50, Route 33, and I-68. In fact, our state averages over 40,000 car crashes, over 400 deaths, and over 11,000 serious injuries each year. If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a West Virginia car accident, order a FREE copy of our consumer guide, The 7 Biggest Mistakes that Can Wreck Your West Virginia Car Accident Claim then contact the Clarksburg personal injury attorneys at The Miley Legal Group for a FREE consultation - 304-326-1800.