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Have you been injured in a car or motor vehicle accident and you’re not sure what to do next? Read on.
Following a car or motor vehicle accident.
The most important thing of all is your health. Don’t muck around with it. If you have been hurt in a car accident get yourself to the doctor or the hospital as soon as possible. We know this sounds like obvious advice, but you’d be surprised at how many people don’t do this. You don’t get any prizes for being a toughie. You certainly won’t get any credit from the insurance company. In fact, if you sit around in pain and don’t get to a doctor, many insurers will use that against you. The number of times we’ve had to listen to insurers say:
“If they were really hurt in the car accident why did they wait 2 weeks to go and see a doctor? Their pain must be caused by something else that wasn’t our fault.”
When you see a doctor after your accident please make sure you tell them about anything that hurts. Make sure that the doctor records it all, even if you have to ask them to do so. Doctors are often extremely busy and want to focus on only your major problem on the day. Often, it’s the lesser problem that you forgot to mention that persists long term. You get the picture.
The other reason you need to see your doctor as soon as possible is that most doctors are actually pretty good at helping you with your injury. Most of the medical experts agree that early treatment (like physio) really helps your chances of recovering quicker. If you need treatment, and most injured people do, your doctor is the person best placed to give you a referral and monitor your progress. More importantly, unless you have a referral for treatment from your doctor many insurers will refuse to reimburse you for that treatment.
If you need treatment, do what ever you need to do to get it. If you don’t have treatment it’s common to hear insurers claim:
“Well they can’t have been hurt that badly, they didn’t get any treatment.”
The early stages after an injury in a car accident are important. Irrespective of whether you decide to make a claim or not the advice is still the same. Get to a doctor, make sure you report everything and get any treatment your doctor thinks you need. If your doctor doesn’t seem interested or you’re not happy with what they have to say, find another one.
If you decide to make a claim, you will be well on your way to making sure you’re getting off on the right foot.
Do I need to be seriously injured to make a claim?
The short answer is No. This answer may very well change in the coming months with the proposed changes to the law about motor vehicle accidents being proposed by the Barr Government. We will be posting more about those proposed changes on our website in the coming weeks.
The process of starting my claim
There isn’t much you need in order to start the claim process. You will need to know where the accident happened, when it happened and have the registration of the car that caused or partially caused the accident. You will also need the name of the driver of the car that was at fault. Sometimes the at fault driver may be the driver of the car in which you were a passenger. Sometimes the driver at fault may be a family member or friend. That will not impact your right to make a claim.
If the police attended the accident, the attending officers will usually give you a police number which can be used to get a copy of the police report down the track. You will need that number when filling in The Motor Accident Notification Form.
If the police did not attend the accident (they often do not) you should complete and online police report or attend a police station and report the accident formally as soon as possible. The online police report is often easier and quicker. You have the option of printing or saving a copy. read more at:
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