The Process of Filing a Personal Injury Insurance Claim in Texas
Accidents can happen when you least expect them. You may have been driving when another vehicle side-swiped you or maybe you fell off a ladder while at work. All these incidents can lead to injury and require you to fill out a personal injury claim with your insurance company.
It’s important to note that workplace injuries and injuries caused by criminal action won’t always follow the same process as other personal injury cases.
Learn the process of filing a personal injury insurance claim in Texas from your Edinburg personal injury attorneys.
What Goes Into an Insurance Policy?
Because your insurance policy is a contract between you and your insurance company, it’s important that you understand everything that goes into it. If a loss occurs, you need to know the responsibility that you and the insurance company each have.
The four basic parts of an insurance policy include:
Declaration page — This page lays out who is insured, what risks are covered, the policy limits, and the period of the policy.
Insuring agreement — This is a summary of what the insurer agrees to do along with what is covered in the policy.
Exclusions — Exclusions are coverages taken away in the Insuring Agreement, such as excluded losses, excluded property, and excluded perils.
Conditions — Conditions are put in place to put limitations on the insurer’s promise to pay and perform. Certain conditions must be met in order for an insurer to accept a claim.
Before you move forward with your policy, make sure that you look over it and understand everything included. If something is overlooked or misunderstood, you may face issues when filing a future claim.
The Process of Filing a Claim
Now that you understand the basics of your insurance policy, it’s time to go over the process of filing a claim. If you’ve been injured in an accident, whether by your own doing or another’s negligence, you will want to file a claim to get compensation for your losses.
The process of filing a personal injury insurance claim is as follows:
1. If Necessary, Contact the Police
If your personal injury was caused by the criminal actions of another or you were seriously hurt, you should contact the police for help. Doing so will allow you to have a police report for your claim that can provide further insight into what happened. However, a police report is not necessary to file a claim with your insurance company.
2. Exchange Information and Gather as Much Evidence as Possible
Whether the accident occurred at work, on the road, or at home, it’s important to have as much information and evidence as possible. If the accident involved someone other than yourself, exchange the following information:
Name, address, and phone number
Insurance policy numbers
Year, make, model, and license plate numbers of all vehicles involved
Pictures of the accident from every angle
Detailed information on the conversations had with everyone involved in the accident
This information can be very helpful when you contact your insurance company. If you required medical attention for your injuries, keep your medical records, bills, and physician reports to use as further evidence in your claim.
3. Call Your Insurance Company
Once it’s determined that everyone in the accident is safe, it’s time to contact your insurance company. Notify them of the accident and they can tell you what else you’ll need to file your claim.
If the accident was the fault of another person, you’ll want to contact their insurance company to file a claim. However, it is always best to notify your own insurance company to keep them informed of what is going on.
4. File Your Claim
The last step of this process is to move forward with filing your claim. Depending on your insurance company, you may be able to do this online, through a mobile app, on the phone with an agent, or by email.
Make sure you have gathered all the information that is required of you and ask your insurance company any questions you may have.
File Your Personal Injury Insurance Claim Confidently With the Law Office of Bobby Garcia
Filing a personal injury insurance claim can be overwhelming if you don’t have the proper information and understanding of the process. After an accident, you may be dealing with visits to medical professionals, medical bills, and the loss of a job. Because of this, it’s important that you get the necessary compensation for your injuries.
If you’ve been injured in an accident, you may be looking for financial relief. An experienced Edinburg personal injury attorney can walk you through the process of your claim and help you get the compensation you deserve.