Atlanta Car Accident Checklist

Your car accident attorney will tell you what evidence you need to begin collecting and what documentation will aid in determining the amount of compensation to which you may be entitled. Your attorney will also begin the task of negotiating with the insurance company as you are following through with your next steps.

It is important to allow your attorney to serve as the liaison between you and the insurance company since anything you say can be used to justify paying you a lesser settlement amount. Car accident attorneys are experienced at negotiating with claims adjusters, so it is in your best interest to let us handle this step.

While Mike Rafi and his team are investigating your case, you may be asked to collect evidence so we can document what happened during the accident. If, for example, you took pictures at the scene of the accident, send them to your attorney. If you sustained injuries as a result of the accident, you may be asked to take pictures of them and supply records of any medical reports.

You will also need to document your ongoing expenses, including medical bills and any wages you would have earned if you had not been injured (known as lost wages). We will need to explain precisely what costs have incurred, or will incur in the future, so we can include it in your claim.

Consider that you may sustain an injury which requires ongoing medical care. While we are working with the insurance companies on your behalf and potentially preparing a case to file with the courts, you need to keep copies of any medical bills you paid or received in relation to the injuries sustained from the car accident.

You need to keep copies of documentation pertaining to vehicle or personal property damage and repairs, receipts for a rental car you must use in the interim, and other related expenses.

If you are out of work because of your injuries, your lost wages need to be documented. The more accurate your running tally of expenses related to your accident is, the more effective your case will be.

Though employers don’t send paystubs for missed work, you can gather evidence of what you would normally earn in the form of financial documents, pay stubs from previous paychecks, or direct deposit information to substantiate how much you were unable to make because of missed work.

You should write your account of what happened before, during, and after the accident. Include an ongoing record of what you have endured after the accident, such as daily activities you can no longer perform as a result of injuries or pain levels.

As soon as possible, obtain a copy of the police report from the police station in the jurisdiction where the accident occurred. Ideally, you have the name of the officer and badge number of the officers who arrived on the scene. If not, however, your name should suffice in helping the local police identify the accident report. We may ask that you forward it to our office if you receive the copy before us. This will go a long way in proving which party was negligent and by what degree.