Whenever making vehicle damage claims or injury claims, you want to get as much as possible from the settlement. The sheer experience of being in an accident is traumatic and the procedures that follow can be very complex.

At the end of the day, it is very important that you hire really good car accident lawyers Detroit experts. This gives you the best possibility of obtaining a very high settlement. However, this does not mean you can leave everything in the hands of the attorney.

Some Things You Should Know

The fact that another driver caused an accident does not mean you directly deal with that person. Usually, you will end up discussing claims with the insurance company of that driver. Due to this, it is particularly important that you gather as much information as possible when the accident happens. This includes contact information and name details for:

• The driver at fault
• The insurance company of the driver at fault
• Witnesses
• Law enforcement officers present at the scene

You should also take some photographs if this is possible. If you are not injured, this should be easy because you most likely have a smartphone on you. When you can take pictures, make sure you photograph all the vehicles, their location, the physical damage visible, and license plates.

Remember that insurance companies want a lot of data coming from you. This is not because they do not know what happened. It is because they want to understand how much you know and how much you realize about how much they should pay.

There is no insurance company that will have your best interests at heart. We are talking about a business that tries to make money. The lower they can pay you, the more money they make.

Insurance companies often try to argue these two things:

• The fact that a driver was not completely at fault and you (the injured party) are also at fault.
• Not enough documentation was provided to support loss claims.

Discussing with insurance companies is very frustrating. But, what you should remember is that when you offer a lot of information, the insurance company is not really capable of denying facts. However, insurance firms do not absolutely need to settle. They might make a specific offer and say this is as high as they will go. If you want to obtain more, the only option available is a lawsuit. When reaching this scenario, there is no other way to get more money than to hire an attorney and actually start the lawsuit.

Damages You Can Collect

The last thing you should be aware of is what you can ask money for. When filing a claim, you can collect money for different damage types. The very common ones are:

• Vehicle damage
• Car rental damage
• Personal property damage
• Out of pocket expenses

Insurance firms only offer a settlement based on what you ask for. If you do not offer documentation that personal property damage appeared, as an example, you will not be compensated for you. Always talk with your personal injury attorney to make a list of everything you should get money for.