After a car accident, you might have heard that you should call your insurance company, as well as the insurance company of the other party, as soon as possible. However, that’s not always the case.
In this brief article, commercial vehicle accident attorneys in Tampa from our team at Inkelaar Law share what every Florida driver needs to know about contacting insurance companies after auto and commercial vehicle accidents.
Although you may be tempted to contact the other driver’s insurance, you are not legally obligated to contact the other driver’s insurance by Florida law. Generally speaking, your insurance company and the other party will likely be playing “the blame game” trying to get each other to pay for the damages. This means that if you speak to the other party’s insurance company, there’s an opportunity to misspeak due to nerves or anxiety related to the accident and make your claim look invalid.
Rather than trying to speak to the insurance companies alone, it’s better to contact an attorney first. Your attorney will tell you when, or if, it is appropriate to discuss the accident with either insurance company and will help guide you when it is time to give your statement.
Although you are not legally required to speak to the other party’s insurance company, Florida law dictates that you are legally obligated to speak with your own auto insurance provider. To further complicate the answer to this question, your insurance company may have more specific requirements, some even requiring that you notify them of an accident within 24 hours. You’ll be able to find your specific insurance company’s requirements in your policy documents and terms from when you purchased your policy.
If you’re involved in an accident as the driver of a commercial vehicle, you may be required to notify your personal insurance company as well as the business’s insurance company. In order to wade through which company to contact first, commercial truck accident lawyers in Tampa can help.
You might be thinking that your insurance company should be safe to contact — after all, they should be fighting on your side. However, that’s not always the case. Finding an experienced, compassionate attorney after your accident will give you the upper-hand in understanding and protecting your rights and holding the insurance companies, and the at-fault driver, accountable. If you have been injured in an accident and are interested in filing a personal injury case, contact Inkelaar Law in Tampa today.
If you’ve been involved in an auto accident, please give us a call for free consultation at (813) 722-0622, or submit our consultation request form.
