Recovering Compensation 101: Oklahoma Personal Injury Law

If you have been hurt by someone else’s negligence, such as in most car or truck accidents, Oklahoma law entitles you to financial compensation for your injuries and associated costs and suffering. This article explains the basics everyone in the state needs to know about how to do so in case you, someday, have the misfortune of being in an accident. This includes:

• How to begin the personal injury claim process after an injury in Oklahoma.
• Some of the common tactics used by insurance companies to delay, deny, or diminish claims.
• What happens when an insurance company is unwilling to offer a reasonable settlement?

How Do I Begin The Personal Injury Claim Process After An Accident With Serious Injuries In Oklahoma?

If you have just been in an accident or have only now begun to realize the extent of your injury after a car accident or other, there is no time to lose. The sooner you begin the personal injury process, the better your chances are of a full recovery of all damages.

To launch the personal injury process, all you need to do is call a personal injury attorney. Any lawyer worth their salt will not charge you for this – or for anything else – until the case is won and your compensation claimed. (This is called working on contingency).

If you wait and try to handle your claim by yourself, or worse, let the opposing insurance company “help” you file, you run the risk of making extensive mistakes that will severely limit the amount of compensation you are able to receive. Of course, this isn’t your fault – it’s simply because insurance companies will not hesitate to use all kinds of underhanded tactics to diminish their liability and how much they end up paying you.

What Are Some Of The Common Tactics Insurance Companies Use To Undermine Oklahoma Personal Injury Claims?

When you are injured in any kind of accident, there will always be one or more insurance adjusters assigned to your case, depending on how many insurance companies are involved. Unfortunately, no matter how friendly they may seem, these adjusters do not have your best interest at heart.

This is because their job is to end up paying you the least amount possible (for which they likely get a bonus), and they will do whatever it takes to make that happen. In order to get away with this, they may:

• Fail to respond to questions and messages to delay proceedings until it is too late.
• Try to lower the amount you are reimbursed for anything and everything.
  • For example, on a $2,500 medical bill, insurers may try to argue that only $2,000 of it is reasonable and can be repaid.
• Ask you the same question multiple times or in slightly different ways so they can get conflicting answers on record and undermine your credibility as a witness.

The list of insurance company strategies is too long and depressing to list them all here. The only way to avoid their traps is to hire an experienced personal injury lawyer who knows what they will try, can anticipate it, and make sure they do not get away with paying you less than you need and deserve.

What Happens If I Cannot Get A Reasonable Settlement Offer From The Insurance Company?

When facing the insurance company of the person responsible for your injury, if they refuse to make a reasonable offer, you will have to file a lawsuit against them.

This is why it is imperative that you bring an attorney on board early; this shows the insurance company you are serious and gives the attorney time to prepare the claim as if it will go to court. These two factors are crucial in getting a better settlement offer and winning a full damage claim if it does end up in front of a jury or judge.

Without an attorney, you are vulnerable, and insurance companies can and will take advantage of that; they will delay until there is little time left to prepare a lawsuit, then make an utterly unreasonable “final offer”, knowing you have little choice but to accept. They will even sometimes be friendly and helpful on minor damages like property or vehicle damages to lull you into a false sense of security first.

Hire Your Personal Injury Attorney Early To Have The Best Chance Of Full And Fair Compensation

Hiring an attorney early on in the personal injury claim process won’t cost you anything more, but it will make a substantial difference to the claim or settlement you are able to achieve.

It will take control over your financial and health recovery away from an insurance company that cares nothing for you and give that control back to you. Get power in your Oklahoma personal injury claim by calling (405) 449-5777 now to organize a free consultation.