Durham Claims Process Lawyers

Making the Legal System Accessible to All

If you have been injured in a North Carolina car accident, you are likely overwhelmed by the numerous questions you have as well as the questions you are constantly being asked. Not knowing how the claims process works, or what happens next, can make a potentially difficult situation even worse.

If you are anything like most accident victims, you likely have started prioritizing issues and concerns so that you can begin researching the answers as time permits. You may be wondering whether you should call about that follow-up appointment now that your pain has worsened, when you should tell the insurance company about needing surgery, or simply whether you should sign the insurance company’s Hippa Release. While the answers to these questions are important, knowing what to expect from the personal injury claims process in North Carolina will likely help you in answering a significant percent of these already confusing questions. While some believe that the personal injury claims process is complicated and intentionally confusing, the process can be linear and straightforward – for the most part. The accident claims process following an accident is often described by those who know as logical and predictable. Our Durham attorneys are also available for a free consultation if you want to seek legal representation.

Call Wallace Pierce Law for your consultation at (919) 887-7892, or contact us online. Se habla español.

Basics of the Claims Process

The accident claims process can be summarized as follows:

• Seeking emergency medical treatment (if needed)
• Opening an initial insurance claim
• Seeking follow-up treatment as ordered by your physicians
• Completing treatment
• Gathering medical documentation and other evidence
• Preparing a demand package explaining your case
• Sending and waiting for your demand package to be reviewed by the insurance company
• Attempting to settle your claim, and then if necessary, filing a lawsuit

Understanding your claims process can allow you to be better suited to handle each step of the process. It is important to understand each phase of the claims process because each of those steps will play a pivotal role in helping you to resolve your claim. It is important to remember that the claim process begins as soon as the accident takes place. So, it is beneficial to think about the process throughout your case because it will allow you to better plan while you attempt to resolve your claim.

Breaking Down the Timeline

The period right after you are involved in a car accident can be scary and confusing. Should you go to the hospital? Do you talk to the insurance company? Should you hire a lawyer? When you are considering your options, it helps to have as much information as possible before you make a decision.

Treatment

After an accident, it is essential that you receive the medical care that you need. Regardless of whether you choose to pursue a personal injury claim, if you are injured in an accident, please seek medical attention immediately. At Wallace Pierce Law, we encourage our clients to keep in touch with us while they are in treatment. Our Client Relations Legal Assistant tracks each client’s treatment progress and checks in with clients by phone or email every one to two weeks. We ask clients to keep us up to date with information regarding when they have scheduled appointments and what the results of those appointments are. It is of utmost importance for a client’s health and for their claim that their doctor’s orders are strictly followed.

If a client needs help scheduling an appointment with a medical provider, we are happy to assist in locating a provider as well as communicating with the provider to make an appointment. Once a client lets us know that they are done with treatment related to injuries sustained during the car accident, we work on collecting bills and records from each medical provider. If the client receives bills from any provider, it is important that he or she pays these bills in a timely manner, with the hopes that a settlement will later be reached so that these expenses will be reimbursed. If a client cannot pay a bill on time, he or she should call the medical provider and attempt to negotiate a low minimum monthly payment that can be made to the provider until a settlement is reached and the provider can be paid in full. Often a medical provider will take into consideration that a patient was involved in an accident and is awaiting a pending settlement, so it never hurts to let the provider know if this is the case. If a client has trouble paying a bill and cannot work out something with the medical provider, he or she should contact Wallace Pierce Law for help and advice with this situation.

Collecting Bills and Records

A member of our staff can confirm with the client the name and location of each medical provider visited in relation to the accident. Our office sends a copy of the client’s signed Authorization of Medical Release of Information to each provider requesting bills and/or records for all dates of service related to the accident. Once records are requested and paid for (if necessary) by Wallace Pierce Law, it can normally take 30-60 days for a medical provider to send us those bills and/or records. During this time in the process, we also ask the client to fill out a copy of our Employment and Lost Wage Verification form and have their employer sign it. Clients with specific types of lost wages such as sales commission or those who are self-employed should talk to the attorney before filling out this form. In addition, we ask every client to calculate out-of-pocket expenses related to the accident, including prescription medication costs, cost of any medical equipment, and gas for mileage to and from each medical appointment.