FAQs

Call the police immediately. Unless required to do so, do not move your car until and unless you are required to do so. That way, the police officer will be able to see who caused the wreck and accurately complete the police report. The police report will be very helpful and important in proving your claim later.

If you are in pain after a car wreck, you absolutely should get promptly checked out by a physician. Certain injuries caused in a car wreck – like spinal injuries and brain injuries -- may not become apparent for several days or even a few weeks after the wreck, so depending on how badly your car was damaged in the crash, you may want to preemptively get checked out by a doctor following a serious wreck even if you’re not in serious pain at the time.

Yes. When you bought your insurance policy for your car, your contract of insurance requires you to promptly notify your own insurance company of any car wreck you are involved in, even if it wasn’t your fault. If you don’t do that, and the other driver claims that you caused the car wreck, your own insurance might not defend and protect you against the other driver’s claim against you – especially if you didn’t cooperate with your insurance company and report the claim to it promptly after the wreck. In addition, you may be able to make a claim under your own insurance policy against your insurance company for car repairs or even a claim for uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage if the other driver was not adequately insured by their own insurance company.

If at all possible, you should follow your doctor’s advice and instructions. First, your doctor is a trained medical professional and would not urge you to stay out of work unless the doctor’s best professional judgment was for you to do that. Give your body time to heal and recover. Second, when your lawyer is trying to settle your personal injury claim, your injuries look less serious if you disregard your doctor’s instructions and return to work before the doctor thinks you should. Further, the insurance company might think that you worsened your own condition by disregarding your doctor’s advice by returning to work too soon. It’s always best to play it safe and follow your doctor’s instructions.

Yes. You should discuss this with your lawyer immediately. The timeline for pursuing a workers compensation claim in Georgia is unique, and it may be shorter than for a personal injury/car wreck claim. In some instances, there is a requirement for giving oral notice to your employer within as little as 30 days of the wreck.

Absolutely. If you are injured in a car wreck or another injury caused by someone else, the other person becomes legally responsible for your medical bills, your lost income, and your pain and suffering caused by the wreck or other injury. You should keep careful track of your lost income as well as your medical and other expenses you have had to pay because of your injury.

No. Instead, you should hire a qualified attorney to handle your claim, and he or she can decide if and when any such recorded statement should be given by you. Your lawyer will educate you on the things you should and should not go into in your recorded statement to best safeguard your rights and your claim.

You may have a claim for something called “loss of consortium.” This means that the quality of your life was adversely impacted by the pain and other issues that your spouse suffered in the car wreck or other injury. For example, if your spouse normally provided most of the care for your children or did most of the housework, then you would have a claim about how your life was impacted when you had to do more of the chores and other household tasks that your spouse did before he or she was hurt.

Yes. The statute of limitations in Georgia for a personal injury claim is normally two years from the date of the injury. Certain aspects of your case may extend this time window. However, under certain circumstances, you may actually have a shorter time window – as little as 6 months from the date of the injury – when you may be required to serve a specific written notice if the injury was caused by an employee of a city, county, state or federal governmental entity. If you miss this “ante litem” notice to the government, your claim may be lost. It’s important to seek out an attorney quickly to ensure you don’t miss out on your claim.

You should ask your own insurance company for help with this claim. You may have coverage under your policy that will pay for repairs. If your own insurer pays for repairs, then you may have to pay your deductible, but your own insurance company will likely seek “subrogation” (getting the money back from the other driver’s insurer) for all of the money for repairs including your deductible.