Steps to Take in Filing a Personal Injury Claim

Good morning, another special gentleman we always welcome back attorney Jed Dietrich who always is here with some great advice. Good morning Jed, nice to have you here. Hi Linda, always great to be here, thank you.

We are going to be talking to you this morning about what are the steps necessary to bring a personal injury case here in Buffalo. That is a good question because I really do not know how that is done. Even before we get there though Linda, the issue is why do you need a personal injury lawyer after you are injured when someone else is at fault for causing your problem. It is because of the insurance companies; the insurance companies are in business to give good returns to their stockholders. They are really not in business to take care of you after you have been hurt and they are really not in business to defend you and to do the right thing to pay someone if you have actually caused someone’s trouble. Isn’t it deceiving when you hear their messages? Absolutely, and I see it on television and you see it on television, “we are here to help you and we are here to take care of you,” and many, many times clients will come to me and say “my own insurance company is not taking care of me, they are not paying for my medical bills,” if it is a car accident , your own insurance company under the New York State No-Fault system pays for your medical bills. Very frequently your own insurance company will send you to their doctor, an insurance doctor and that doctor will say that you do not need any more treatment, when your own treatment doctor says you do not need more information. Now, if this happens to anyone out there, we are available at (716) 839-3939. We get involved after the fact, we like to get involved in the beginning, if you are injured in a car accident or a slip and fall it is best to call us at (716) 839-3939 in the beginning so we can institute and investigation for you. So, if you fall, we will get out there, get an investigator out there and take pictures of where you fell. If it is a car accident, we get pictures of the two cars and it is very important to get to the doctor, get to the hospital right away.

So, when you are brining a personal injury claim what do you do? You get your medical treatment, you contact us at (716) 839-3939 and then we will prepare the case against the insurance company and the people who are at fault to preserve your rights, to get you what is fair and reasonable.

We should also let people know that if you accept a settlement from the insurance company, you can not go forward. That cuts off your rights, exactly and there area couple of insurance companies in the Western New York area that have a special department set up to go out there right after a collision and get you to sign for like $500 and many times people have come to me and said “I did not know how injured I was, can you help me?” That is a circumstance that no one wants to be in. So, the first thing you have to go do is get your medical treatment, contacts us to preserve your rights and then we will help you interact with the insurance companies and they know that we are there to fight them all day long. Right, so by all means they kind of want to get you one and done, if you already have a feeling that “you know what? I really believe this is worth more than this,” or like you say, “I do not know what my long-term situation is going to be,” do not accept that check, you are done if you do that. So frequently Linda, we do not know how seriously injured you are. So, you get into a collision, you might be rear-ended at a stop-light, you do not know how serious it is, you go home, you take some Advil, that is the first thing that a lot of people will do. Then the day after or two days after you are much more stiff and then you need to get the treatment really in the beginning but it is better to get it two or three days after, contact us at (716) 839-3939 we are here to help you. Definitely go to the doctor, go get checked out, do not blow it off thinking “oh no I guess I am okay,” and keep that documentation because that is all going to be helpful to Jed down the road. That is right, yes, we are here for you. You are.

The Dietrich Law Firm, (716) 839-3939, they are located right on John James Audubon Pkwy in Buffalo or you can just simply go to www.calljed.com.