Protecting Yourself After a Car Accident During the Holiday Season in Pennsylvania

With election season dominating the headlines, it’s easy to forget that the holiday season is right around the corner. But, after Election Day, Thanksgiving is just weeks away, and then it’s the holiday rush before the winter holidays and New Year’s Eve.

Unfortunately, this means that a rise in car accidents is right around the corner as well.

Car accidents traditionally spike during the holiday season. With more cars on the roads, and with shorter days and winter weather creating more challenging driving conditions, it’s not hard to see why. If you get injured in a car accident during the holidays, it will be important to make sure you know how to protect your legal rights.

7 Tips for Protecting Your Legal Rights After a Car Accident During the Holidays

So, what should you do to protect your legal rights after a car accident during the holiday season in Pennsylvania? Here are seven tips from the attorneys at Drake, Hileman & Davis, PC:

1. Prioritize Your Physical and Emotional Recovery

The first and most important thing you need to do is prioritize your physical and emotional recovery. While it may be the holiday season, your health comes first—even if this means missing key shopping days or staying home while your friends or coworkers go out celebrating.

Of course, missing out on holiday celebrations due to injuries that were someone else’s fault can be emotionally challenging as well. This is both understandable and completely normal. When you hire an attorney to file a car accident claim on your behalf, your attorney will be able to seek just compensation for all of your financial and non-financial losses—including losses that are related specifically to the holiday season.  

2. Prioritize Your Car Accident Claim

Along with prioritizing your health, you also need to prioritize your car accident claim. The financial and non-financial costs of accident-related injuries can be substantial, and you need to make sure you give yourself the best chance of recovering the financial compensation you deserve.

Here, too, this may mean dealing with things you’d rather ignore during the holiday season. But, waiting until after the holidays to do things like file an insurance claim can prove very costly. If you hire an attorney to represent you, your attorney will be able to handle most of the early aspects of your car accident claim on your behalf, meaning that you will be able to devote as much time to the holidays as possible.

3. Take Detailed Notes About the Weather, Road and Traffic Conditions at the Time of the Accident

While it is important to take detailed notes after a car accident any time of year, this can be especially important during the holiday season. Did winter weather play a role in the accident? Were the roads slippery? Were people driving recklessly in a rush to get to the stores or get home?

These are all factors that could play a key role in your car accident claim. As a result, the more information you can write down to share with your attorney, the better. If you aren’t sure whether a particular detail is important, you should write it down just in case.

4. Make Sure You Know What Insurance Claim(s) You Can File

Car accidents can give rise to various types of insurance claims. While most people know they can file a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company when another driver is to blame for their injuries, this is just one of several possibilities. Depending on the circumstances involved in your car accident and the coverage that is available, other possibilities include:

• A claim under your (or a family member’s) medical payments (MedPay) policy
• A claim under your (or a family member’s) uninsured/underinsured motorist (UIM) policy
• A claim under the at-fault driver’s umbrella liability insurance policy
• A claim under the at-fault driver’s employer’s insurance policy (if the at-fault driver was working at the time of the accident)
• A claim under a vehicle manufacturer, dealership, repair shop, or road contractor’s insurance policy (if a vehicle-related or road-related issue played a role in the collision)

Even these are just examples. Navigating the insurance claims process can be extremely complicated, and the insurance companies are not on your side. This is one of several reasons why it is in your best interests to seek help from an experienced attorney as soon as possible.

5. Start Documenting the Costs of the Accident

From your medical bills to your paystubs (if you miss time from work), you should get in the habit of keeping all forms of documentation of your accident-related losses. You should start taking notes to keep track of the non-financial costs of your accident as well.

6. Do Not Let the Insurance Companies Talk You Into an Unfair Settlement

The insurance companies know it is the holiday season, and they will not hesitate to use this to their advantage. With this in mind, you need to be absolutely certain that you do not let the insurance companies talk you into an unfair settlement. You should not settle your claim simply so that you can move on before the holidays arrive. It will take time to calculate and document the losses you are entitled to recover.

7. Talk to a Local Attorney Who Can Help You

From documenting the cause of your car accident to proving your accident-related losses, there are many ways an experienced local attorney can help with your car accident during the holiday season. Once the holidays are over, then you can work with your attorney to make sure you are seeking the full compensation you deserve.

Contact Us for a Free, No-Obligation Consultation

With offices in Allentown, Bethlehem, Doylestown, Easton and Stroudsburg, we represent car accident victims and their families throughout Pennsylvania. If you need help dealing with a car accident during the holiday season, we invite you to get in touch. To arrange a free, no-obligation consultation with an attorney at Drake, Hileman & Davis, PC, please call 888-777-7098 or tell us how we can get in touch online today.