DOCUMENTS TO GATHER BEFORE HIRING AN ACCIDENT ATTORNEY
If you have been involved in a car accident, hiring an attorney is one of the first moves you should make. Car accidents can be costly to deal with. For instance, the United States economy takes a total toll of about $250 billion due to vehicle accidents. However, when you engage an attorney, there are a few documents you should provide to enable them to do their job efficiently. Read on to find out which documents you must gather before hiring an attorney.
YOUR INSURANCE POLICY
If you have a vehicle insurance policy, your car accident lawyer will want to go over the documents to find out what type of insurance you have and what you are entitled to. If you don't have a physical copy of the policy, you can get one from your insurance provider. They might also want to see proof that you have been making your premium payments. Most insurance companies generally send statements or bills once their customers have paid. This correspondence will be needed by your attorney, as it will help them prove that you have paid and are covered.
DETAILS EXCHANGED AT THE ACCIDENT SCENE
Usually, when a car accident has occurred, people exchange their information. Make sure you provide this info to your attorney so they know who the other driver was that was involved in the crash. If you plan on taking the other person to court for the accident, you and your attorney will obviously need that person's name and other contact information.
INFORMATION PROVIDED BY
THE POLICE AT THE ACCIDENT SCENE
After you call the police to the scene of an accident, they usually draft an accident report. This report can contain a diagram showing the positions of the cars and other details. It will also contain the accident officer's initial remarks at the scene. This information is very important, and it should be given to your attorney. If there are any tickets related to the accident, you must also hand them to the attorney.
PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE SCENE
If you managed to take any photographs at the scene of the accident, it's a good idea to give them to your attorney as well. Usually, if a representative of your insurance company attended to the scene of the accident, they must also have copies of the images. You could ask your insurance company for some pictures if you didn't take any.
When hiring an attorney, providing them with these documents will help them do their job efficiently. If you don't have some of the copies, let your attorney know in advance so that they can obtain the documents by other means.