A Tampa, Florida Car Accident Lawyer Explains the Importance of Documentation

When you’re in the middle of a car accident, you’re likely to be upset, hurting, and very distracted. While it’s almost impossible to keep your wits about you—especially if you sustained an injury—we cannot stress enough the importance of documenting everything about the car accident and its aftermath.

Why is documentation so important? A Tampa, Florida car accident lawyer from Clark and Martino will be able to explain this to you. Basically, documentation (or the lack of documentation) could be the deciding factor in a personal injury court case. If you or someone you love is injured in a car accident, a personal injury attorney will likely be interested in the following details:

• Emergency room records and recollections of what happened in the emergency room, including what medical professionals were seen, what procedures were done, and what medications were prescribed
• Emergency personnel records and your recollection of conversations with the police, ambulance technicians, fire department, and 911 dispatchers
• Any conversations about the accident, especially conversations with insurance companies, insurance company lawyers, personal injury attorneys, and the other parties involved in the accident
• All visits with doctors and other health care providers regarding the injuries you sustained in the accident (document who was seen, what was said, what medical procedures were recommended and completed, and what medications were prescribed and taken)

Any experienced Tampa car accident attorney will advise you not to share anything with an insurance company—especially medical records—unless you ask your attorney first. While you may be obligated to inform your insurance company about the accident, all other conversations with insurance companies should be conducted with the assistance of an attorney. Otherwise, a conversation with an insurance company could hurt your case.

Keep in mind that if the injuries are extensive, the injured person or persons will depend on loved ones to maintain thorough records of everything that happens. If you are a family member or loved one of someone who has been injured in a car accident, you may be able to consult a personal injury attorney on someone else’s behalf. As you can imagine, people who sustain traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, or other serious injury are unable to contact attorneys or keep records for themselves.

With decades of experience and generations of familiarity with the Tampa Bay area, we invite you to contact a Tampa, Florida car accident attorney from Clark and Martino, P.A., at 1-866-598-9111 for a free consultation in our Tampa headquarters.