geico what to do in case of an accident

GEICO Insurance Car Accident Claims and Settlements

You've probably seen the commercials with the cute lilliputian gecko talking about insurance. These ads might have even given you the impression that dealing with the Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO) will be pretty easy. Unfortunately, GEICO insurance claims are rarely straightforward.

Similar other insurers, GEICO is a major corporation – a subsidiary of billionaire Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway. Part of how GEICO makes money is by underpaying or denying legitimate accident claims. If yous have been injure in a motor vehicle collision with a driver insured by GEICO, yous will need a tough Silver Spring, Maryland car accident lawyer to fight for your right to full bounty.

At DuBoff & Associates, nosotros work hard to assistance our clients get the nigh money possible for their injuries. Every day, we take on the biggest insurance companies – and win. Our law firm offers gratis initial consultations, and we never charge a fee unless we recover money for yous.

Filing a Claim with GEICO After an Accident

If you lot are in an car blow with a driver insured past GEICO, then the at-fault commuter should file a claim with their insurance visitor. However, if they don't file a claim, then you will need to file a claim with GEICO.

In theory, this should be an easy procedure: the adjuster volition get together information, take statements, and then brand y'all an offer for your losses. This settlement offering should cover your holding damage, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, medical bills, future medical treatment, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and more. Too often, however, an initial settlement made past GEICO won't exist anywhere well-nigh enough to make you whole once more.

Instead of working to get y'all the coin that yous deserve for your injuries, GEICO volition begin the procedure by trying to undermine your claim. They will asking an blow study from the police, interview witnesses, and dig into your medical history. Using this information, they will find ways to reduce the corporeality of money that they have to pay you.

Continue this in mind as you commencement the GEICO claims procedure. Don't give a statement to a claims adjuster, or sign any paperwork until after you have had the opportunity to talk to a Silver Spring automobile accident lawyer. Remember that whatever you say to GEICO can and will be used against you.

Your chaser will start past listening to your story during a free initial consultation. They will offer you legal advice on your options for moving forward with a lawsuit. If y'all choose to hire a personal injury law firm, they will have over all communications with GEICO on your behalf.

Your lawyer will then begin an investigation of the crash – gathering police reports, medical records, witness statements, and photos and videos of the accident scene. At the same time, they will research case law to put together the strongest possible GEICO accident claim. Using this data, your chaser will draft a demand letter to GEICO that sets out the facts of the case and why their insured is responsible and makes a demand for bounty.

This begins the negotiation process, where your lawyer and GEICO's team of adjusters and attorneys go back and forth until a settlement can exist achieved. If GEICO refuses to give you a fair settlement, then your attorney may advise you to file a lawsuit against the insurer.

Nigh personal injury claims are handled on a contingency fee basis, which ways that yous pay nothing upfront to hire a lawyer. Instead, you lot will pay a percentage of your full recovery (settlement or verdict at trial). This means that there is no risk to y'all in hiring an attorney – and you don't need to have a ton of extra cash on mitt to talk to a Argent Bound car accident lawyer about your GEICO blow claim.

Dealing with a GEICO Claims Adjuster

Make no error nigh it: GEICO's insurance adjuster is non on your side. Fifty-fifty if the claims adjuster is friendly and tells yous that they accept total responsibility for the blow, don't be fooled. Their job is to brand sure that you get equally picayune coin every bit possible for your losses.

Almost claims adjusters will kickoff past making y'all an incredibly low settlement offer. They know that accident victims are in a vulnerable position – in a lot of pain, traumatized afterward an blow, unsure of their rights, and dealing with a lot of financial stress from being out of work and having medical bills. They play on this vulnerability, hoping that you will accept their lowball offer.

If you decline the offer, the claims adjuster might brand you a slightly higher settlement offering – or they might stick with their initial settlement number. They may and so start engaging in a strategy that is designed to wear you down and become you to accept a settlement for far less coin than your merits is worth.

The GEICO adjuster might delay your claim past constantly referring yous to some other employee, or by asking yous to submit paperwork repeatedly. They might too look for ways to reduce the amount of money that you are owed. For example, they might become far back into your medical records to find an onetime medical condition, and and then argue that your current injury tin can be chalked upwards to that – instead of the accident.

They may too try to use Maryland law in their favor. Maryland is one of the few states in the state that follows the principle of contributory negligence – which means that if yous were even slightly (1%) at fault for an accident, you tin't recover annihilation. The GEICO claims adjuster may effort to become you to admit some level of fault so that contributory negligence applies to your instance. Many accident victims don't realize that this is happening until information technology'south too late.

The best way to protect yourself is by hiring an aggressive, experienced Silver Spring car accident lawyer. Your chaser won't let GEICO proceed a angling expedition into your medical records – and volition make sure that you don't give GEICO any information that could be used to undercut your claim.

Studies show that people who rent auto accident attorneys recover 40% more in settlement coin from insurance companies similar GEICO compared to people who correspond themselves. The best way to get maximum compensation for your injuries is past hiring a personal injury lawyer who can take on GEICO for you.

GEICO Settlements

GEICO does not have a set formula for determining settlement amounts. Instead, the value of your settlement will depend on factors such as the nature and severity of your injury and the at-fault driver'southward policy limits. Information technology is also based in role on whether y'all accept legal representation.

If you don't have a lawyer, GEICO'due south initial settlement offer will about certainly exist incredibly low – and may even be considered a bad organized religion offer. When you are represented by counsel, GEICO is more likely to brand a fair settlement offering, knowing that in that location is a real possibility that yous will file a lawsuit and have them to court to get the money that you deserve.

It tin can accept fourth dimension to negotiate a favorable settlement from GEICO. Remember: GEICO is in business concern to make money. They volition always try to become away with a lowball settlement.

Your chaser will gather prove to bear witness that GEICO is fully responsible for all of your losses, forth with documentation of your injuries. Your losses may include:

• Property impairment
• Lost wages
• Reduced earning capacity due to your injury
• Medical bills, including for physical therapy, counseling, and occupational therapy
• Future medical expenses
• Adaptations to your home and/or vehicle
• Pain and suffering
• Scarring
• Disfigurement
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Emotional trauma

In rare cases, such every bit drunk driving accidents, yous may as well be entitled to punitive damages. During a free initial consultation, your car accident lawyer will propose y'all of the value of your GEICO accident merits, including the possibility of seeking punitive damages.

Remember: the best way to become the money that you lot deserve for your injuries is past working with a highly skilled auto blow lawyer. They will fight for your rights and help you lot go maximum compensation for your losses after an blow involving a GEICO driver.

How to Sue GEICO

In some cases, GEICO insurance claims cannot be resolved by settlement. It may then exist necessary to file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver.

In Maryland, the statute of limitations for nigh personal injury cases is 3 years. With a few exceptions, this ways that you have 3 years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit against GEICO. If y'all don't file a legal claim within this time frame, and then it volition be barred.

Filing a lawsuit confronting GEICO does not hateful that you volition become to courtroom. In fact, the majority of personal injury cases are settled without going to trial. Your chaser will go on you lot updated throughout the process to let you know the status of your example.

Once the lawsuit has been filed, then each side will exchange information during the discovery stage. In many cases, discovery will push button the instance towards settlement as the parties larn more than about the strengths and weaknesses of their cases.

If the case does go to trial, your lawyer will make arguments, nowadays evidence, and question witnesses. Attorneys for GEICO will have the opportunity to do the aforementioned. When the case concludes, a jury volition achieve a verdict.

Insurance companies like GEICO don't like to gamble on a jury. That is why having a car accident lawyer with trial feel – such as the attorneys of DuBoff & Assembly – tin help you get a fair settlement without having to go to trial. When GEICO knows that your attorney tin can and will take your case to court, they are more probable to give you the compensation that y'all deserve for your injuries.

Is GEICO Reasonable in Settling Accident Claims?

No. Similar other insurers, GEICO takes a hardline opinion when it comes to resolving insurance claims. Their goal is to e'er settle an accident example for as fiddling money equally possible.

If you take been hurt in a Maryland motorcar crash with a driver insured by GEICO, hiring a lawyer is the best style to get full bounty for your injuries. While you may be able to resolve the instance on your ain, information technology volition likely be for far less than your claim is worth. Reach out to DuBoff & Associates today to learn more than nigh how we tin can assistance you.

What Will Happen Once I File a Lawsuit Confronting GEICO?

One time you sue GEICO, they will likely increment their settlement offering. The reason for this is simple: GEICO knows that information technology will probably cost them a lot more money to litigate the instance than it will to settle it. They as well know that a jury could return a much bigger verdict than what they would pay in a settlement. Most frequently, information technology but makes more fiscal sense for GEICO to offer a bigger settlement.

Of course, if GEICO doesn't recall that your lawyers will actually go to courtroom – or if you're not represented past counsel – then they may not increase their settlement offer. To get the money that you deserve for your losses, contact DuBoff & Associates today for a free consultation.

Do I Need a Lawyer to Handle My GEICO Accident Claim?

Yes. In most cases, it volition benefit you to be represented past counsel when dealing with GEICO – you will become a bigger settlement and reduce the likelihood of your claim beingness delayed or denied. Even so, if your claim is modest and only involves small belongings damage and/or very small injuries, it may make more sense to represent yourself.

Remember that even in pocket-sized automobile blow claims, GEICO will probably attempt to undervalue your claim. Because initial consultations are ever complimentary with our constabulary firm, information technology's often a skillful idea to accomplish out and get a ameliorate thought of the value of your case and your legal options. Call our police firm at 301-495-3131 to schedule a costless consultation.

We'll Assist You Get Superlative Dollar for Your GEICO Insurance Merits

After a car accident, the concluding affair that anyone wants to exercise is bargain with an insurance company. Our law house will take on GEICO for you, assuasive you to focus on what really matters: your wellness and well-existence.

With offices in Silverish Spring, DuBoff & Associates is well-positioned to stand for injury victims throughout Maryland. We aggressively advocate for each of our clients, and never charge a fee unless we recover money for y'all. To learn more or to schedule a free consultation with a Maryland machine accident lawyer, give us a call at 301-495-3131 or make full out our online contact grade.

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