Were you or someone you love in a vehicular accident recently? Is Travelers your insurance carrier? For years, Travelers has been among the most popular California car insurance providers. If you were in an accident and have Travelers, you should file a claim with them.
However, there are some things that you should keep in mind when you do so. On top of that, if you were injured in an accident, having an attorney on your side can help in many ways. Belal Hamideh, a car accident attorney in California and the rest of his team here can work diligently so you can receive the compensation you deserve.
In the wake of an accident, it’s entirely understandable that you might just want to take the very first offer you receive, so that you can recover in peace. However, that offer is very likely to be far, far below what you should receive. If you schedule a free case evaluation with Belal and the team here, we can let you know what your claim is worth. Then, we can get right to work so that you receive it.
When Should You Contact Travelers Insurance After an Accident?
Your best bet is to file a claim with Travelers soon after the accident. You can do so through their site or by calling (800) 252-4633. You do have time to do this, but the sooner the better. Remember: in California, you have two years from the date of the accident itself to file a claim.
That having been said, there is no need to contact Travelers from the accident site itself. In fact, there are many others you should contact and actions you should take before you contact Travelers.
Specifically, you should contact law enforcement immediately. Let them know what happened, if anyone was injured, etc. They’ll create a police report which can help your case quite a bit. By that same token, be sure to receive medical attention, too. Yes, do so even if it seems that neither you nor anyone else was injured.
Hopefully, that is the case. However, it’s entirely possible that the extent and severity of any injuries (particularly internal ones) won’t be known until long after the accident, long after the shock wears off. Receiving medical care quickly can help with recovery in many ways.
Talk to the other party, too. You’re going to want to get information from them such as their name, their contact information, their insurance, insurance number, and so forth. This conversation can and should be polite and cordial. Don’t give any extraneous information, don’t speculate, and never say anything that could be construed as admitting fault to any degree whatsoever. After you’ve done all that, then you can contact Travelers.
What Should You Say When You Contact Travelers?
Most file their claims online. There, it’s easier to not provide extraneous information. If you do talk to someone from Travelers, however, stick to “just the facts.” There’s no need to say anything beyond the details, as none of that can help your case.
If they try to get you to give a prepared statement, you can politely decline. This can only hurt your case, making it less likely that you’ll receive the compensation that you deserve. If your case was a minor “fender bender,” if no one was hurt, and if your vehicle sustained only minimal damage at most, then you may not need an attorney.
However, if you did suffer any kind of injury, if your vehicle was damaged, then having an attorney can help your case in a variety of ways. Then, you should contact us for a free case evaluation. We’ll do everything in our power to make sure that you receive maximum compensation for everything that you’ve had to go through.
What if Travelers Contact You Because Someone Filed a Claim Against You?
It’s important to remember that the main goal of Travelers Insurance isn’t to pay you for your injuries/damages/etc., but to make money. They make money, in part, by not paying out for claims. Thus, they’re incentivized to not do so. So, when possible, they’re going to want to make it seem as if the other party is not responsible (or even not entirely responsible) for the accident. That way, they can lower your compensation.
They have other ways of doing this as well. They very well could, for example, try to get you to accept less than your claim is worth. By offering you a very low offer and hoping you’ll take it, by dragging out the process, by trying to “trip you up”– they have many methods in their arsenal. These are all reasons to hire an experienced attorney.
When you’re represented by Belal Hamideh and the team here, you won’t have to deal with Travelers or any other insurance company on your side. Instead, they’ll have to deal with us. We have a proven track record of taking on the insurance companies for our clients and winning for them.
What Should You Do If the Other Driver Doesn’t Have Insurance?
California law is very clear: you can’t drive on the roads without car insurance. However, drivers do it every day. When one of these drivers injures you in an accident, it can make a confounding situation all that much more confounding. Many drivers have insurance coverage for when a driver is uninsured or even underinsured.
That said, in this case, Travelers may try to stretch the process out, they could try to give you the “runaround,” so to speak – they could even deny your claim. If you believe that’s happening (or there’s even a chance of that happening) reach out to us for a free case evaluation. We very well may be able to help.
Ways Belal Hamideh, Car Accident Attorney in California, Can Help
We get paid on contingency. That means that you don’t pay us out of your pocket, or even out of money that you have right now. We only get paid if we win. Of course, we win 99% of the time. So, our payment comes out of your eventual winnings. We have every incentive in the world to represent you as aggressively as can be, all toward helping you to recover all of the damages that you should, be they economic or non-economic.
If you believe there’s even the slightest chance that you have a case, it’s worth it to reach out to us. The worst that can happen is that we could tell you that you may not have the strongest case. However, so many of our clients have believed that only to sit down with us and discover that they had a very strong case, which we were able to guide them through from that evaluation through a successful resolution.
To schedule a free case evaluation, message us through our site or call.