You're probably overwhelmed right now. Your car is damaged. You're worried about injuries. The insurance company is already calling. You're wondering: What do I do next? What are my rights? Do I need a lawyer?
This free guide answers every question you have about what to do after a car accident in Illinois—from the moment of the collision to getting your settlement check.
I'm Scott DeSalvo, a Chicago car accident attorney with 20+ years of experience handling thousands of motor vehicle injury cases. I wrote this guide because most people don't know their rights after a crash, and insurance companies take advantage of that every single day.
✓ The 5 critical steps you MUST take after every car accident
✓ The 5 mistakes that will destroy your injury claim
✓ How insurance companies really work (and how to beat them)
✓ What your car accident case might be worth
✓ Illinois car accident laws you need to know
✓ How to get your car fixed without getting screwed
✓ When you need a lawyer (and how to find a good one)
This guide takes about 25 minutes to read, but it could be worth tens of thousands of dollars to you.
You can download the free PDF version to read later, or if you need immediate help, call me anytime at 312-500-4500. Consultations are always free.
My legal career is dedicated to helping injured people. Yes, it's 100% free.
But I also have very personal reasons for doing all I can to help people after car accidents in Illinois.
It isn't mandatory viewing, but you can check out my personal "why" right here if you'd like to.
This guide is written specifically for people who have been recently injured in a car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle, or pedestrian accident in Illinois—particularly in the Chicago area and surrounding counties.
It's designed to explain Illinois car accident laws and your legal rights in plain English.
But it's available for anyone. So even if you had questions about an old crash, or want to read it in case you or a loved one is hurt in the future, by all means, have at it.
Call For A Free Consultation: 312-500-4500
I want to keep this information easily accessible, so I broke it down in Chapters for you.
This way, you can access the entire Guide or just learn about the part of Car Accident Injuries you have questions about right now.
Here are the Chapters:
(Just click on a Chapter to go there.)
Chapter 1: Car Crash Cases 101
Chapter 2: The Two Parts of a Car Crash Case
Chapter 3: 5 Things You HAVE TO DO
Chapter 4: 5 Things to NEVER Do
Chapter 5: Property Damage
Chapter 6: Do YOU Have A Good Car Crash Case?
Car Accident Injury 101: The Truth About EVERY Car Accident Injury
This is the Foundation that everyone needs to know before going any farther.
It is best to know what car accident cases are about right from the beginning. Learn what car accident cases are all about, what they have in common, and what you are up against, and "The 4 Truths of Car Accident Injury" cases.
The Two Parts of Car Accident Injury Cases No One Will Tell You About
There are two parts to every car accident injury case that almost no one will tell you.
Unless you know both of these parts of an injury case, you aren't going to win your case. Even if you've heard some of this before, I'll bet no one ever explained it to you. All will be explained here.
The Five Things You MUST DO After Every Car Accident
If you do these, you increase your chances.
After 20+ years and thousands of car crash cases, I know that these are the things people should do after every car accident, whether they are injured or not. Find out about them here.
The Five Things You SHOULD NEVER DO After A Car Accident
If you remember to avoid doing these things, you help your case
Some common mistakes after a car crash literally turn good injury cases bad. Learn what they are and how to avoid them here.
Car Accidents and Property Damage: The Stone Hard Truth About Getting Your Car Fixed
The definitive answer to a very common question after a car accident.
The truth of getting your car fixed after a crash is hard to hear. But knowing how it all works means you can work towards getting your vehicle fixed knowing how it works and what to expect. That's what this Chapter is about.
Do YOU Have A Good Case? How To Evaluate A Case Like A Lawyer...
The central question every car accident injury victim has gets answered.
In this Chapter, I give a simple process so that you can make a reasonable initial evaluation about your car accident injury. Is it good? Is it a tough one? The entire, simple process is laid out here.
You can read it all in one sitting but it is pretty long so you might want to download it to read later. This way, you can read the parts you need to know and will have it handy any time you have a question or concern. You can use it as a resource and read the parts that hold answers to the questions you have right now.
Illinois Law Requires a Disclaimer when a lawyer gives people information. Here's mine.
I produce a lot of free information for injured people, and I give it away for free. I do it to help people because I talk to lots of folks who wish they had it 'after the fact', but also so you'll know who to call if you ever need a lawyer.
None of the information I provide is legal advice. It does not substitute -- and cannot substitute -- for the advice of a licensed lawyer in possession of your case facts. Every case is different. If you have a case, you should talk to a lawyer of your choice right away.
Reading, watching or listening to my informational materials does not make YOU a lawyer. It also doesn't make ME YOUR LAWYER. You have to formally hire me in order for me to be your lawyer. Unless you sign a contract hiring me as your lawyer, after a full (free) consultation, then I am not your lawyer and cannot give you any legal advice. I cannot help with your case or protect any deadlines for you unless we have a free consultation and know about your specific situation.
A lot of people outside of the State of Illinois find and read or watch my stuff. Injury law varies from State to State. If you need a lawyer in your State, consult with one, or give me a call and maybe I can find you one. I have friends who do this all over the place. The information in these materials may or may not be the same in your State. You have to protect yourself. Don't just assume that the info in these materials applies to your situation.
I know: this is common sense. But I am required to tell you anyway. Glad that's out of the way...
My goal is to make this Guide as complete and comprehensive as possible, so I will add to it when new sections occur to me to add. If you have a questions, send me an email and I’d be happy to add a section which addresses your concerns.
The information in this Ultimate Guide is game-changing stuff. A lot of people who never know this information end up short-changing themselves in their injury case. And most people who have been injured in a car crash or truck accident need to know these tips and secrets. All of it is free and available for you, right here.
Of course, if you have any questions, or you need to reach a lawyer, please feel free to call or email my office at service@desalvolaw.com or 312-500-4500.
Before we talk about the specific steps to take after a car accident in Chicago or elsewhere in Illinois, you need to understand some foundational truths about how motor vehicle injury claims really work.
Without knowing these "Basic Lessons," it will be hard for you to understand why the insurance claim process works the way it does and how to protect your rights.
So here we go…
Auto insurance is mandatory in Illinois. Almost everyone driving has it.
That means in almost every car accident case or injury claim, an insurance company is ultimately the one who will be paying when someone gets hurt. That includes medical bills, lost wages, car repairs—all of it. When someone is insured, their insurance company is supposed to pay all of the 'damages' that result from the collision.
The thing is: THEY DON'T WANT TO PAY.
The insurance business model is to collect premiums from people, but DELAY AND DENY claims. This way, they collect money but discourage people from making claims because they make it such a fight and hassle that many crash victims give up.
Does that sound nuts? It isn't. A pretty big percentage of people who get hurt in a motor vehicle collision will give up and go away, collecting very little money or even NONE.
And that's how insurance companies profit: they COLLECT premiums, but make sure they pay out as little as possible to injured people. The money they don't pay to accident victims is their profit, and they want their profit to be as high as possible.
If you are hurt in a car accident, then whether you know it or not, an insurance company is involved, and they will do almost anything to deny your injury claim or pay you as little as possible.
Every insured person has a duty to cooperate with their insurance company under Illinois law.
If you do not cooperate with your insurance company, they can DENY COVERAGE.
The duty to cooperate includes the duty to inform the insurance company of a crash right away. If you don't, they might deny coverage.
Once you report the car accident, the insurance company assigns an 'insurance adjuster' and they have access to insurance defense lawyers who immediately start planning how to beat your case.
As soon as the insurance company is on the case, they control every detail of the defense.
When a car accident case goes to Court in Illinois, almost 100% of the time, it is an insurance company that refuses to make a fair settlement offer. The lawyer defending the case is hired and paid for by the insurance company.
So the insurance company DIRECTLY controls the entire defense.
It ISN'T the at-fault driver being sued who decides whether to settle or what witnesses to call or what arguments to make.
The insurance company controls every minute detail of the case.
And they do it for one reason: to make sure a person injured in a car accident is treated badly and gets little or no compensation, no matter how serious or permanent their injuries are.
There's always an insurance company involved, and they call all the shots and make all the decisions on the defense side of an injury case.
Let me take a moment to talk about the huge advantage an insurance company has over the average car accident victim in Illinois.
After a car accident, a person is usually upset. They're worried:
When a person is worried, they sometimes are not thinking as clearly as they could or normally would.
Add in the fact that the average crash victim DOESN'T have access to a lawyer or decades of experience dealing with car accident and truck crash injury claims in Illinois.
On the insurance company side, their entire business is built around knowing all the Illinois car accident laws and rules. They have lawyers on staff. They have claims adjusters who don't really care about you or your claim, and they know that if they hassle you enough, you might give up and abandon your injury claim.
In most car accident cases in Illinois, insurance companies have a huge advantage over the injured person.
Hiring an experienced Chicago car accident lawyer removes some of this advantage, but if you hire a lawyer without a proven track record, it isn't going to impress the insurance company.
Insurance companies keep track of the settlement and trial verdict record of attorneys. So if you hire a "TV lawyer" who never takes a case to Court, the insurance company is not afraid. Or if you hire a lawyer who does insurance defense work himself, or a lawyer who mainly does real estate cases, the insurance company isn't going to be afraid.
Your best bet is to find a car accident attorney in Chicago who:
When an experienced car accident lawyer in Illinois puts a case together properly, insurance companies start to worry.
They worry that you can go to Court and beat them. They worry about a jury verdict that's 10x what they think the case is worth.
Insurance companies make profits by denying claims or underpaying them.
But when you have a motor vehicle injury case that looks like it could result in a massive jury verdict, the insurance company gets worried.
When insurance companies have FEAR, they come to the settlement negotiation table with better offers.
You can try to charm them. You can try to dazzle them. None of it works.
Only making them fear what will happen at trial gets them to pay fair compensation on cases where people get hurt in a car crash.
The only thing that gets you a fair shake in a car accident case in Illinois is if the insurance company is afraid of what will happen in court.
A major part of any car accident claim is how much insurance coverage there is and what insurance company is involved.
Some insurance companies (called "substandard") are so bad that many injury lawyers will not even take cases against them because:
Over the years, even some of the better insurance companies have adopted similar tactics.
The insurance industry shares dirty tricks and bad behavior that the legal system lets them get away with, and it results in less money paid out to accident victims.
Whether we're talking about a substandard insurance carrier or a better one, remember that they are driven by PROFIT.
So even the best insurance companies are going to do what they can to pay nothing or very little.
But dealing with a reputable insurance company instead of a really low-end one can make your case go a little smoother. Better insurance companies also tend to write policies with higher liability limits, so there will be more insurance money available to collect.
When you're buying car insurance in Illinois, consider spending a little more for 'name brand' auto insurance instead of "substandard" insurance.
Illinois only requires:
That's NOT enough if you're seriously injured.
If you finance a car, buy "GAP" insurance and full coverage that will fix your car.
Also buy Uninsured Motorist Coverage - this protects YOU if you're hit by someone without insurance.
This can make a major difference if you get into a crash with an uninsured or underinsured driver. It's a little more money monthly, but it will save you a lot of money and hassle if you are ever in a serious car accident.
Dealing with a crappy insurance company makes a car accident case harder, but none of them make it easy. Get the best insurance from the best company with the highest limits you can afford.
(Just click on a Chapter to go there.)
Chapter 1: Car Crash Cases 101
Chapter 2: The Two Parts of a Car Crash Case
Chapter 3: 5 Things You HAVE TO DO
Chapter 4: 5 Things to NEVER Do
Chapter 5: Property Damage
Chapter 6: Do YOU Have A Good Car Crash Case?
There's a part of car accident injury cases that very few people know about—including some lawyers.
These are the two parts of every personal injury case:
Law school and most lawyers' careers are dedicated to learning the "Law" of the case. That means the legal elements someone has to prove if they've been injured in a motor vehicle crash in Illinois in order to win the case.
In other words, these are the legal requirements. If you can't prove the legal requirements, your case can get thrown out of court.
As you might imagine, insurance companies know the legal requirements, so if you can't show an insurance company that you can prove your case under Illinois law, they will never offer you any money.
That goes back to what we talked about in the previous chapter: Insurance companies only settle car accident claims if they are afraid about what might happen at trial.
So what are the three things that have to be proven in every car accident case in Illinois?
I'm going to tell you what they are right now. I'll give you the legal name that lawyers use as well as a label that describes what it really means in regular language.
To win your injury case, you must prove:
Let's talk about each of these elements in order.
To prove liability in a car crash case in Illinois, we have to prove our case using evidence. That's called the "burden of proof."
How Do We Prove a Car Accident Case?We prove a case with:
We usually start with the Illinois police crash report...
The police report tells us:
The police crash report is critical evidence in establishing liability under Illinois law.
We prove liability by showing the insurance company (or a Judge and Jury) what the scene of the crash looks like. We do that with photos and witness testimony.
Once we establish when and where the collision occurred, we call witnesses and show photos of the scene to demonstrate how the crash occurred.
Obviously, we have to set up our description of how the crash occurred in a way that makes it clear the crash was the other driver's fault. We have to be careful about how we build the case because it requires solid knowledge of Illinois traffic laws and rules of the road.
We always want to assemble the case in a way that clearly shows:
We never want to present a case where it looks like the injured person did something wrong to cause or contribute to the motor vehicle collision.
Illinois follows "comparative negligence" law. That means:
If you are found more than 50% responsible for the crash, you get NOTHING.
Even if you are found partially at fault, your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault.
Let's say your case goes to court and a Jury decides that the defendant (the other driver) caused 90% of the car crash and you caused 10% because you were going a little too fast on a rainy day.
If the Jury awards you $100,000 for your injuries, you will actually receive $90,000. The reason is that $100,000 reduced by 10% (your percentage of fault) equals $90,000.
If the Jury decides the crash is 50/50, you would get $50,000.
Here's the big one:
If the Jury decides that you were 51% or more responsible and the defendant was 49% or less responsible, even with $100,000 in damages, you would get nothing.
Bottom Line on Proving Liability
The defense has a strong incentive to attack liability because they might be able to win the case outright and pay no money, or at least reduce how much money the insurance company must pay.
That's why assembling witnesses, photos, video footage, and any other evidence that establishes exactly what happened is very important in any Illinois motor vehicle crash case.
The first question is: What can you claim as damages in an Illinois car accident case?
In other words, what are you even allowed to ask for if you get hurt in a motor vehicle collision?
Illinois law MUST recognize your right to a particular kind of damages if you have any hope of being compensated for it.
These are the most common damages claimed in Illinois car crash cases. Every motor vehicle collision is different and every person injured has unique effects on their life, but these are the most common.
(I'll address property damage claims in detail in Chapter 5.)
[H4] How Do We Prove Damages After A Car Accident?
It all starts with medical records and medical bills.
In my office, we do a detailed summary of the medical records in every case.
We match up the dates of service in the medical records to the charges in the medical bills. This gives us a total of medical charges for your medical care related to the car accident.
In a car accident case in Illinois, we claim the full billed amount of medical bills.
So, for example, if your doctor billed $10,000, but your health insurance only paid $3,000, we still claim the full $10,000.
If you're handling your injury claim yourself, always claim the full amount the doctor, hospital, or clinic charged—not just the amount that was paid.
Medical records and bills are a great start, but there are other things that are more persuasive to a Judge and Jury at trial.
Photos are critical. I always encourage my clients to take photos of visible injuries:
These photos show the decision-maker (Judge, Jury, arbitrator, or mediator) the reality of what you went through.
Another very important part of proving damages is having witnesses who knew you before and after the crash.
Lawyers call these "damages witnesses," "lay witnesses," or "before-and-after witnesses."
I always like to have at least a couple of damages witnesses who are:
These witnesses can honestly say they observed you before and after the crash and explain how you are different.
I had a client who was in a bowling league for years. After a car crash, he could never bowl again. He tried to join the league after being released by his doctor, but he couldn't do it. He would occasionally stop by to say hello, but now he had a limp. He tried to bowl a few times, but the pain made it impossible.
The injured person could tell that story. But it's much more credible and powerful if one of his buddies from the bowling team came to court to testify.
Judges, Juries, and especially insurance companies assume injured people will lie to get money. But when we bring damages witnesses to court to explain what they've seen without exaggerating, it's amazingly credible.
In addition to medical records and bills, proving damages includes photos, video, and testimony from damages witnesses.
Proving causation means showing that what the at-fault driver did caused your injuries.
For lawyers, causation is a complex topic under Illinois law. There are lots of cases that discuss it. But I'm not going to go into all of that legal stuff.
All you really need to know: In addition to proving the other driver did something wrong and that you received injuries, we also have to prove that what the other driver did wrong caused your injuries.
Let's say you're crossing the street in Chicago with a green light and the cross traffic has a red light. Somebody runs the red light, hits you, and the front of the car strikes your right leg. You immediately feel the bone break. You're taken to the hospital where you're diagnosed with a broken leg.
In this situation, it will be very hard for an insurance company or defense lawyer to fight us on causation. It's obvious that before the car hit you, you were fine, and immediately after the collision, you had a broken leg.
But let's take a more complicated example.
Let's say you have an old leg injury from years ago. When it rains, it hurts. The old injury would resurface if you had to walk around a lot. It didn't really affect your life much, but it was always there.
Then a car runs a red light and hits that same leg and breaks it.
Now, the insurance defense lawyer can claim that your leg was already problematic and that any permanent part of the injury you claim from the car accident was already there before the collision. This is called a "Pre-existing Condition."
If you have a pre-existing condition, it makes the causation element of your car accident case more complicated under Illinois law. It makes it easier for the insurance company to fight you.
I know lots of ways to position a case so that a prior injury or pre-existing condition is actually a strength, not a weakness.
Not many lawyers know how to do that. Insurance companies always think a pre-existing condition is a strength for them. Don't be surprised if you get a lowball offer in your car accident case if you have a pre-existing condition.
A smart defense lawyer wouldn't argue that the car didn't break your leg. What they WOULD fight about is: How much worse is your leg now after the car crash because it already wasn't perfect before?
In other words, what ongoing pain or damages do you have as a result of the car accident versus your old injury?
If you have your car crash when you're 30 years old and expect to live to 75, that's 45 years of leg pain we'll be fighting about.
You have to prove causation and it's not always easy under Illinois law. Insurance companies will find a way to create a causation defense in most cases.
The other side of proving a personal injury case is the Story of the case.
Even if you prove the prima facie case (Liability, Damages, and Causation), you may not be able to convince the Judge or Jury to give you much—if any—money. That goes for convincing the insurance company too.
What really motivates a person to award compensation to someone hurt in a car accident?
It isn't just checking all the boxes on the prima facie case.
It is the story of the case that will determine whether you get a fair settlement or verdict. Obviously you have to prove your prima facie case, but merely proving the legal elements doesn't motivate anyone to give you fair compensation. It just keeps your case from being dismissed.
The study of assembling the story of a case is something I've spent years and tens of thousands of dollars studying. Many lawyers give little or no thought at all to the story when presenting it to an insurance company for settlement or even to a Judge and Jury. That's a big mistake.
Law schools don't prepare attorneys well enough with respect to deciding what story to tell so that they understand what the case is really about.
Here's an example to show you what I'm talking about.
Harry was in the middle of a divorce. His head was killing him from the drinking he did the night before. He only got 4 hours of fitful sleep, and was on his 15th hour of driving his semi-truck.
Harry knew his truck was overloaded, and knew he was probably in violation of the federal Hours of Service regulations that limit how many hours a truck driver can drive.
But his boss told him "Get that load delivered." And his boss said it in that final, direct way that Harry knew meant his job.
It was getting dark on the expressway, and the speed limit was 65. Pushing the limit is something Harry learned to do all the time at this job. Harry felt his eyes getting heavy as it got dark outside, but he had to get his load delivered.
Unbeknownst to Harry, ahead of his semi-truck, a man named Jim was driving his car home from work.
On the way home, Jim was in a great mood. It was his son's seventh birthday. In the trunk of his car, Jim had the bicycle his son had wanted all year. Jim worked overtime to save up the money for the bike. He was excited to see the look he could already imagine on his son's face.
As he headed home on the expressway, traffic ahead of Jim slowed and stopped. So Jim slowed and stopped.
Jim never saw it coming.
The next thing Jim remembers is waking up in a hospital, three months before his son's eighth birthday.
A man named Jim Smith got rear-ended on the expressway and got hurt real bad. He was hit by a semi truck and was in the hospital for almost a year.
He had a lot of medical bills. He lost a lot of time from work. It affected his life in a lot of ways. He has scars on his body. He had a lot of surgeries.
It has set him back on all of his bills. It has created a lot of stress on his family. He cannot do the activities he enjoys.
We believe that Jim deserves a million dollars for his injuries.
Both of these summaries tell the story of the case, but the first one is much more engaging, whereas the second is just "who, what, when, where, why."
I'm not sure this is coming across, but it's important to include the details of a crash, but the story of the crash and the story of the human losses is what the case is really about.
Choosing the story to tell IS NOT about trying to get sympathy from the Jury.
In fact, the Judge at every car crash trial in Illinois will instruct the Jury that they cannot consider sympathy in deciding the case. And it's a really big mistake to try to do that. Any trial lawyer who thinks sympathy is their path to winning is...shall we say...misinformed.
But it is about making sure the Jury understands that the case isn't just about numbers.
The point is: Different stories have different effects on a Jury.
I'll be frank: The story of the case is less important when being evaluated by an insurance company compared to a case being evaluated by a Judge and Jury. In fact, it may be a mistake to submit anything but facts and data to an insurance adjuster, because that's all they care about.
But in front of a Judge, Jury, mediator, or arbitrator, the story of a case makes a huge difference.
Your best bet at winning your case is to have someone who can tell a compelling Story of the Case while also covering the three parts of the "prima facie" Law of the case.
(Just click on a Chapter to go there.)
Chapter 1: Car Crash Cases 101
Chapter 2: The Two Parts of a Car Crash Case
Chapter 3: 5 Things You HAVE TO DO
Chapter 4: 5 Things to NEVER Do
Chapter 5: Property Damage
Chapter 6: Do YOU Have A Good Car Crash Case?
Now you understand that in every car crash case you're up against an insurance company that doesn't care about you and only wants to save money. You also understand what must be proven in order to win your case or scare an insurance company into a fair settlement.
Now it's time for practical advice.
There are specific steps to take after a car accident that will protect your legal rights and strengthen your injury claim.
Let's talk about the five things you should do after every car accident in Illinois.
I don't know how else to say this other than: You should make a police report after every car crash in Illinois, no matter how minor, and even if you don't think you're hurt initially.
I talk to at least half a dozen people every year who are in a crash—sometimes even a serious crash with lots of damage—who just don't want the hassle of going to the police station.
If cars are drivable, or if all the police officers are busy, many police departments in the Chicago area will ask people to drive to the nearest police station to make a crash report. That can be a hassle.
It's also a hassle if police come to the scene because you have to wait, and that can take time.
The first thing you have to understand is that in an Illinois car crash case, we need to identify:
We need this information to figure out who their insurance company is so we know who we'll be negotiating with, as well as knowing who to sue if we can't get a fair settlement.
Without a police report, we have to rely on you quickly scribbling down the make, model, and license plate number of the vehicle that hit you.
An Illinois police crash report contains all of this information plus insurance information we need to evaluate your case.
Many people avoid getting a police report because they don't think there was much property damage or they don't think they were hurt. But many people who are injured in motor vehicle collisions don't feel symptoms until hours or days later.
Once you leave the scene of a crash without the contact information of the other driver, there's no way for us to get it.
In fact, some insurance companies require you to make a police report under Illinois law, and if you don't, they will try to deny your claim.
And some police departments in Illinois will not make an auto collision crash report more than 24 or 48 hours after the crash. So you have to do it right after the collision.
In most more serious car crashes in Chicago and Illinois, police arrive at the scene. They show up, talk to the drivers and witnesses if any, and write a police report.
One of the things they do on the Illinois crash report is decide who they think caused the crash. It's standard that whoever is listed as "Unit One" on the police report is considered to have been at fault.
Now, that doesn't bother me. I have successfully represented dozens of people who were initially listed as Unit One on a police report but who actually didn't cause the crash and were not responsible for it. Police are not perfect. They make mistakes in crash reports all the time.
But insurance companies place a lot of weight on whether a driver is listed as Unit One or Unit Two, or if a police officer gives a traffic citation to one of the drivers.
If you're listed as Unit One AND you're given a moving violation ticket, the insurance company is unlikely to ever want to settle the case with you. They'll force you to trial, and that means a delay while your case is litigated in the Illinois court system. And the wheels of justice turn slowly.
That's why I tell people: If police arrive on the scene, control your emotions. Take a deep breath, settle down, and be respectful to the other driver and the police officer.
I actually have video of one of my clients because she took out her cellphone and began recording while the police officer was investigating her car crash.
The other driver is calm, the police officer is calm, but my client unintentionally recorded herself yelling at and being disrespectful toward the other driver and the police officer.
Guess what?
She ended up as Unit One on the police report and she got two tickets.
Police are public servants, but a little bit of respect goes a long way. I don't think police officers would intentionally write a police report the wrong way, but if you're rude to them, they'll get your driver's license, talk to you very briefly, and then tell you to go stand by your car. Then they'll talk in detail to the other driver, who can tell the police officer any story he or she wants.
If a police officer is getting respectful and seemingly plausible information from the person who caused the crash, we're more likely to end up with an inaccurate police report.
Sometimes you cannot talk to police officers at the scene because you have to be removed by ambulance. This happens quite a lot. Many times, my clients receive a copy of the police report at the emergency room but never get an opportunity to speak with the police officer.
In those circumstances, we can file an amended report or an addendum to the police report, but even that is often not necessary.
It makes things go smoother if you speak with police and make sure to do it in a respectful, calm way.
I know this is sort of self-explanatory. But you would not believe the number of people I talk to who are involved in a car crash or truck crash or motorcycle accident and they feel a little banged up, but they don't want the hassle of going to a doctor.
They refuse an ambulance ride and don't go to the hospital. They go home and wait. Over the course of hours and days, the pain increases until they're forced to seek medical care.
Insurance companies see anything but prompt and immediate medical care as an opportunity to dispute your injury claim.
Simply put: If you make no complaints of pain to a paramedic or emergency room doctor on the day of a crash, insurance companies will argue or imply at trial that it's possible you got hurt in some other way after the car accident.
That sounds like a weak argument, but sadly, it works. It turns out insurance adjusters, as well as jurors and some Judges, expect people injured in a car crash to do things that they themselves never do—namely, going to the doctor right away after an injury.
Under Illinois law, the timing of your medical treatment matters. Insurance companies will scrutinize any delay in seeking medical care and use it against you.
You increase the chances of settling your case for fair value if you go to the doctor as soon as you begin experiencing pain after a motor vehicle collision.
I have represented dozens and dozens of people who had two parts of the body that were injured. For this example, let's say a neck injury and a knee injury.
What ends up happening is that the neck injury is more serious and painful, and the knee injury is not. The patient is referred to a neck specialist and receives a lot of treatment for the neck to the point where the neck injury is resolved, but the knee injury remains.
The patient's medical records don't reflect a consistent knee complaint.
In other words, if all the medical records close in time to the car crash repeat that the patient complains of neck pain but rarely or never note the knee pain because it wasn't as urgent or painful as the neck pain.
This is something insurance companies love. They want to argue that the knee pain is related to something else. Maybe it's an old injury. Maybe you twisted your knee at a wedding sometime after the crash.
There's one thing that's true: Insurance companies and jurors expect an injured person to report everything that hurts, as soon as it hurts. This may not be a realistic standard for human beings, but you make your injury claim stronger by doing it.
Like we talked about earlier, car damage photos make a big difference in Illinois car accident cases.
In fact, photos of significant car damage can result in a win at trial and a better offer during settlement negotiations. Photos that show little or no damage have also been known to result in very small verdicts for people hurt in a car crash.
That's because no matter what an injured person or their doctor says, it's natural for people to believe that a major crash caused injuries—injuries that might require surgery.
And it's natural for people to believe that photos of minor or no damage mean the collision was less likely to cause injuries, or serious ones. It turns out people can be hurt in very low-speed crashes, but that goes against "common sense."
Injury cases with no photos at all depend more on testimony, but the Jury will usually wonder why no one is showing them pictures of the car damage. A suspicious Jury is an unconvinced Jury, and that's bad news for people getting hurt in a car crash.
That also goes for pictures of the injuries. If you have a broken bone, people want to see the X-Ray, even if they don't really know what they're looking at. If you have a bad neck or back, they want to see the MRI or CT scan. If you have an operation, they want to see video or at least images and a good explanation.
If you have bruises, or your arm was in a sling, or your injuries show in a photo, one photo is worth 1,000 pages of medical records.
So always get photos and/or video of the car, truck, or motorcycle damage, and always get photos of your injuries.
These are the things you always have to do after any kind of car accident in Illinois.
(Just click on a Chapter to go there.)
Chapter 1: Car Crash Cases 101
Chapter 2: The Two Parts of a Car Crash Case
Chapter 3: 5 Things You HAVE TO DO
Chapter 4: 5 Things to NEVER Do
Chapter 5: Property Damage
Chapter 6: Do YOU Have A Good Car Crash Case?
Here are the five things you should never do after a car accident under any circumstances in Illinois.
I have spoken to many, many people over the years who have done these things. After getting hurt in a car crash, if you do these things, you may be seriously hurting the value of your injury case and your chances at any recovery at all.
Insurance companies love to call injured people immediately after a crash. If you tell the insurance adjuster that you're hurt and that you went to the doctor, they'll ask you how you're doing.
Shortly after that—sometimes during the same phone conversation and sometimes after a week or two—insurance companies love to offer injured people money quickly.
They like to offer a lowball dollar amount. They like to talk the injured person into believing they aren't really hurt and that it's no big deal.
Insurance companies do this because they know that most injuries get worse over time. Literally, almost every car accident victim I've ever spoken to in my legal career maybe felt some pain on the day of the accident, but over the week following, the injuries get worse and worse.
Insurance companies know this, and they also know that if they can settle your case for $500, $1,000, or even $5,000, it makes economic sense for them to do it.
If they settle your Illinois car accident case before you have an opportunity to realize how serious your injuries are or how much your medical bills are going to be, they save the insurance company lots of money.
Let me give you an example.
I spoke with a gentleman who was involved in a crash. It wasn't even that big of a collision. He sent me photos he took on his cellphone. There was a little bit of damage. Believe it or not, his main injury was his toe.
After the car crash, this guy went to the hospital and complained of his toe, then went to his family doctor. It was several days after the crash when he called me. His toe was still bothering him. He told me it might even be a little worse than on the day of the crash. He had a slight limp.
The insurance company had already offered him $6,000 to settle his case. He thought that was weird, so he called me.
I gave him the same advice I'm giving you: Do not accept the first offer and don't settle your case until you have a clear understanding of what your injuries are and how long they will last.
In this guy's situation, he ended up needing surgery on his toe and foot as a result of the crash. His doctor told him he needed a second surgery as well.
Luckily, he followed my advice and didn't settle for $6,000. His medical bills ended up being over $60,000, so his case had a value well in excess of that.
But if he had accepted the first offer—that quick offer before knowing the value of his case—he would have been stuck with tens of thousands in medical bills and no recovery for himself.
Never accept the first offer or any quick settlement offer immediately after the accident until you know absolutely for certain the nature of your injuries and what your case is worth under Illinois law.
Here's a true story that will tell you everything you need to know.
I got a telephone call a number of years ago from an older gentleman. He was a laborer before he retired. He admitted to me that he didn't read too well. He hurt his back in a car crash, and the insurance company called him. He went to the doctor but was still having back pain.
The insurance company told him they were going to send him papers so they could send him a check for $1,000 and that they would "take care of the rest of the case later."
I asked the gentleman to send me the paperwork he signed for the insurance company. He wasn't sure what the papers said because the papers had all kinds of legal language in them. He didn't really know what he signed.
Sure enough, he signed a general release, releasing the insurance company from paying him anything else and completely ending his Illinois car accident case.
I always tell people to send me paperwork before they sign it so we can both be sure the insurance company isn't trying to rip them off or cheat them.
It is a really bad idea to sign any paperwork that an insurance company sends you after a car crash unless you are 100% certain what you are signing and why it's necessary.
Insurance companies will tell you they have to record you in order to evaluate the claim. This isn't true.
Now, I'm not talking about you calling the insurance company and hearing an automated message at the beginning that says "This call is being recorded for quality assurance."
I'm talking about when an insurance adjuster asks you whether they can take a recorded statement and record your version of what happened.
It will sound something like this:
"Mr. Smith, I have your permission to record this conversation. Is that correct? Okay, I am turning on the tape recorder now. You understand that this call is being recorded?"
And then they'll go on to ask you details about the crash and your injuries.
The thing you have to understand about giving a recorded statement to the insurance company is that insurance adjusters are trained professionals. They are given scripts and questions to ask by insurance defense lawyers.
The purpose of taking that recorded statement is to lead you into answers that will ultimately hurt your chances of getting a fair settlement or verdict after getting hurt in a car crash.
The police report and other documents in cases like this pretty much tell the entire story about when the crash happened and how it happened. The insurance company doesn't really need to take a recorded statement from you to understand the basics of the crash.
And your medical records tell them all they would ever want to know about what your injuries are. It isn't really required that they take a recorded statement for that purpose either.
The primary and sometimes exclusive reason they want to take a recorded statement from you before you have consulted with a lawyer is:
It is always a good idea to consult with a Chicago car accident attorney before giving a recorded statement. Before a lawsuit is filed, I never let my clients give recorded statements because they are a waste of time that only benefit the insurance company and can only hurt injured people.
No one likes to go to the doctor. Going to the doctor stinks. It's no fun.
Even injured people don't like going to the doctor. Especially if you have to go repeatedly, or going to the doctor is difficult because your car is in the shop and you have to take the bus or catch a ride with someone. It's very inconvenient.
Add to that the fact that when you don't feel good, you don't feel like leaving the house. If your car crash has prevented you from going to work, you may also be worried about being able to pay for the doctor's care.
So there are a million reasons why people don't like to go to the doctor. Or they'll go and have some appointments but miss others or reschedule others.
Unfortunately, inconsistent medical treatment is a powerful tool used by insurance companies to justify giving you a low settlement or no settlement.
And in front of a Jury in Illinois, they will use gaps in treatment to argue that you weren't really hurt because you weren't taking your medical treatment very seriously—because you missed appointments, rescheduled appointments, or terminated treatment early altogether.
It is always a very good idea to keep all of your doctor's appointments after a crash to give yourself the best chance at recovery and a fair settlement in your Illinois car accident case.
You get one body in life. Your health and your decisions about your health are yours, and yours alone.
Unfortunately, you open up your decisions regarding what medical procedures you're willing to undergo to scrutiny after a car crash.
The insurance company, and ultimately a Judge and Jury in Illinois, will be asked to evaluate your case and your injuries. That includes deciding whether you're really hurt or hurt to the extent that you claim.
Despite the fact that undergoing medical procedures or surgeries is always a very personal decision that really isn't anyone's business but yours, insurance companies and juries will judge you for it.
If your doctor orders a surgery, injection, or particular course of treatment and you refuse to follow the doctor's orders, I can promise you that the insurance company as well as the Jury will judge you for it.
The insurance company will try to argue that you didn't undergo the procedure or surgery because you're exaggerating your claims of pain. And the Jury will wonder: "Doesn't he or she want to get better?"
I always tell my clients that they have to make the right decision for themselves with respect to what medical care they get and what medical care they refuse. But you have to enter into this with your eyes open.
Refusing medical procedures when you have big complaints of pain or disability after getting into a car accident is going to have an effect on your case.
After a car accident in Illinois, you should decide on medical care based on what's best for your health, but you should also understand what those decisions could do to the prospects of you getting a full and fair recovery on your case.
If they did, a heck of a lot of injured people would be doing better after a car crash in Illinois, and a heck of a lot of insurance companies would be less rich because they'd be forced to pay people injured in car crashes more money.
(Just click on a Chapter to go there.)
Chapter 1: Car Crash Cases 101
Chapter 2: The Two Parts of a Car Crash Case
Chapter 3: 5 Things You HAVE TO DO
Chapter 4: 5 Things to NEVER Do
Chapter 5: Property Damage
Chapter 6: Do YOU Have A Good Car Crash Case?
Questions about getting car damage fixed after a car crash is one of the most common things injured people ask me in my Chicago law practice. This chapter is intended to answer the most common questions about property damage claims in Illinois.
Lawyers and insurance companies call damage to your car after a car accident "property damage."
The first thing you have to realize is that if you're dealing with an insurance company, they assign separate adjusters for:
Even if you have a lawyer handling your injury claim, it makes sense for you to contact the insurance company to arrange to have your car inspected and an estimate prepared. It makes sense for you to deal directly with the property damage adjuster for that.
But what insurance company should fix your car?
Should you use your own insurance or the at-fault driver's insurance?
There are several factors that go into these decisions.
Most people I talk to want the other guy's insurance to fix their car because, after all, they didn't cause the crash. So why should they have to pay their deductible?
But there are a couple of situations where it makes sense to have your own insurance fix your car:
If you have insurance with a reputable insurance company and the at-fault driver has bad or no insurance, believe me when I tell you: It makes sense for you to bite the bullet, pay your deductible, and have your car repaired by your own insurance company.
Even if your insurance company isn't great, they have an economic incentive to treat you better because you pay them premiums. Since you pay them money, they have some interest in trying to keep you happy.
I don't want to mislead you, though. If your insurance is with a "substandard" insurance company, you're likely in for a rough ride. Getting your property damage adjuster on the telephone and getting them to arrange an appointment will be very frustrating. You'll also discover they never want to pay the full price of the estimate. They make up all kinds of excuses.
Unfortunately, there's not a lot that can be done about that. You can complain to the Illinois Department of Insurance, but they have a very small staff and budget, and complaints against substandard insurance companies are many. The State of Illinois simply doesn't have the manpower to investigate all the complaints against these crummy insurance companies.
So if you have good insurance in Illinois, you might want to avoid the hassle and just get your car fixed through your own insurance.
It seems like it's pretty rare that both parties in an accident can agree as to who was at fault for the crash.
In my experience, it's much more likely for each side to blame the other, even in a situation where one person rear-ends another or runs a red light. Shockingly, people are still willing to argue it wasn't their fault.
You and I have no control over what the other driver tells his insurance company. He or she may outright lie to their own insurance company or make up a story like you were speeding so that their insurance company concludes you were at fault completely or at least in part.
If the other insurance company believes you are partially or fully responsible for the crash under Illinois comparative negligence law, they are not going to agree to fix your car.
However, if you have full coverage insurance in Illinois, your insurance company is legally required to fix your car.
So if there's a question—legitimate or not—as to whose fault the crash was, you should fix your car through your own insurance company.
Many people who call my Chicago office after a car crash want me to handle the property damage.
That is usually a bad idea. It isn't because I'm lazy or don't want to help people. The truth is, I do make phone calls and help people on property damage claims related to car crashes all the time.
But there are a couple of things you really need to know about the economics of property damage that make having a lawyer handle it a bad idea sometimes.
When I represent an injured person for their injuries, I only get paid if I win. And I get either 1/3 or 40%, depending on the case and circumstances. That means the injured person doesn't pay me anything out of their pocket.
In a property damage claim, the economics are rarely such that they allow me to represent somebody for property damage only or for the property damage portion of an injury case. As I said, I'll often do it as a favor, but it doesn't actually make economic sense to do so.
After all, a lawyer either has to be paid out of your pocket if they represent you in a property damage case, or they have to be paid a percentage of what we win.
Let me give you an example both ways so you can see why having a lawyer represent you in property damage is not necessarily going to make economic sense for you.
Let's say you have $10,000 worth of car damage, and a lawyer agrees to represent you for property damage only. The insurance company will not pay. Most lawyers charge between $150 and $350 per hour. Litigating a property damage case can easily take 25, 50, or even 100 hours.
Do the math.
$200 per hour × 50 hours = $10,000
It does not make sense to pay a lawyer $10,000 to recover $10,000.
You'll win the case but get no money, and your car doesn't get fixed.
Let's look at it the other way.
Let's say the lawyer is handling the case on a percentage basis—let's say 1/3.
You have $10,000 worth of car damage, but case costs are $2,000 and attorney's fees are 1/3 of $10,000 or $3,333.33.
That means out of the $10,000, you're paying a lawyer $5,333.33.
That leaves you with less than $5,000 to cover $10,000 in car repairs.
And in both of these scenarios, the cost estimate is conservative. In most car crash cases, we have to hire and pay an expert to testify regarding the damage estimate and cost of repair. That can easily cost another $500, $1,000, or even more.
While it's frustrating dealing with a substandard insurance company in a property damage claim or haggling over car rental and storage charges, it often does not make economic sense to hire a lawyer to handle a property damage claim for you.
The sad reality is that when it comes to property damage in Illinois, the quality of the involved insurance company has almost everything to do with how frustrated you're likely to be.
A good insurance company:
But if you're dealing with a crummy insurance company in Illinois, you're in for real frustration.
They:
They know you're not going to be able to find a lawyer to represent you over a $2,000 or $3,000 dispute. They know you won't be able to afford to hire an expert to testify about car damage in a dispute involving that amount.
When it comes to property damage, you might be stuck with an unfair outcome if you're dealing with a substandard, crappy insurance company.
Everyone should have GAP insurance if they finance a car. Period.
GAP insurance is special insurance you buy from the place that finances your car. It's insurance that pays the difference between what you owe on a car and its book value.
Let's say you buy a car for $10,000. That's what the car dealer charges you. The truth is, the minute you drive off that lot, that car is probably worth $8,000.
Is that fair? No. But it's the way the world works.
Let's say on your way home with your new car, an uninsured driver destroys your car in a head-on collision and then flees the scene. Your car is a total loss.
The insurance company will step in and pay the value of the car: $8,000. They are not obligated to pay the $10,000 you owe.
That means you end up owing $2,000 on a car you can't drive, for a car accident that wasn't your fault.
Your insurance steps in and pays the $8,000 actual value of the car, and the GAP insurance steps in and pays the difference or "gap" between what you owe on the car and what the car is worth.
Much better, right?
I talk to at least a dozen people every year who did not get GAP insurance and end up with a wrecked car but still owe a car payment.
Get the best insurance company you can afford, get full coverage on your car, and always buy GAP Insurance if you finance a car in Illinois.
I know all of this can get complicated quickly. It took me YEARS as a lawyer to kind of figure all of this out and know how it all works and what's the best road to take when a client calls me after getting into a car accident.
So I created a property damage claim cheat sheet that summarizes and provides lots of good information when you're deciding who you should make your property damage claim with and what you can expect.
This is a pretty complex topic, and of course there are exceptions and special circumstances. But the property damage claim cheat sheet is a nice summary for you that explains how all of it works.
Use the "Property Damage Cheat Sheet" to figure out your situation!
You can download a PDF copy for free below.
(Just click on a Chapter to go there.)
Chapter 1: Car Crash Cases 101
Chapter 2: The Two Parts of a Car Crash Case
Chapter 3: 5 Things You HAVE TO DO
Chapter 4: 5 Things to NEVER Do
Chapter 5: Property Damage
Chapter 6: Do YOU Have A Good Car Crash Case?
The two most common questions people ask me when they call my Chicago office after getting into a car crash are:
"Do I have a good case?"
or
"What is my car accident case worth?"
It's pretty natural.
People are worried about having a case or claim and they want to know whether they're likely to be treated fairly and get fair compensation for their injuries, or whether they'll get their hopes up and end up with nothing.
So I put together the criteria that I use in my office to determine whether somebody's likely to have a good case or a challenging case after being involved in a car accident in Illinois.
This way, you'll be able to evaluate your car accident case using some of the same criteria Chicago car accident lawyers use to find out whether a case is strong or...shall we say...has some challenges...
It's important first for us to know whether the collision was a car accident or a crash involving a truck, motorcycle, bicycle, or pedestrian.
It's important to know because pedestrian versus car, bicycle versus car, and motorcycle versus car crashes almost always have more serious injuries. Motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians have far less protection from being hit by a car or truck than another car or truck does.
Also, whether you're walking, riding a bicycle, or operating a motor vehicle can have consequences for evaluating liability in the case under Illinois law, because drivers of motor vehicles often are required by law to yield to people on foot or riding a bicycle.
So that's the first factor.
Most motor vehicle crashes in Illinois can be broken down into the following types:
This is important to know because, as we discussed in the liability section of this guide above, it's important for us to know what Illinois traffic laws the defendant broke in order to make a strong liability case.
For example, if you're rear-ended while stopped at a red light in Chicago, that is a very strong liability case under Illinois law.
On the other hand, if the defendant dipped into your lane and side-swiped your car, that's the kind of case the other driver can turn into a "he said, she said" kind of case because in those lane-change kinds of cases, both drivers almost always blame one another. So that sort of crash can result in contested liability. And as we discussed previously, contested liability makes for a more difficult case.
Once we have a pretty good indication that the other driver who caused the crash is really at fault and will be held responsible under Illinois law, the next question is: Is there insurance or a big company who can pay a judgment or settlement?
That's why we need to know whether a company truck hit you or a private citizen's truck hit you, and whether that private citizen has good insurance, bad insurance, or no insurance.
Obviously, a McDonald's truck or Coca-Cola truck has plenty of insurance, and even if they didn't, Coca-Cola is a multi-billion dollar company and can afford to pay any settlement or verdict we're likely to get.
On the other hand, if you're hit by a truck and the truck is old and beaten-up, and the police report indicates there's no insurance, we're unlikely to be able to get you money from a person who doesn't have any money and doesn't have any insurance.
There is insurance coverage called Uninsured Motorist Coverage which you can buy on your insurance policy that will cover you in these circumstances. So it's also important to know whether you have good insurance and what your insurance limits are.
Remember, always buy full coverage insurance from a reputable company, including Uninsured Motorist Coverage and GAP Insurance if you finance your car.
Obviously, if the at-fault driver is with a big company or has good insurance, that makes your case stronger. If the details of the crash support that you have good liability in your case, then your case is better.
There are three categories of lawyers you do not want to work on your case.
This is the kind of lawyer whose website advertises real estate, criminal law, wills and trusts, AND personal injury.
Over the years, personal injury law has become more specialized and detailed. You're better off dealing with a Chicago car accident attorney who concentrates their practice in injury law.
There's so much detail in every area of law at this point that it's probably impossible—or at least very difficult—for a lawyer to practice in many different areas and still be top-notch.
A lot of these guys don't even really practice law in Illinois. Many of them are out-of-state lawyers or trust fund kids or people who come from wealthy families and come into the market and dominate all the billboards and television.
They spend millions of dollars in advertising. I have to admit, some of their commercials are really good.
But whether their commercials are good or not, none of the guys you see on the commercial ever go to court. Literally, you will never see one of those guys at the courthouse taking a real case to trial.
The third kind of lawyer you definitely don't want is the lawyer who also represents insurance companies or does insurance defense work or who has done insurance defense work most or all of their career.
I know at least a dozen lawyers like this. They mainly do defense, but they occasionally handle a case for an injured person. They still feel loyalty to insurance companies, not injured people.
Why do you want a lawyer who has dedicated their career to saving insurance companies money by screwing injured people out of their fair compensation?
Why do you want to hire somebody like that to help you in your Illinois car accident case? Their sympathies will never be with you. You're just a way for them to make extra money.
Or they got fired from their defense job and now have no other choice but to "hang out their shingle" and open up a law office. Then they take any case they can, including representing injured people after a car accident.
I know several of these kinds of lawyers too. Several of them have tried to become plaintiff lawyers representing injured people. None of them can win a trial, because representing injured people in the Illinois court system stacked against the little guy and in favor of insurance companies is 10 times harder than representing insurance companies and beating up on injured people and their cases.
Defense lawyers think they're the greatest lawyers in the world by repeating the same dirty tricks when they work for insurance companies. But when they try those dirty tricks representing injured people, it doesn't work. It does not motivate a Jury to pay money.
In my opinion, these lawyers have been poisoned in a way that's not easy to overcome, and people sense it. They sense that way deep down, these lawyers don't really care about the client and only see a payday.
I'm not going to lie: I hate it when I see a nice person with a legitimate injury case being represented by an attorney who currently or used to represent a substandard insurance company. It drives me nuts.
Having a good, qualified Chicago car accident attorney who you like, who communicates with you, and who focuses their law practice on representing injured people is the best way to make your case as strong as possible and increase your chances of a good outcome.
This criteria is pretty simple. It is subject, however, to the skill of the person presenting your damages to a Judge, insurance company, and/or Jury.
You already know the general rule: The bigger the injury, the more the case is generally worth.
That means if you have a truly horrible situation—a death in the family, paralysis, or partial paralysis—then you have what anyone could consider a strong, big case.
Cases with major surgery or tears to a rotator cuff, knee meniscus, ligaments, or discs in the spine can be considered injuries with irrefutable, uncontestable objective findings. These kinds of cases are very strong.
Even cases involving scarring or bruising—if you get photos of those injuries—can be worth some money in the hands of a skilled Illinois car accident attorney.
Many car crash cases are of the "strain/sprain" or whiplash variety, and in the hands of a skilled attorney, they can be maximized and pushed to their full value. But cases like this are rarely ever going to be as big or considered as "good" as a death case or a serious surgery kind of case.
So as you can see, the bigger the injury, the bigger the case.
Any lawyer worth their salt will want to know when your car accident happened.
That's because there are deadlines in Illinois injury cases.
In Illinois, the deadline to file a lawsuit on a car accident case if it can't be settled is usually two years after the date of the crash.
If the crash involves a city or state vehicle, the deadline is probably one year from the date of the crash, because governments get special protection under the law when they cause injury to people.
Most lawyers want to handle a case right at the beginning so they can make sure evidence gets assembled and the case gets put together the right way, right from the beginning.
So treating your case as if it's going to trial and will have to be proven right from the beginning is a good idea. The only way for that to happen is to come to that realization and/or hire a Chicago car accident attorney as close to the date of your collision as possible.
In other words, if you start thinking and understanding that you're in a war to protect the value of your case from day one, your case is probably going to end up much stronger than if you only realize the insurance company has been out to screw you after a year has gone by.
And obviously, if you get serious about your case three years after it happened, it's very possible that your deadline or "statute of limitations" has passed already under Illinois law. In that case, you may very well be out of luck.
I will warn you though: There are tons of exceptions and ways to extend the statute of limitations on cases.
So if you're worried about a deadline on your Illinois car accident case, definitely consult with a lawyer. Consulting with injury lawyers is usually free. Almost all injury lawyers offer a free consultation.
These criteria are the same criteria I use in my Chicago office to evaluate whether a case is a good case or a case with lots of problems. I know it's a lot of information and difficult to process.
Do you want an EASY way to know whether you have a good case or a bad case?
Almost everyone does. It literally is the number one question people ask when they call me for a free consultation. But sometimes you aren't ready to talk to a lawyer, or you don't have the time for a free consultation.
That's why I developed the "Car Accident Injury Scorecard."
It's brand new and only available here. No one else offers this. No other lawyers, no other law firms in the world.
I don't want to give this very valuable tool to insurance companies, insurance defense lawyers...or other injury lawyers...
But for injured people, I'm giving it away for free.
You can get yours by filling out the form below.
Call me with any questions at 312-895-0545 ext 2 or send an email to service@desalvolaw.com
Thanks for making it all the way through this comprehensive guide about what to do after a car accident in Illinois.
I truly hope this information helps you if you or a loved one is ever involved in a car crash or any kind of motorcycle, car, truck, or other motor vehicle crash in Chicago or anywhere in Illinois.
Of course, if you have any questions about your Illinois car accident case, or you need to reach a Chicago car accident lawyer, please feel free to call or email my office:
Email: service@desalvolaw.com
Phone: 312-500-4500
You can ask a question, give me feedback on this Ultimate Guide, or talk to me about taking your case.
No matter what, it's always free to call, and there's no obligation.
Address:
1000 Jorie Blvd Ste 204
Oak Brook, IL 60523
Contact:
New Cases: 312-500-4500
Office: 312-895-0545
Fax: 1-866-629-1817
>> Go To Main Topic Page
(Just click on a Chapter to go there.)
Chapter 1: Car Crash Cases 101
Chapter 2: The Two Parts of a Car Crash Case
Chapter 3: 5 Things You HAVE TO DO
Chapter 4: 5 Things to NEVER Do
Chapter 5: Property Damage
Chapter 6: Do YOU Have A Good Car Crash Case?
Main Office:
1000 Jorie Blvd Ste 204
Oak Brook, IL 60523
New Cases: 312-500-4500
Office: 1 312-895-0545
Fax: 1 866-629-1817
service@desalvolaw.com
Chicago and Other Suburban Offices
By Appointment Only
