What Happens If You Wait Too Long to Call a Personal Injury Lawyer in Oklahoma?

Following a car crash, slip and fall, or any other type of accident involving injury, every minute counts. The days immediately following an accident are critically important to ensuring that evidence is preserved, witnesses are located, memories are fresh and your rights are protected.

Although there is no law requiring you to work with an Oklahoma personal injury lawyer after being injured by another person’s negligence, handling a claim or lawsuit on your own can result in lower compensation or possibly even a dismissal of your case. The insurance company for the potentially liable party will start investigating your claim right away. It is of the utmost importance that you do the same. Below, we explain the risks of waiting too long to contact legal counsel after an accident.

Evidence can quickly become lost or destroyed

After any accident, the physical evidence at the scene may start to deteriorate quickly. A store owner may have a broken stairway repaired, skid marks may wash away in the rain, and other evidence may naturally deteriorate or be destroyed by liable parties.

Even digital evidence, which many people assume is stored indefinitely, can quickly go missing after an accident. Surveillance systems may overwrite footage after a short period, depending on their settings and storage capacity. The same goes for responding authorities’ dash or body camera footage—while typically stored for a specific period of time, it will be overwritten if not manually saved or preserved.

Many vehicles today, including some commercial trucks, are equipped with crash-data systems commonly called “black boxes,” such as event data recorders (EDRs) or electronic control modules (ECMs). These devices may record braking, speed, and steering in the moments before a crash. However, depending on the system, some nondeployment event data may be overwritten by a later qualifying event or become inaccessible if the recording system is damaged.

Cell phone records are another type of digital evidence that may become unavailable over time. This can make your case more challenging if you are trying to prove the driver who hit you was distracted at the time of the crash.

Memories fade over time

Accidents are very traumatic. You may not realize right away how you were even injured. Over time, the facts you do remember may start to fade. As you start to heal, your memories may also fade regarding the severity of your injuries and the level of pain they caused you. Seeking medical treatment and speaking with an attorney shortly after an accident can help ensure that important facts about the accident are documented while they are still fresh in your mind.

Just as your memories may fade over time, so too may the memories of witnesses. They may forget important details or become more unsure of previous statements they made, which can hurt their credibility. If you wait too long after an accident, it can also make it more difficult to locate witnesses.

After sustaining injuries due to another person’s negligence, it is important to locate witnesses immediately and ask for their names and contact information. Your attorney can use this information to locate them in the days following the accident to obtain their statements. This can be very difficult to do on your own while you are trying to recover from your injuries.

The insurance company may use common tactics against you

Insurance adjusters are known for contacting injured individuals in the days and sometimes hours following an accident. Accident victims during this time are often under the influence of medication for the pain, or they are still disoriented from the accident. The insurer may use your vulnerable state to offer a quick settlement that seems generous but is not actually enough to fully cover your losses.

Insurance adjusters may act very friendly and as though they want to help. Instead, they are hoping that you will say something they can use against you. For example, if you make statements about how the car accident happened, they may take your words out of context and characterize them as an admission of fault. Even if you feel as if there’s nothing to hide and the case is straightforward, insurance adjusters are trained to fish for evidence that can help defend the case at a later date.

An attorney can communicate with the insurance company on your behalf so statements are not made that could hurt your case. Insurance companies may tell accident victims that they have a simple claim that does not require an attorney. However, an attorney can help protect your rights and pursue available damages.

The statute of limitations may expire

The statute of limitations(opens in new tab), or time limit, for most personal injury cases in Oklahoma is two years from the date of injury. If you do not file your lawsuit before this time limit expires, you will likely lose your right to claim any compensation. There are exceptions, including separate, shorter deadlines for claims against government entities, and longer deadlines for injuries involving minors.

Waiting too long to speak to an Oklahoma personal injury lawyer can result in your lawsuit not being filed on time. Even a delay of just a few days after the statute of limitations has expired may result in dismissal of your lawsuit.

Delays have a domino effect

Every day that you do not have legal representation after an accident can trigger a multitude of issues. Evidence may disappear if an attorney does not send a preservation letter. If you delay medical treatment, the insurance company may argue that your injuries were not severe or that you did not take them seriously.

Any delay can be carefully documented by the insurance company to reduce or deny compensation. A personal injury lawyer can help prevent this domino effect from occurring, protecting your claim throughout the entire process.

Do not hesitate to call our personal injury lawyers in Oklahoma

If you have been hurt due to another person’s negligence, you need legal advice. At Biby Law Firm Injury and Accident Lawyers, our Oklahoma personal injury lawyers can answer all of your questions, take the immediate steps necessary to preserve evidence, and protect your case throughout the entire process. Call us now or contact us online to schedule a consultation and get the legal advice you need.