FAQ Friday with Gregory Herrman & Jonathan Garza | Corpus Christi Personal Injury Lawyers

well hello everybody welcome again to frequently asked questions Friday we have I think for the first time one of our Rio Grande Valley lawyers this is Jonathan Garza from McAllen office everybody okay so Jonathan a question for you today is kind of a broad topic here but what are the pitfalls that people run into with insurance claims well the long the short answer is throughout attorneys you know most of the time when people get into auto accident that I've seen is that this is the first time they've been into an accident so you know they're trying to you know navigate this whole thing with you know what do I do where do I go who do I talk to what do I say or not say and you know those types of things can really cause some problems for them if they're not careful and that's one of the big reasons why they come to people like us you know personal injury attorneys to seek some guidance in some health what I've always found is that you know the sooner the better this would be the better thing coming they coming to talk to one of us you know the better because we can really protect their case we can really make sure that they don't lose any crucial evidence they don't say anything wrong they maybe get the treatment that they might need if they're injured and to really not delay it as much as possible because oftentimes if their vehicle is that a body shop you know they need to get into a rental or you know hey you know I'm in a lot of pain I don't have any money I don't even go see a doctor you know so that's those are right off the bat you know those are the those are the critical critical things that you know I've noticed whenever people have gotten to an accident and they come to us and it's a few weeks after the accident that you know what I'm lost and and it's not surprising people don't we do this every day unit you know I'm Greg and but the average Joe doesn't so it's it's really a tough situation to be in on top of that you know you've got you know a vehicle that's messed up you're hurt and so it's a lot it's a lot so the one thing I would caution people is to if you ever in an auto accident you know and seek legal representation right away because you know you're not expected to know all the answers and you really could hug yourself if you do if you do more than anything the wrong thing and you know that's why call one of us we can help you avoid some of those early pitfalls with you know and hey did you call the cops did you go to an ambulance did you go to the hospital did you you know have you gone to the doctor yet where is your vehicle at you know and so those types of questions are what I would I would say people run into most often when they come to us with an auto accident case all right so let's say somebody is injured in a car accident and their cars totaled and they don't have a way to get around and so they they don't go to the doctor or they think well you know I think I'll just take a bunch of Tylenol I mean I can tough it out for a while and let's say they delayed go on the doctor for two three weeks what what happens is value their time well it's hurt in the sense that you know you and I are sitting here and somebody comes to you three or four weeks after an accident in that type of situation and like well what took you so long to go come talk to anybody where you not heard at the beginning and these types of questions are if you ever have to take this to court you're gonna have 12 people sitting there asking you the same thing and you know I tell them oftentimes it's you know and hey that's that's not gonna look good with those 12 people that are there because you know they're gonna see you like well you know I'm really really hurt but you also took a month before you went to go see anybody so it's kind of a is it bad or not even a week it's too long a lotta cases right absolutely because you know if you're because it ends up hurting you at the end you know you're saying hey my case is a $25,000 case you know that that one week of treatment you know could be the difference between getting 10,000 and 25,000 or it could be the difference from getting to anything I actually had jurors you know say to me say well I know if I were die ID on the doctor immediately yeah said sure glad I didn't go to the doctor really you know I just don't think he was at her and and oftentimes you know I I hear from clients that it's because I didn't have the money okay well if you're that hurt you you'd move heaven and earth yeah to me to find some way to go to a doctor and that's why a lot of times and that's why we recommend you know come to see somebody like us often times we may be able to help you with finding a doctor that might wait until the resolution of your case to say okay you know we'll wait till result before we start billing you because you know that's a big hurdle but a lot of people encounter I don't have the money to go see a doctor and how to huddle I'm hurt but I don't have the money you think jurors would be sympathetic to that but a lot of times they're not because the defense lawyer gives us their argues you know we want to hear that you find some well it's some way to get to the doctor and he a lot of people are you know let's say they're just too proud to borrow money to go to a doctor or you know too proud to ask well touches ends up hurting them so you know they gotta find a way to get all and so if they come to us we can get to a doctor who like you said we'll say hey I'll treat I'll treat your client and then when the case settles and you can pay me back yeah and it's and it's a so win-win you know for you know the person that's heard getting the treatment and you know the you know the value of the case because you know if you're able to get that treatment that you need you know you'd be able to get it paid for and then pay them back at the end so you know that's what happens when you come see and get legal representation oftentimes you're able to find a doctor that will work with you in these types of situations so it's it's it's of utmost importance that you that you do that know what kind of evidence can be lost well witness witnesses are one big thing you know if if you happen to get a police report which I would definitely recommend no matter how big or small the accident is get a police report because you have an independent third party saying that hey you know license you know police officer it says okay this is how the accident it really did take place you know you're not just looking for a quick buck and you know so that's one piece of evidence secondly is you know there's somebody that stopped to render aid you know that's a piece of evidence if you know those witness statements are going to become sale like we wait call it because you know they'll forget they won't know or if it's a bigger accident you know it's the what's it called the electronic box that's on a 18-wheeler for instance or if it's on or if it's on a regular vehicle they have their little module that tells you know it the distance travel how hard is they press the brake you know all yes those types of things so those are critical things that you know the longer it goes by the more likely its to be gone no what about cell phone the cell phones the same thing you know you might lose it you might change a phone number you might you know it might break or you know what you if you can't get that person you may never find the number so you know it's very it's very critical you know and get all that get all the information possible you know and one of the best ways is contact the police you know they'll get all the vital information down to the other driver and oftentimes you'll get a you'll get a phone number and you know that will get hey was this person on the cell phone is that ready cause yeah yeah that's more that's more amenities getting those phone records of the other person you know Drive another vehicle what if they were texting the drive and not paying attention yeah and throughout the state I believe it's become law throughout the state where you can't be on on your phone texting at all you know so it's it's very critical at the at the beginning you know it this information can be lost the longer you wait what about you said something like given statements or saying something wrong well you know you like I said most the time a lot of the people have not been in accident so you're just you may be going hey are you all right or they may be asking you that and those types of things you know can be used against you if hey well you know the other driver here at the scene said that you were okay or that you said it was actually your fault and all of a sudden you're coming back now two months later and saying no no you're really hurt and you know you also are saying that it's their fault so which way does it work here or at the same time maybe you told a police officer that and you know you're trying to then later on you know after a month or two come back and say opposite so you know any statement that you make to a witness officer or maybe even the doctor or something you know it's very critical that you know you come to get legal representation to make sure you're aware hey anything you say can be used against you in a court of law like the like this thing goes what about an adjuster calls you up to get your statement mm-hmm and that's another another thing you're you're in a in a position where these people know they do this for a living and you're just you think you're being upfront and honest and they may even act like your best friend you know hey just talk to me tell me what happened and you know you're a little bit loose with the tongue and you're not really know what you're doing and they know absolutely which what they're doing is to try to lower your case try to diminish your case in any which with they can whether it be like know it hey this was not a big accident in order hey you're not really hurt and you know those types of things and three months down the line when you're you went to a chiropractor or you went to go see a specialist you know that says hey you have some slip this you know it's gonna look bad against you that hey you told the adjuster they too that you weren't really hurt you didn't feel like going to the doctor you're willing to pay five hundred dollars right now and then all of a sudden you know pretty much later you're seeing orthopedic specialist that recommends surgery so probably best not to touch an adjuster English let's you're you got your attorney with you absolutely and and you know if you do hire an attorney like we would recommend it's let your attorney do the talking we do this every day for a living we know the tactics of adjusters insurance companies and all their job is to try to lower the value your case and really hurt you with giving you less than what you deserve what about Facebook Twitter Instagram snapchat what kind of mistakes can people make may come there what's that the same type of thing you know if you ever have to take your case to court you know you have the twelve people that are sitting there and you're making a claim that you know look at how bad that I'm heard I wasn't able to go job for two months you know and that's my favorite thing to do yet first thing the defense attorney comes up there and shows this picture of you partying there on South Padre Island and they're having a couple Coronas and you know you're there you're there on your jet skis or you're surfing and you know those types of things can really hurt your case so you know it's best to you know kind of make sure that you know what you're being smart with whatever you do social media wise if you active on social media don't necessarily stop you know it's just that you know what if you're really hurt they are gonna be looking at those things so it's gotta match up if you're saying you're really hurt it's not gonna look good if you're out skiing in Colorado the next day you know all right okay well pretty much covers that F King theme anything else we'll covered in a future FAQ so let me just go and wrap up I mention a few things our scholarship again the essay is what changes can be made to decrease distractions with technology and motor vehicles just write an essay deadlines December 1st first prize is $2,500 second prize is $1,500 third prize is $1,000 go to our website to the scholarship page and download the forum's just get them in December first coming up before you know it less than 60 days now so all right next we're having a blood drive at our office on October 18th from one o'clock to five o'clock please come by and get blood because you know anytime someone's in a bad accident something they lose blood they got to get blood someplace so please come on get give some blood if you do the Herman Herman is going to give you free t-shirts and snacks so takes about thirty minutes you're gonna be fine afterwards you know for some reason you can't give blood the the nurses will tell you but you know at least stop by and say hi and you know give some blood if you're eligible next Herman Herman is sponsoring the photo booth at Making Strides 5k which is next weekend 20th October 20th The Making Strides 5k for breast cancer come by the photo booth and get your picture taken by yourself or with your friends oh it's right here check-in time 7:00 a.m. and the walk starts at 9:00 a.m. so I guess if you're running 7:00 a.m. if you're walking 9:00 a.m. and I think we're gonna have some teams in there too right we've walking and running games are just both okay and then lucha kaboom that is the the wrestling match the Mexican wrestling guys that wear the masks were me set up at the Dia de los Muertos festival downtown Corpus Christi the first met and that's on October 27th Saturday the 27th the first match begins at 7:00 p.m. stay tuned for social media we're gonna be giving away some tickets for people to go to to get into lucha come for free so stay tuned okay lastly voting let me mention something wrap the bat apparently the Secretary of State has kicked off at least 2600 people that we know of who went to vote Texas gov and registered vote so we were having this discussion right before the FAQ today you know apparently these people gonna get notified by mail come by snail mail so my guess is they're gonna wait till after October 9th when you can't register anymore to till your letter arrives that says hey you know we we disqualified you so again I say this every week you may think you registered to vote but but the Republicans that are in charge of all the state government are finding ways to disenfranchise people and kick them off the voter rolls and they're doing it left and right most I don't even know about it but this the Secretary of State at least admitted hey we just kicked off 2,600 people so you may think you're registered but you may not be so go to vote Texas gov and check make sure you're registered to vote the deadline is October 9th which is what next Tuesday so you know let's say you check over the week and you're not registered to vote you only got two days to get your paperwork done and get everything take care of so I urge you to go ahead and start right now that make sure you register to vote we all know how important this election is and then a reminder early voting is going to start on October 22nd so that's only what 14 days away it'll be October 22nd through November 2nd and then the auction day is November 6 and remember when you go vote you're gonna get a little sticker that says I voted then you can put it on your you know clothing if you want or you just bring in that little sticker but either way come by your with your sticker and Herman Erma will give you a complimentary swag bag just for just for voting and you'll be entered for a going I'm going a $250 Visa gift cards so just come by here after you vote and get your swag bag and get your get register to win that benefit they don't give up so thank you guys very much Jonathan thank you thank you sir appreciate you come all the way up from McAllen no problem for uh for our FAQ so we will see you guys next week same time same gel