12 Do's And Don'ts
if you've been injured in a
car accident in hawaii

12 Do's and Don'ts When You Have an Auto Injury Claim in Hawaii
1. Do: Call the police right after the accident.
Don’t: Assume that you only need to take the other driver’s information and that you don’t need to make a police report to help prove what happened in the accident.
Don’t: Assume that you don’t need medical care. Some injuries don’t manifest themselves for a day or two after the accident.
3. Do: Call a lawyer as soon as possible after the accident. You should preferably call him on the day of the accident or within one week at the latest.
Don’t: Wait to call a lawyer for a few weeks. In order to give your lawyer the best chance of winning your case, he should be involved in the process as soon as possible. Don’t be surprised if you have a hard time trying to get a lawyer to take your case if you wait for more than a month to call a lawyer.
Don’t: Wait to get treatment or have big gaps in your treatment. These are indicators to the adjuster that you may not have very serious injuries.
Don’t: Have your medical providers send their bills to your personal health insurance. The bills paid by your personal health insurance do not count towards the $5,000 requirement. Also, your personal health insurance may ask to be reimbursed for the bills that they pay towards the treatment for your auto accident injuries.
Don’t: Be surprised that your lawyer won’t be able to work towards a settlement of your claim until he knows that you’ve completed your treatment.
Don’t: Get mad at your lawyer when he can’t get you a settlement in a week. The settlement process usually takes at least two months until you get the initial settlement offer. Then, if you want your lawyer to negotiate the offer up as high as possible, that could take another couple of months.
Don’t: Get mad at your lawyer because he can’t get you the settlement amount that you want. You can’t just pick a settlement amount out of a hat and expect that amount to be offered by the insurance adjustor. Adjustors can’t offer whatever they want. They have managers and auditors that hold them responsible to make settlement offers within the insurance company’s guidelines.
Don’t: Expect your lawyer to call and yell at an adjustor and get you whatever you want. Although most of the lawyer shows on TV show lawyers yelling and getting exactly what they want, this is simply not how it works in real life. Adjustors deal with angry people all day every day. They aren’t going to just give people, or their lawyers, whatever they want just because they call and yell at them. We get great settlements for our clients because we know how to use effective settlement techniques that involve persuasion, not yelling.
10. Do: Be nice to your lawyer.
Don’t: Think that if you treat your lawyer badly that he’ll somehow be able to get you exactly what you want. Remember, your lawyer is getting about a third of the settlement. He already has a big incentive to get you as much as possible without you demanding that he get you a higher settlement offer. Your lawyer will do everything he can to persuade the adjuster to give you a great settlement, but the ultimate decision regarding the settlement amount lies with the adjuster and his supervisor.
Don’t: Take your case to court if you have a reasonable settlement offer on the table. If you think that the twelve people on the jury will be eager to award you tons of money, you’re sadly mistaken. Most jurors don’t like people who sue because of car accidents (think of all the ambulance chaser jokes you hear). Jurors can be sympathetic if you have really serious injuries; however, if you only had a sore neck for a couple of weeks, then don’t be surprised if the jury doesn’t award you a single dollar. Most jurors aren’t in a good mood because they’re missing work and other important things in their lives. Therefore, you better have a good reason to take up a week of their lives or they may take out their frustration on you when they render their verdict.
Don’t: Hesitate to call for a free consultation. Don’t worry, there will be no pressure to hire us. We’re always happy to give you any advice you may need if you’ve been injured in a car accident Hawaii.

1. Do: Call the police right after the accident.
Don’t: Assume that you only need to take the other driver’s information and that you don’t need to make a police report to help prove what happened in the accident.
Don’t: Assume that you don’t need medical care. Some injuries don’t manifest themselves for a day or two after the accident.
3. Do: Call a lawyer as soon as possible after the accident. You should preferably call him on the day of the accident or within one week at the latest.
Don’t: Wait to call a lawyer for a few weeks. In order to give your lawyer the best chance of winning your case, he should be involved in the process as soon as possible. Don’t be surprised if you have a hard time trying to get a lawyer to take your case if you wait for more than a month to call a lawyer.
Don’t: Wait to get treatment or have big gaps in your treatment. These are indicators to the adjuster that you may not have very serious injuries.
Don’t: Have your medical providers send their bills to your personal health insurance. The bills paid by your personal health insurance do not count towards the $5,000 requirement. Also, your personal health insurance may ask to be reimbursed for the bills that they pay towards the treatment for your auto accident injuries.
Don’t: Be surprised that your lawyer won’t be able to work towards a settlement of your claim until he knows that you’ve completed your treatment.
Don’t: Get mad at your lawyer when he can’t get you a settlement in a week. The settlement process usually takes at least two months until you get the initial settlement offer. Then, if you want your lawyer to negotiate the offer up as high as possible, that could take another couple of months.
Don’t: Get mad at your lawyer because he can’t get you the settlement amount that you want. You can’t just pick a settlement amount out of a hat and expect that amount to be offered by the insurance adjustor. Adjustors can’t offer whatever they want. They have managers and auditors that hold them responsible to make settlement offers within the insurance company’s guidelines.
Don’t: Expect your lawyer to call and yell at an adjustor and get you whatever you want. Although most of the lawyer shows on TV show lawyers yelling and getting exactly what they want, this is simply not how it works in real life. Adjustors deal with angry people all day every day. They aren’t going to just give people, or their lawyers, whatever they want just because they call and yell at them. We get great settlements for our clients because we know how to use effective settlement techniques that involve persuasion, not yelling.
10. Do: Be nice to your lawyer.
Don’t: Think that if you treat your lawyer badly that he’ll somehow be able to get you exactly what you want. Remember, your lawyer is getting about a third of the settlement. He already has a big incentive to get you as much as possible without you demanding that he get you a higher settlement offer. Your lawyer will do everything he can to persuade the adjuster to give you a great settlement, but the ultimate decision regarding the settlement amount lies with the adjuster and his supervisor.
Don’t: Take your case to court if you have a reasonable settlement offer on the table. If you think that the twelve people on the jury will be eager to award you tons of money, you’re sadly mistaken. Most jurors don’t like people who sue because of car accidents (think of all the ambulance chaser jokes you hear). Jurors can be sympathetic if you have really serious injuries; however, if you only had a sore neck for a couple of weeks, then don’t be surprised if the jury doesn’t award you a single dollar. Most jurors aren’t in a good mood because they’re missing work and other important things in their lives. Therefore, you better have a good reason to take up a week of their lives or they may take out their frustration on you when they render their verdict.
Don’t: Hesitate to call for a free consultation. Don’t worry, there will be no pressure to hire us. We’re always happy to give you any advice you may need if you’ve been injured in a car accident Hawaii.