How to Make a Claim with Geico After a Car Accident

A car accident can be devastating and, at the same time, confusing. In addition to the physical and mental pain associated with the injuries, the accident can have profound financial implications on the victim’s life. If you were not at fault, you can file a claim seeking compensation for your injuries.

The claim process is tedious. Also, there are multiple parties involved, including the insurance company. Geico, one of the largest insurance companies in the United States, provides coverage for more than 24 million motor vehicles.

Therefore, whether you have been insured with Geico or were involved in an accident by an individual insured with Geico, you are bound to receive direct and indirect communications from this insurance company. Contacting a car insurance lawyer can help you understand the process.

As such, you might be wondering how you can resolve your claim. Here’s what you need to know about handling your claims with Geico as one of the parties involved.

When Should You Report a Geico Claim?

There are two reasons for contacting Geico after a car accident.

Geico insurers the at-fault driver in an accident. Or
Geico is your insurance company.

Although reporting an accident to your Insurer is imperative, you should prioritize your health before taking this step. In other words, following an accident, you need to seek medical attention as soon as possible before embarking on the claim process.

Once you receive proper medical attention, you must communicate with an attorney who will advise you on the way forward. Consulting an attorney before talking to your insurer lets you avoid divulging information that may harm your claim. Furthermore, it ensures that your rights and interests in the claim process are safeguarded.

Having said that, if you intend to file a Geico Claim against the at-fault driver, you must file your claim timely. Every state has limitations on how long you can wait, but if you wait too long, you can waive your claims. Practically speaking, it would be best to file the claim as soon as the accident occurs or in line with the advice from your personal injury attorney.

However, if you are a Geico policyholder and anticipate seeking benefits under your auto policy, you need to ensure you report the accident when possible.

Where can you Report a Geico Claim?

There are multiple avenues for reporting a Geico Claim following an accident. Put briefly, a Geico Claim can be reported via their:

Geico website, here is the site.
Geico Mobile Application
Calling Geico’s claim phone number (800) 841-3000

How does Geico handle Personal Injury Claims?

Like most insurance companies, Geico uses the same tactics to ensure that the victim receives as little as possible.

In other words, Geico may want to ensure that the victims receive minimum compensation for their injuries to the effect that they maximize their profit. There are certain types of strategies behind them.

To achieve this, Geico might use the following strategies:

Delayed Response: Amidst mental anguish and pain, a delayed response from an insurance company can be frustrating. However, this is one of the strategies used by Geico and other insurance companies to discourage victims of personal injury accidents from pursuing their claims. Consequently, the victim gets frustrated and may settle for less. Here is an article on what you need to know about dealing with an adjuster on a personal injury claim.
Shifting the Blame: There are multiple ways of disputing a claim. One of them is poking holes into the victim’s account of the collision and shifting the Blame. This malicious act characterizes the conduct of most insurance companies that work hard to ensure that they don’t compensate you fully.
Low-ball settlement offer: Even when a valid claim exists, Geico won’t offer you a maximum settlement to cover your losses. Instead, they will make a lowball settlement offer that may not be sufficient to cover your medical bills and other related expenses, not to mention your pain and suffering. Furthermore, they will be seeking to capitalize on the fact that you don’t have an attorney who will help negotiate the settlement offer.
Refusal to settle: This common strategy works effectively without an attorney. Typically, Geico or any other insurance company will want you to believe they owe you nothing in compensation. At this point, they will be relying on the fact that you don’t understand personal injury laws and, at the same time, you lack an attorney to help you counter any allegations they raised.

Geico and other insurance companies don’t have your best interests at heart. As such, they will work hard to maximize their profit by lowering the settlement amount offered or disputing your claim altogether.

For this reason, you need a competent and qualified personal injury attorney to help level the playing field and safeguard your rights and interests throughout the claim process.

Dealing with Geico

When communicating with Geico or any other insurance company, the danger of harming your claim is real. Therefore, it is crucial to understand what you should and shouldn’t do after a car accident.

Here is a brief list of some of the do’s and don’t when dealing with Geico when they insure the at-fault driver after a car accident:

Don’t divulge too much information.
Provide only basic information relating to the accident.
Don’t admit fault.
Don’t consent to a recorded statement.
Contact an attorney as soon as the accident happens.

Should you hire a Personal Injury Attorney?

Having a personal injury attorney is vital as soon as the accident happens. Essentially, an attorney will help safeguard your rights and interests throughout the claim process and can help you receive maximum compensation for your injuries.

Essentially, a competent and qualified personal injury attorney will:

Gather sufficient evidence to support your claim.
Work with an economist’s help to determine the compensation you deserve.
Negotiate on your behalf with Geico.
Represent you in court if your case proceeds to trial.

That said, the presence of a personal injury attorney in your claim is one of the critical steps toward ensuring that you receive fair compensation. The threat of Geico’s bad faith coming to light in a court of law is often enough to convince them to offer a fair settlement. What’s more, when a competent and qualified attorney handles a claim, there is no chance that the insurance company will take advantage of the victim.

Contact a Personal Injury Attorney Today

If you or a loved one sustained an injury in a car wreck in Houston, Harris County, Texas, there is a likelihood that Geico is likely to be involved in the claim process. In that case, you need to seek legal counsel immediately.

A car accident attorney in Houston at the Baumgartner Law Firm will work hard to ensure you receive maximum compensation for your injuries.

At the Baumgartner Law Firm, we will handle all communications between you and the insurance company, thus safeguarding your rights and interests in the claim process.

Baumgartner Law Firm

6711 Cypress Creek Pkwy, Houston, TX, 77069

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