| Compiled
by Kenneth Vercammen, Esq. from various sources
AT THE ACCIDENT SCENE
1. Stop . . . do not leave the scene of the accident. CALL THE
POLICE, tell them where the accident occurred and ask for medical
help if needed.
2. Get names, addresses, and license numbers of all drivers involved.
3. Get description and registration number and insurance information
of all cars involved. License Plate Number __ Registration # __
Make __ Year __ Damage __ Insurance Company __ Insurance Policy
Number __
4. Get names and addresses of all witnesses Witnesses will be a
tremendous help to you in any subsequent court action, if there
is any question of liability involved. Get the names and addresses
of as many witnesses as possible. If they refuse to identify themselves,
jot down the license plate numbers of their automobiles. Do not
discuss the accident with the witnesses. Do not give the witnesses
names to anyone but the police, your attorney or your insurance
company.
5. While waiting for police, write down- Accident Information Date
__ Time __ Location __ No. of vehicles involved __ Weather __ Road
conditions __ Damage __ Speed of the other car __
6. Summary of accident __
7. Diagram of accident
8. Call an ambulance. If you have any reason to suspect you were
injured in the accident, go to a hospital immediately or see a physician
promptly. You'll want it on record that you sought treatment right
away -not in a week or so.
9. Name of Police Officers, Department and Badge Number
10. Do not assign or accept blame for the accident. - The scene
of the accident is not the place to determine fault. Discuss the
accident only with the police, your attorney and with representatives
of your insurance company. Give the other party only your drivers
license number, registration number and insurance information. -
Be cooperative with the police.
11. Seek hospital/ medical attention.
12. Take photos of damage to car, location of your seat belt and
air bag. Also take photos of scrapes or black and blue marks on
your body caused by your seat belt and air bag.
13. Call your insurance company to report the accident.
14. Call a personal injury attorney, not a real estate attorney:
Call Kenneth A. Vercammen- Trial Attorney Attorney At Law (732)
572-0500 When you need help the most, we will be ready to help you.
15. Never give a signed statement to the claims adjuster representing
the other driver's insurance company. The same goes for a phone
recording. They may be used against you in court to deny your claim.
Speak with your personal injury attorney first.
IF YOU HAVE BEEN INJURED IN A CAR ACCIDENT; WHILE YOUR PERSONAL
INJURY CASE IS PENDING:
It is important that you -- 1. DO NOT discuss your case with anyone
except your doctors and attorney. 2. DO NOT make any statements
or give out any information. 3. DO NOT sign any statements, reports,
forms or papers of any kinds. 4. DO NOT appear at police or other
hearings without first consulting with your attorney. INFORM YOUR
ATTORNEY PROMPTLY of any notice, request or summons to appear at
any such hearings. 5. Refer to your attorney, anyone who asks you
to sign anything or to make any statement or report or who seeks
information concerning your case. 6. Direct your doctor and other
treatment providers not to furnish or disclose any information concerning
your case to any entity other than your insurance company without
YOU AND YOUR ATTORNEY'S WRITTEN PERMISSION. 7. You may have insurance
coverages such as liability, collision, accident, Blue Cross, Blue
Shield or Major Medical which require prompt attention. However,
be sure to have your treatment providers send bills immediately
to all of your insurance companies. 8. Notify your attorney promptly
of any new developments. Small things may be important. Keep your
attorney informed. 9. Maintain accurate records of all information
and data pertaining to your case. 10. If you or any witnesses should
move, be sure to notify your attorney of the new address.
Financial Recovery for persons injured in car accidents
1. Kenneth Vercammen Helps Injured persons A person who is injured
as a result of the negligence of another person is what we in the
legal profession refer to as a personal injury claimant. In other
words, they have been injured as a result of an accident, and now
wish to prosecute a claim against an opposing party. Kenneth Vercammen's
office handles cases against negligent drivers and their insurance
companies for injury. We do not handle products liability cases.
Therefore, I request that all clients do as much as possible to
cooperate and help in every way. The purpose of this article is
to describe the procedure that we may follow and give you sufficient
instructions to enable you to assist us in this undertaking. Needless
to say, helping us is just another way of helping yourself. If you
have been injured, but not in a car accident, most of this brochure
is still applicable to an accident case, whether it is a fall down,
dog bite or other injury.
2. Clients should provide my office with the following 1. Any bills
2. All Hospital or doctor records in your possession 3. Car Insurance
Declaration Sheet 4. Car Insurance Policy 5. Photos of damage to
your car and property 6. Photos of accident site 7. Major Med Card
8. Paystub if lost time from work
3. Attorney- Client Confidential Relationship First, I want to
thank our clients for giving me the opportunity to assist them in
their case. I am a legal professional and I have great pride and
confidence in the legal services that I perform for clients during
our relationship as attorney-client. If you have concerns about
your case, please call my office at (732) 572-0500. We feel that
this case is extremely important-not only to you, but to this office
as well. This is not simply a matter of obtaining just compensation
for you, although that is very important. We take professional pride
in guiding our clients carefully through difficult times to a satisfactory
conclusion of their cases.
4. Submission of Bills to (1) Car Insurance and (2) Major Medical
You should submit your medical bills to your own car insurance company
first. Your car insurance is required by New Jersey law to provide
PIP (Personal Injury Protection) benefits under the No Fault Law.
This means your car insurance company, not the careless driver,
pay the majority of medical bills. Please provide insurance information
to each doctor, MRI facility and treatment provider. Please request
they submit bills and attending physician reports to your car insurance
company. There is now minimum deductibles under the PIP Law. There
is an initial $250.00 deductible, and thereafter your car insurance
company pays 80% of medical bills under a medical fee schedule established
by the State Dept. of Insurance. Your primary treating doctor must
also follow "Care Path". Submit portions of bills the
car insurance does not pay to your major medical carrier (ex- Blue
Cross, Connecticut General). The Law Office of Kenneth Vercammen
can provide a more detailed brochure explaining how car insurance
works.
5. Diary We want you to keep a diary of your experiences since
your accident. In addition to this daily record, we also ask you
to start describing a single day in the course of your life. In
other words, describe what you do when you get up in the morning,
the first thing you do after you go to work, what type of work and
effort you put into your employment, what activities you engage
in after work, etc. In other words, we need you to describe the
changes in your working life, your playing life, your life as a
husband or wife or child or parent. In your written description
of your day, we would appreciate your explanation in the greatest
detail possible and in your own words how the accident and subsequent
injuries have affected your life, your personality, and your outlook.
And remember that suffering does not entail mere physical pain;
suffering can be emotional and can be transmitted to your family,
friends, and co-workers. When you have completed this description,
please return it to this office in the enclosed envelope. Keep a
diary of all matters concerning this accident-no matter how trivial
you think it may be. You should include notes on the treatments
you receive, therapy, casts, appliances, hospitalization, change
of doctors, change of medication, symptoms, recurrence, setbacks,
disabilities and inconveniences. If you have any doubt about the
propriety of including some particular information, please call
the office and let us assist you.
6. Record expenses You can also begin to set up a system for recording
the expenses incurred in conjunction with your claim in minute detail.
Medical and legal expenses are a strong part of the value of your
lawsuit, so good records of these expenses must be kept at all times.
From time to time, however, there will be expenses incurred that
you must keep track of yourself. We ask you to make every effort
to avoid any possible error or inaccuracy as jurors have a relentless
reverence for the truth. Keep your canceled checks and your list
of expenses together, for we will need them at a later date. Your
attorney will keep track of your legal expenses, which may include
costs of filing, service of process, investigation, reports, depositions,
witness fees, jury fees, etc.
7. Investigation and Filing of Complaint Procedurally, the following
events occur in most personal injury cases. First, your attorney
must complete our investigation and file. This will involve the
collection of information from your physician, your employer, and
our investigator. We will need your Doctors to provide us with copies
of all bills, medical records and possibly a medical report. When
we feel that we have sufficient information to form an opinion as
to the financial extent of your damages, we will commence negotiations
with the opposition for a settlement. If the insurance company will
not make an adequate offer, then a Complaint and Case Information
Statement is prepared by your attorney. It is filed in the Superior
Court, Law Division. Your attorney then will prepare a summons and
have the defendants personally served with the Summons and Complaint.
The defendant, through their insurance company, must file an "Answer"
within 35 days. Kenneth Vercammen's office generally does not file
a Complaint until the treating doctor signs an "Affidavit of
Merit" setting forth why the injury is permanent and the diagnostic
tests upon which the permanent injury is based. You will need to
speak with your doctor to ask if you have a permanent injury.
8. Interrogatory Questions and Discovery The Answer is followed
by a request for written interrogatories. These are questions that
must be answered by each party. The Superior Court has set up certain
"Form" Interrogatories which are contained in the Rules
of Court. Generally, written interrogatories are followed by the
taking of depositions, which is recorded testimony given under oath
by any person the opposition wishes to question. The deposition
is just as important as the trial itself. In the event you are deposed
during the course of this action, you will receive detailed instructions
as to the procedure and will be requested to watch a videotape.
After taking depositions, the case will be set down for an Arbitration.
If the parties do not settle after the Arbitration, the case will
be given a trial call date. Altogether, these procedures may take
from six months to several years, and your patience may be sorely
tried during this time. However, it has been our experience that
clients who are forewarned have a much higher tolerance level for
the slowly turning wheels of justice.
9. Doctor/ Treatment It will help your case to tell us and your
doctors about any injury or medical problems before or after your
accident. Good cases can be lost by the injured person's concealing
or forgetting an earlier or later injury or medical problem. Insurance
companies keep a record of any and all claims against any insurance
company. The insurance company is sure to find out if you have ever
made a previous claim. Tell your doctors all of your complaints.
The doctor's records can only be as complete as what you have given.
Keep track of all prescriptions and medicines taken accompanied
by the bills. Also save all bottles or containers of medicine. 10.
Bills Retain all bills which relate to your damages, including medical
expenses, hospital expenses, drugs and medicines, therapy, appliances,
and anything needed to assist you in your recovery. If possible,
pay these bills by check or money order, so that a complete record
may be kept. If this is not possible, be certain to obtain a complete
receipt with the bill heading on it, to indicate where the receipt
came from and the party issuing it. 11. Evidence Be certain to keep
anything that comes into your possession which might be used as
evidence in your case, such as shoes, clothing, glasses, photographs,
defective machinery, defective parts, foreign substances which may
have been a factor in your accident, etc. Be sure to let the office
know that you have these items in your possession. 12. Photographs
Take photographs of all motor vehicles, accident site, etc., that
may be connected directly or indirectly with your accident. Again,
be sure to let the office know that you have such photographs.
The value of a case depends on the Permanent Injury, medical treatment
and doctor's reports Undoubtedly, you have questions as to how much
your case is worth. We are going to be frank: The fact of the matter
is there can be no answer to this question until we have completed
the investigation in your case. Once we complete our investigation,
of course, we can make a determination as to the amount of the defendant's
liability, if any, and even at that we will only be at a starting
point. After that, we must obtain all necessary information concerning
your lost wages, your disability, your partial disability, your
life changes, and your prognosis. You may rest assured of one thing,
however, and that is the fact that your case will not be settled
below its true value, that is the fair compensation for the injuries
you have received. You may also rest assured that no settlement
agreement will be entered into without your consent.
Conclusion We appreciate that this is a great deal of information
to absorb. We also appreciate that our requests for client's assistance
have been numerous. However, we are certain that our clients appreciate
having this information from the outset. Each request and bit of
information given here represents an important part in recovering
full value for your injury. Therefore, we respectfully request your
full cooperation. If you have questions or concerns regarding these
instructions, we encourage you to feel free to contact the office
at any time.
CALL KENNETH A. VERCAMMEN, ESQ. 732-572-0500 for an appointment
About Kenneth Vercammen:
Kenneth Vercammen is a Litigation Attorney in Edison, NJ, approximately
17 miles north of Princeton. He often lectures for the New Jersey
State Bar Association on personal injury, criminal / municipal court
law and drunk driving. He has published 125 articles in national
and New Jersey publications on municipal court and litigation topics.
He has served as a Special Acting Prosecutor in seven different
cities and towns in New Jersey and also successfully defended hundreds
of individuals facing Municipal Court and Criminal Court charges.
In his private practice, he has devoted a substantial portion of
his professional time to the preparation and trial of litigated
matters. He has appeared in Courts throughout New Jersey several
times each week on many personal injury matters, Municipal Court
trials, hearings and contested administrative law hearings.
Since 1985, his primary concentration has been on litigation matters.
Mr. Vercammen gained other legal experiences as the Confidential
Law Clerk to the Court of Appeals of Maryland (Supreme Court), with
the Delaware County, PA District Attorney Office handling Probable
Cause Hearings, Middlesex County Probation Dept as a Probation Officer,
and an Executive Assistant to Scranton District Magistrate, Thomas
Hart, in Scranton, PA.
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