A car accident can change your life in a matter of seconds, and the path to receiving compensation for your damages is often filled with confusion, stress, and uncertainty. Besides, many people end up saying or doing the wrong thing in a state of shock. Fortunately, identifying the most common mistakes people make after car accidents can help safeguard your rights and build a strong case from the very onset.
Failing to Call the Police
One of the biggest mistakes people make following an auto accident, especially in seemingly minor fender-benders, is agreeing to work it out privately with the other driver, without involving law enforcement. However, this tends to backfire more often than you might think.
Once the shock wears off, you might realize your neck is stiff, your back hurts, or the mechanical damage to your vehicle runs into thousands of dollars. When you call the other driver, they might deny the crash ever happened, claim you backed into them, or simply block your number.
If police respond to the scene and investigate the accident, they will typically prepare an official collision report, which can become important evidence in your claim.
Not Filing an MV-104 Form
While informing the police is crucial, Section 605 of New York’s Vehicle and Traffic Law requires that you file an MV-104A form if the accident results in injury or loss of life, or if any one person’s property damage exceeds $1,000. You need to file this report within 10 days of the accident, failing which the DMV holds the right to suspend your driver’s license.
Delaying or Skipping Seeking Medical Care
Adrenaline, cortisol, and endorphins flood your system during trauma, masking pain. Soft tissue damage, herniated discs, internal bleeding, and concussions often take 24 to 72 hours, or even weeks, to show symptoms. As a result, one of the top mistakes to avoid after a car accident is failing to seek medical attention at the earliest.
So, what happens if you do not see a doctor after an accident? For starters, untreated injuries can worsen rapidly without early intervention. Besides, insurance adjusters look closely at the gap between the accident date and your first medical record. If you wait three weeks before seeing a doctor, an adjuster can argue that if you were truly injured, you would have sought immediate care, or that your injury happened somewhere else during those three weeks.
Exaggerating or Downplaying Injuries
Common mistakes people make after a car accident include exaggerating or downplaying their symptoms. When someone tries to amplify an injury with the aim of increasing the value of their claim, and the insurance company discovers inconsistencies between the person’s statements and the evidence, credibility comes under question.
While exaggeration is harmful, minimizing injuries can be equally damaging. Many accident victims tell doctors they are feeling better than they actually are or fail to mention symptoms during medical appointments. Unfortunately, medical records become a key part of a personal injury case. With undocumented symptoms, insurance companies may argue that those injuries did not occur because of the accident in question.
Not Preserving Evidence
The evidence you present can have a significant impact on the outcome of your case, and not collecting or preserving it may have a detrimental effect. For example, surveillance footage might disappear if you don’t ask for it in time, or you might have no way to get in touch with people who witnessed the crash because you did not collect their contact information.
Ignoring Medical Advice
Insurance providers routinely review whether accident victims comply with prescribed treatment plans, and they look for factors that can minimize or eliminate their liability. Here are a few mistakes to avoid after a car accident from the treatment point of view.
- Missing appointments.
- Skipping physical therapy.
- Failing to take prescribed medication.
- Discontinuing treatment without medical approval.
If you ignore your treatment, your insurer may argue that your actions contributed to your ongoing condition. On the other hand, consistency creates a record showing the seriousness of the injury and the effort made to recover.
Giving a Recorded Statement to the Other Driver’s Insurance Adjuster
The answer to “What’s the biggest mistake drivers make with insurance?” is giving a recorded statement to the at-fault driver’s insurer. This is because while the law requires you to cooperate with your own insurance carrier, there is no such obligation when it comes to the other party’s insurance company.
Keep in mind that adjusters are trained negotiators whose goal is to minimize their company’s financial exposure, and they often use subtle phrasing to trap you. For example, if they ask you how you’re feeling and you tell them you’re feeling alright, they can use your statement to argue that you are not in pain. This is why you should never provide a recorded statement without consulting your attorney first.
Apologizing or Admitting Fault at the Scene
While being polite and apologizing comes as second nature to many, this is among the biggest mistakes people make after a car accident. When it comes to accidents, it can be easy to turn an apology into an admission of guilt. Then, the opposing party can pin a percentage of fault on you based on New York’s contributory negligence rule.
In this case, the percentage of fault assigned to you has a direct bearing on the compensation you stand to receive. For example, if the other driver runs a red light, and you said you were looking down at your radio and missed seeing him, a court might assign 20% of the blame to you. At the end of the case, if you were to receive $100,000, you will actually get $80,000.
Missing the No-Fault Filing Deadline
New York follows the no-fault insurance system. This means that your own personal injury protection (PIP) covers your necessary medical expenses, a portion of lost earnings, and incidental costs up to policy limits, typically $50,000, regardless of who caused the accident. However, you must file an official no-fault application (Form NF-2) with your insurance carrier within 30 calendar days of the accident.
In addition, healthcare providers must submit medical bills to the no-fault carrier within 45 days of beginning treatment, and you get 90 days to submit proof for lost earnings and other necessary expenses.
Posting Details or Photos on Social Media
Posting on social media makes it to the list of the biggest mistakes after a car accident for good reason. After all, you may expect defense attorneys and insurance investigators to search your public and private profiles on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, and X.
While they’re looking for posts about the crash itself, they also keep an eye out for anything that contradicts your injury claims. For example, they can use a photo of you laughing at a family barbecue to argue that you’re not suffering from chronic back pain. Alternatively, they might use a check-in at a gym, park, or vacation spot to challenge your serious injury claim.
Ideally, you should also ask friends and family not to tag you in photos and refrain from discussing your physical recovery or activities until your case concludes.
Misunderstanding New York’s Serious Injury Threshold
Given that New York is a no-fault state, you cannot automatically sue an at-fault driver for non-economic damages, such as physical pain, emotional suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. To step outside this system and file a third-party personal injury lawsuit, your injuries must meet the serious injury threshold as defined by New York Insurance Law. A serious injury includes:
- Dismemberment or significant disfigurement.
- A fracture (broken bone).
- Loss of a fetus.
- Permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function, or system.
- Permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member.
- Significant limitation of use of a body function or system.
- Loss of life.
The 90/180-Day Rule
This rule implies that your injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature prevents you from performing all your usual daily activities substantially for at least 90 days out of the first 180 days following the crash.
Accepting a Quick Settlement Offer
An insurance adjuster might offer you a quick settlement check for a few thousand dollars, and promise to pay your immediate bills if you sign a release. With mounting bills and you are missing work, this might feel like a relief. However, signing a release of claims extinguishes your right to demand any additional compensation from that insurer forever.
You should never settle your claim until you reach maximum medical improvement (MMI). This means your doctors know the full and long-term scope of your physical recovery. In addition, you must ensure calculating all current and anticipated future medical costs, loss of earnings, and general damages.
Trying to Handle a Serious Injury Claim Alone
Insurance companies have big legal teams, sophisticated claims software, and seasoned adjusters working to pay out as little as possible. As a result, trying to negotiate a complex personal injury claim without experienced representation puts you at a severe disadvantage. Your personal injury attorney can help by:
- Managing all insurance communications and preventing costly mistakes.
- Tracking and meeting every administrative deadline.
- Gathering crucial evidence, including traffic camera footage, black box data, cell phone records, and witness depositions.
- Working with medical experts, accident reconstruction experts, and economists to prove your damages.
- Taking your case to trial if the insurance company refuses to make a fair offer.
Conclusion
Now that you’ve looked at the biggest mistakes people make after a car accident in New York, remember that the steps you take in the hours and weeks following your crash will shape your physical and financial recovery for years to come. Fortunately, staying informed, documenting every detail, and hiring an experienced personal injury attorney ensures that you don’t leave anything to chance and cover all bases.