If you have been injured as the result of a third party's negligence, you deserve quality and effective legal representation to assist you in understanding and enforcing your legal rights against the insurance company and the parties responsible for you or your loved one's injuries.

Like any other corporation, an insurance company is a business whose sole objective is to make money. Insurance companies achieve profitability by collecting monthly premium payments from their clients ("insureds") in exchange for providing insured's financial protection for their insured's negligence. The monthly policy premium payments are utilized by insurance companies to purchase investments such as stocks, bonds and other financial assets.

In turn, the investments purchased by insurance companies create billions of dollars in interest income, investment appreciation and profit for insurance companies each day. However, insurance companies lose money when forced to compensate an injured victim for his or her injuries. Payment of compensation to an injured victims cause the insurance company to forgo not only the amount of money paid to the injured victim, but also all interest and appreciation such sums would have earned in a given investment.

As you can see, there exists a clear financial disincentive for insurance companies to act in the best interest of the injured victim in reaching settlement on an injury claim. Instead, insurance companies carefully intend to pay as little in financial compensation to an injured victim in order to deliver maximum profit to the insurance company and its numerous shareholders.

For example, insurance companies pay commissions, bonuses and various other financial incentives to employees who are successful in settling injury claims for less than the actual legal value of the claim. In other words, an insurance company employee may intentionally disregard an injured victim's medical expenses, lost wages and all other sums that an injured party is entitled to under the law in favor of delivering profits (and even obtaining personal bonuses) to the insurance company and its shareholders.

In addition to the bonuses and other financial incentives provided to insurance company claims adjusters, insurance companies maintain experienced trial attorneys, "prominent" outside law firms, physicians and medical specialists to accomplish an insurance company's profit motivations. In addition, insurance companies seek fast settlements with offers of minimal compensation to an injured victim because the longer an injured victim obtains medical treatment the more compensation an insurance company will likely be required to pay to an injured victim.

Located in downtown, Seattle, Washington in the historic Pacific Building, Foster Law Offices aggressively represents injured individuals in the state of Washington and across the United States against insurance companies and other parties who may be financially responsible for our client's injuries. By understanding the fact that insurance companies do not act in the best interest of the injured victim, Foster Law Offices is best able to deliver the maximum monetary settlement to which the injured are entitled under the law.

Motor vehicle collisions often cause extraordinary suffering and loss to motorists, passengers and pedestrians, in addition to property damage to your car. Injured victims face medical bills, lost wages, pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. We want to help you get the best medical treatment so that you can recover as soon as possible. We offer home and hospital visits for anyone injured in an accident if requested. We understand it's difficult to be injured and we want you to recover as soon as possible.

If you have been involved in an automobile accident, there are a number of things you can do to preserve your legal rights. First and foremost, you should not delay in consulting your lawyer if you have been injured or have suffered property damage as a result of an automobile accident. Beyond that, the following is a summary of some important things you can do to protect your legal rights after an automobile accident:

1. Do not leave the scene. If you leave the scene of an automobile accident, you may be criminally prosecuted. You are required to provide your name, address, driver's license and auto insurance information to the other driver.
2. Call 911. If someone has been injured in the accident, you should call for paramedics. Before calling for the ambulance, be prepared to give an accurate location of the accident and assessment of the number of individuals injured. Do not discus the details of the accident if you cannot remember at the time of this initial call.
3. Avoid additional collisions. Make sure your vehicle is not presenting a safety hazard to other motorists. It should be moved so that it is not obstructing traffic, if possible. You can further notify oncoming traffic to proceed with caution by setting out flares, turning on your hazard lights, and raising the hood and trunk of your vehicle.
4. Notify the police. Typically the police will prepare a report that contains various information concerning the accident including a narrative description of the accident, the parties involved and witness statements. While you may not be required to call the police, the accident reports they produce could be helpful to you later.
5. Do not admit liability. You should not admit responsibility for the accident to the other drivers, passengers, or to the police for that matter. You may convey facts concerning how the incident occurred; however, it is best not to comment on your responsibility (or liability) for the accident. This is a legal matter that is not always readily and easily ascertainable. Judgment as to who was at fault should be reserved for a later time and be based on a number of factors.
6. Obtain information. You should get the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of any individuals involved in the accident, as well as any witnesses to the accident. You should also obtain the name of the insurance company and policy number of the other drivers involved. If possible, you may take photographs to document the accident scene including skid marks, road obstructions, and damage to the vehicles.
7. Notify your insurance company. If you do not give your insurance company prompt notice, your policy may provide that the insurance company may deny coverage for your claim. Accordingly, you should give your insurance company notice by way of telephone and by written notice that provides you a means of proving such notice was given, such as by facsimile or by certified mail. You should provide your insurance company with all information they request concerning the facts of the accident.
8. Consult a doctor if you have been injured. If you believe that you may have been injured in the accident, you should consult a doctor. Some injuries may not manifest themselves until some period of time after the accident; therefore, the mere fact that you do not immediately feel as though you have been injured does not necessarily mean that no injury has occurred. You should consult your insurance agent to see if the cost of seeing a doctor in connection with the accident is covered by your insurance policy. You should not settle your claims for injuries arising from the accident until you have been advised by your doctor as to the full extent of your injuries.
9. Contact our firm. You should consult with us promptly to be advised as to your legal rights. In Washington, you have a three-year statute of limitation period in which you must file a lawsuit or be forever barred from recovering money from an at-fault party. Limited fact-sensitive exceptions to this rule may apply; therefore, an attorney should be consulted as soon as possible. Furthermore, by promptly notifying your attorney, your attorney may timely investigate the facts surrounding your accident while the events are fresh in witnesses' minds, and the evidence is capable of being documented by way of photograph or otherwise, so the insurance company is on notice of the involvement of an experienced litigation attorney.

To discuss your insurance dispute with an attorney at Foster Law Offices, or to inquire about your legal rights associated with your insurance dispute please contact us to schedule a free consultation at 206 381-3939 , or if you prefer to submit confidential electronic written inquiries, please email us at: info@fosterinjurylaw.com.