If you've just been in a crash, everything happens fast—and confusion sets in just as quickly. In the hours, days, and even weeks after a wreck, the decisions you make can affect your health, your finances, and your case.
Below are the top 10 questions people ask me following a car wreck. These questions cover what to do in the first moments after a crash and continue through the days and weeks that follow, so you have clear, practical guidance at every stage of the process.
1. What should I do immediately after a car wreck?
After a car wreck, I recommend four things—assuming you’re physically able to do them.
First, call 911. You want a police report. Even when a crash seems minor, that report often becomes the backbone of the claim later on.
Second, document the scene. Take pictures and videos of the vehicles, the roadway, the damage, skid marks, and license plates. If you’re injured and can’t do this yourself, ask a family member or friend to help. If there are witnesses who may leave before police arrive, take a short video of them stating their name, phone number, address, and what they saw. Witnesses disappear quickly.
Third, get medical attention if you’re hurt. Severe injuries belong in the emergency room. Less severe injuries can often be treated at urgent care. What matters most is that you are evaluated and that your injuries are documented.
Fourth, call a lawyer who does this every day and knows how to protect you from costly mistakes. Insurance companies begin working on your claim immediately—you should have someone working just as quickly for you. At Chaz Roberts Law, we focus on car wreck cases and serious injuries, and we’ve earned a reputation in Acadiana for stepping in early, taking control, and maximizing outcomes for our clients. If you’ve been involved in a car wreck, don’t guess and don’t wait. Call Chaz Roberts Law and put an experienced trial lawyer in your corner from day one.
2. Emergency room or urgent care?
Let’s clear up a big myth right away: you do not have to go to the emergency room to prove you’re hurt or to have a strong case.
I’ve handled seven-figure cases where my client never rode in an ambulance and never went to the ER. Emergency rooms are extremely expensive—and they’re getting more expensive every year. Many also refuse to accept certain government insurance programs, including Medicaid.
The real question is whether your injury is an emergency or urgent.
If you have a broken bone, a head injury, internal bleeding, uncontrolled external bleeding, or you can barely move, go to the emergency room. That decision is clear.
If you’re shaken up, sore, stiff, or dealing with symptoms like whiplash but you’re still able to walk and function, urgent care is often appropriate. These “walk-around” injuries can still turn into long-term pain or even surgery down the road. The fact that you can function today does not mean the injury is minor.
For purposes of deciding between the ER and urgent care, the distinction is practical: emergency care for true emergencies; urgent care when you’re hurt but stable. The cost difference alone can be several thousand dollars.
When in doubt, prioritize your health—but don’t let anyone tell you that an ER visit is required to have a legitimate injury claim. It isn’t.
3. Should I take an ambulance after a car wreck?
Let’s clear up another common myth: you do not need to take an ambulance to have a good case. That simply isn’t true.
An ambulance ride can easily cost over $2,000 for a very short trip, and many government insurance programs will not cover it. In those situations, ambulance companies often attempt to place a lien on your case for the full amount instead of billing those programs.
That said, ambulances save lives every day. If you are seriously injured, disoriented, bleeding, or unable to move, take the ambulance without hesitation. Your health comes first—always.
But if your injuries are not severe and you are stable, it is often reasonable to have a family member or friend drive you to the emergency room or urgent care. The key is getting medical attention and having your injuries evaluated and documented—not how you arrived there.
I discuss in more detail how to decide between urgent care and the emergency room above, but the bottom line is this: take an ambulance when it’s medically necessary, not because you think it makes your case stronger. It doesn’t.
4. What’s my case worth?
The honest answer is that your case’s value depends on several factors. In its simplest form, a case is worth what a judge or jury would likely award based on your damages and the fault of the at-fault party.
Those damages usually include a combination of your injuries, the medical treatment you receive, the cost of that treatment, time missed from work, and general damages. General damages cover things that don’t come with receipts—your pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and how the injury affects your day-to-day living.
Another critical factor is who the defendant is and how the wreck happened. The more egregious the conduct, the more a jury is likely to care. Equally important is how much insurance coverage is available. You can have a very serious injury and a compelling story, but if there is limited insurance—or none at all—that reality caps what can actually be recovered.
This is where experience matters. A skilled law firm like Chaz Roberts Law can walk you through what your case is realistically worth by drawing on decades of combined experience, knowledge of current and past jury verdicts, and an understanding of how Louisiana courts and insurers evaluate claims. That kind of analysis can’t be done in a vacuum, and it shouldn’t be guessed at.
5. How long does a case typically last?
I’ll be honest—I hate giving the classic lawyer answer here, but the truth is it depends.
If the injury is minor and treatment is brief, a case can often be resolved in a matter of weeks or a few months. If treatment lasts longer—physical therapy, injections, follow-ups—then the case usually takes several months. For significant injuries, cases can last a year or more, and sometimes longer.
One thing is non-negotiable: you should not settle your case until you are fully healed, unless all available insurance has already been paid. Settling too early means you are left paying for future problems out of your own pocket—and once a case is settled, there’s no going back.
The single biggest factor that determines how long a case lasts in our office is how long the client treats medically. While a client is actively treating, both sides are usually waiting to see the full picture before resolution. There are legal timelines that can slow things down at times, but that does not happen in every case.
At Chaz Roberts Law, we pride ourselves on giving clients a realistic timeline based on the information we have, not false promises. Just as importantly, we work to move cases forward efficiently so our clients can close this chapter and get back to living their lives.
6. How do I know if my car is a total loss, and who will pay to fix it?
In Louisiana, a vehicle is typically considered a total loss when the cost to repair it reaches 75% or more of the vehicle’s actual cash value immediately before the crash. Insurance companies determine this after inspecting the vehicle and preparing a repair estimate. You can check your value on nada.com.
If your car is repairable, the at-fault driver’s insurance company is responsible for paying the reasonable cost of repairs. If your car is totaled, the insurer owes you the vehicle’s fair market value just before the wreck—not what you owe on the loan, not what you paid for it years ago, and not the cost of buying a replacement today. This is where disagreements often arise. They also have to pay your tax, title, and license and the tow charges.
Who pays depends on the coverage available. If the other driver is at fault and properly insured, their insurer should handle the property damage. If the other driver is uninsured or underinsured, your own policy may apply through collision coverage or uninsured motorist property damage, depending on what you carry.
One important thing to understand is that property damage claims usually move faster than injury claims. Insurance companies often push to resolve vehicle issues quickly, but speed does not require you to accept a low valuation. You have the right to review how the value was calculated, request comparable vehicles, and challenge an unfair total-loss determination.
At Chaz Roberts Law, we focus on personal injury cases, but we make sure our clients understand the property damage process and we are here to assist so it doesn’t create unnecessary stress or lead to bad decisions early on. Knowing when a vehicle is considered a total loss—and who is responsible for paying—puts you in a much stronger position after a wreck.
7. Do I really need a lawyer, or can I handle this on my own?
You can handle a claim on your own. The real question is whether you should.
Here’s how I explain it to clients: would you rather keep 100% of a grape, or 66% of a watermelon? A lawyer’s fee only matters if the end result isn’t meaningfully better. In most injury cases, the difference usually is. In fact, we tell clients on the intake if we cannot add value and whether they should pursue the case on their own.
People hire lawyers because they want expertise, clarity, and protection from costly mistakes. Insurance companies handle claims every day. Most people only go through this once. Adjusters know how to control timelines, limit payouts, and use statements and paperwork to their advantage—often without the injured person realizing what’s happening.
If your goal is a quick payout and you’re comfortable navigating the process alone, you may decide to handle it yourself. But if you want to understand your rights, avoid leaving money on the table, and put yourself in the strongest possible position, having an experienced lawyer matters.
Lawyers also guide clients in ways most people never see coming. That includes knowing how to properly obtain and organize medical records, helping identify the right medical providers for specific injuries, and avoiding gaps in treatment that insurance companies later use against you. It also includes understanding how future medical care is handled, how anticipated treatment, procedures, or long-term limitations are documented and presented so they are actually compensated, not ignored.
Just as important are negotiation skills and professional relationships that the average person simply doesn’t have access to. Experienced trial lawyers understand how insurance companies evaluate risk, when a case is actually ready to resolve, and when pressure needs to be applied. Years of negotiating claims, trying cases, and building credibility create leverage—leverage that affects how seriously a claim is taken and how it ultimately resolves.
Most people don’t know what matters until it’s too late. An experienced lawyer does. That behind-the-scenes guidance, strategic negotiation, and professional credibility are often the difference between a claim that looks fine on paper and one that truly reflects the long-term cost of an injury.
At Chaz Roberts Law, we don’t add value by simply filing paperwork. We add value by protecting our clients, guiding them through a complicated process, and maximizing outcomes. That’s why people come to us—and why they stay.
8. How can I afford a lawyer?
We work on a contingency fee basis, which means you don’t pay anything upfront. You simply sign an agreement, and we go to work for you immediately.
Our fee is a percentage of what we recover from the at-fault party’s insurance company. If there is no recovery, you do not owe us an attorney’s fee. It’s that simple.
Just as important, we never make more money than our clients do. Ever. Once a recovery is made, the client always takes home more than the firm. That is a firm guarantee at Chaz Roberts Law.
This structure allows people to hire experienced legal representation without worrying about hourly bills, retainers, or coming out of pocket while they’re trying to heal. Our interests are aligned with yours: we only succeed when you do.
9. Will my insurance go up if I hire a lawyer?
No. Louisiana law is clear on this point.
Insurance companies in Louisiana cannot raise your rates or cancel your policy because of a wreck that was not your fault. That protection applies whether you hire a lawyer or not.
In fact, Louisiana law specifically addresses this. Under Louisiana Revised Statute 22:1284, insurers are prohibited from increasing premiums or taking adverse action against a policyholder based on a non-fault accident. That means if you were not at fault, your insurance company cannot penalize you for the crash—even if a claim is made.
This protection also extends to using coverage you responsibly paid for. If you make use of benefits like collision coverage, medical payments coverage, rental reimbursement, or uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, your insurer cannot raise your rates or drop you simply because you exercised those rights in a non-fault situation.
Hiring a lawyer does not change this analysis. You are allowed to protect yourself, pursue the at-fault party, and use the insurance coverage you had the foresight to carry. Louisiana law prevents insurers from retaliating against you for doing exactly that.
If you were not at fault, asserting your rights is not something to be afraid of—it’s something the law expressly protects.
10. Do I have to sue the other person? Will they have to pay for this?
In most cases, no.
Very rarely do we have to file a formal lawsuit. And just as important, the other individual is almost never the one personally paying for the damages. Instead, it is their insurance company that is responsible for paying the claim. That’s the entire reason insurance exists.
The vast majority of cases are resolved through the insurance process without ever stepping foot in a courtroom. In Louisiana, you generally have two years to file a lawsuit, and most claims are settled well before that deadline.
There are situations, however, where filing suit becomes necessary. That typically happens when fault is disputed, when there is a significant disagreement over the value of the case, or when a claim is approaching the two-year prescriptive period and has not been resolved. Filing suit in those circumstances is not about being aggressive—it’s about protecting the client’s rights.
The key takeaway is this: pursuing a claim does not mean you are “suing someone personally.” In almost every case, you are dealing with an insurance company, not an individual. When a lawsuit is filed, it is simply a legal tool used when required—not the default path.
Need Help? We’re Ready.
The decisions you make after a wreck can affect your health, your finances, and your case. Contact Chaz Roberts Law now and let an experienced trial lawyer protect your rights from the start.
