You or a loved one have been in an accident, and the insurance company is now calling or writing to you and trying to settle your case. How do you know if the amount the insurance company is offering is fair? Will the money they offer pay all of your unpaid medical bills? What about liens from your own insurance company? What about the damage to your car?
Car accidents or accidents at work often have devastating effects on your day to day life. You work hard in your own job, and suddenly you’ve been drawn into a battle with an insurance company. The insurance companies have vast resources and lawyers behind them advising them every step of the way. Who is helping YOU? How do you know if the amount of money the insurance company is offering is fair, and what about unpaid bills, out of pocket expenses, fixing your car, or medical care and bills for furture problems because of thei accident? Most people hurt in accidents don’t really have the experience to fairly evaluate what the insurance company is doing. You may be very experienced in your own job and in many other matters, but when dealing with an insurance company after an accident, it is usually best to contact an attorney that specializes in cases involving personal injury. And if you do contact a lawyer, make sure that the lawyer is actually helping accident victims regularly. The lawyer you used when you bought your house, or needed a divorce or a will may not be the best choice to help you out in an accident. Don’t be afraid to ask questions!!
But, to answer the question of what your case is worth, you need to focus on a number of factors that apply. First, you have to know exactly what the injury is and what impact it may have on the rest of your life. Permanent injuries, or wrongful death, are very serious cases that are usually very difficult for the average person without training to try and evaluate. You need to keep in mind the amount of your medical bills and whether they have been paid and by who. You also need to know how much it is going to cost to fix your car. You can go to many online sites that will give you values for used vehicles. On the other hand if you were in a “fender bender”, and have an emergency room bill and a couple follow up appointments with your family doctor, and maybe a prescription cost, and you feel all better, you may feel inclined to try and settle your case on your own. When the insurance company offers you $500 or $1,000, what should you say? In the final analysis, if the amount offered to you makes you happy, then it is probably ok to settle. Just make sure that if you do agree on an amount, make the insurance company commit in writing what is going to happen with unpaid medical bills or insurance liens. The last thing you want to happen is to accept an amount, get the check, and then find out there is nothing left after paying unpaid medical bills. Also, if your own insurance company paid some of your bills, watch out from the other insurance company because they will write the check to you, but it will also have your insurance companies name on it. Then what do you do? While you can certainly settle your own case, how do you know if the insurance company is really looking after your interests? Most likely they are not. Why not hire a lawyer whose only job is to protect you? Call a personal injury lawyer. Almost all work on a contingent fee which means you do not have to pay any money to the lawyer until your case settles. The insurance companies have professional claim people and lawyers working for them–shouldn’t you?

If you’ve been in an accident, it is extremely important that you receive prompt medical care. In some cases, your injury will be obvious, and very painful, and you will be taken by ambulance to the hospital. But what about those situations where you think that, although you are shaken up a little, that you believe you are ok? Should you see a doctor? Go to the emergency room? See a chiropractor?

Some accidents appear to be little more than mere fender benders, and although you are shaken up or frightened, most people think that they are ok and don’t ask the police to call an ambulance. Later that day, you start to feel tightness or soreness in your neck or lower back, or tingling down the arms or backs of your legs. Is that pain caused by the accident? Should you get medical attention? The answer is almost always YES!

The truth is that even in accidents that most people call “fender benders” where there appears to be little or no property damage, you can still have been injured in that accident. It is important to remember that many features on your car, SUV or truck are designed to protect the vehicle from damage, not necessarily you. Take for example bumpers. Bumpers are designed to absorb the impact of most low speed collisions. So after the accident, it doesn’t look like there is any property damage and some would say that you could not have been injured in that crash. In reality, as the bumper absorbs the energy from the crash, that energy is redistributed to the people in the car! Remember, bumpers protect cars, not people. So when you got hit from behind, as the bumper absorbed the energy, it in turn was directed to you. Your head, which weighs about 7-8 pounds, would have snapped back, then forward, then back again before you could regain muscular control of your head. That pain, from the sudden stretching of the muscles and ligaments, and movement of the spinal components among each other, may result in pain that shows up later in the day. The question now becomes, what should you do?

While there is no one correct answer, the best thing is to be safe than sorry. If you are in severe pain, go to the emergency room and tell them you were in the accident earlier in the day and tell them all of your pain complaints. If you think a hot shower and bed rest will help, do that. But, don’t forget to call your primary care physician and get an appointment. If you decide to pursue a claim for money damages because of the accident, it is extremely important that you get immediate or very prompt medical attention to document your pain complaints and treatment. Big insurance companies seem to always take the position that injured people go to the doctor–those that delay going must not have been hurt, or their pain must have been caused by some intervening event. Getting money for injury claims from insurance companies is a tough busines, and good injury lawyers on your side can really help.

What about going to the chiropractor instead? As injury lawyers fighting for you, we believe everyone is entitled to go to whatever type of medical provider gives them relief from their pain. When a case goes to trial, sometimes defense lawyers hired by insurance companies try to argue that going to the chiropractor is only to trump up your claim, and that if you were really hurt, you would have gone to a medical specialist. We believe that whatever type of provider you see, the most important thing is to have continuity in your medical care. Don’t miss appointments, don’t let weeks or months go by between appointments unless that is what your doctor ordered. Be candid when you see your doctor and remind them that you never had these pain complaints before the accident, assuming that is true. If you have a pre-accident history of back pain or neck pain, be truthful with your doctor and let them know that fact too. Often, prior neck or back pain and the pain you feel after an accident can be separately analyzed and distinguished for claim purposes. A skilled injury lawyer on your side is of immense benefit in these situations.

So the short answer to the question is YES! Go to the doctor if you think you are injured. Let a medical professional examine you and determine your course of treatement. Don’t delay in getting this treatement. The more tiime that goes by from the accident until your medical treatment, the more the insurance companies will look disapprovingly on your claim.