3 Things You Need to Do to Help You Win Your Apollo Beach Car Accident Case
When you’ve been injured in an accident, you can bet that the insurance company is going to analyze everything that you do from the time of your accident forward, and there are certain things that they’re going to look for, that they will rely on, and that will give them an argument as to why they shouldn’t pay you at all, or why they should pay you less for your claim.
The truth is that insurance companies are smart, and unlike most people who aren’t in the insurance or legal industry, the insurance company understands that after an accident, your medical records will tell a story. Insurance companies also know that most people (Jurors) will believe this story, because if it is in your medical records, then it must be right. The problem is that people who’ve been injured in an accident are not thinking about the story that their medical records are telling. Instead, they’re just going about their daily lives, dealing with all of their normal daily responsibilities, while at the same time also trying to recover from their injury. It’s a lot to juggle, and the insurance companies use this to their advantage because, for most, when it comes to dealing with their life versus treating for, let’s say a neck or back injury, many will choose dealing with their responsibilities because life doesn’t stop just because your injured. Insurance companies take advantage of this fact, and they use it against you by painting a picture that your actions aren’t consistent with someone whose been seriously hurt.
But if you do these three things, you can effectively take away these arguments.
1. Go to the Doctor as Soon as Possible After Your Accident
This may sound like a no brainer but there are a lot of people who put off going to the doctor for sometimes days and even weeks after an accident. They do this in hopes that their injury will get better on its own, or just because they don’t like going to doctors.
The problem is that any delay in seeking treatment, especially if significant (ex., greater than 7-10 days), will give the insurance company an argument to justify a lowball offer. The argument is that they don’t believe you could have actually been injured in the accident because, according to the insurance company (and many people believe this as well), if you were, in fact, injured in the accident, you would’ve seen a doctor sooner.
You can avoid this type of argument by just going to the doctor right after your accident. Even if it’s just an urgent care visit or going to a chiropractor. The point is that you just need to document your complaints early and as close to the date of the accident as possible.
2. Be Consistent with Your Medical Treatment
When looking at the medical records of someone who has been injured in an accident, one of the most concerning things to see is sporadic treatment. An example of this is when a person will treat consistently for a month or two, and then they stop treating at all for the next 2 or 3 months, or maybe even longer, and then they go back to treatment.
The problem with this type of sporadic treatment is that it creates what insurance companies call a gap in treatment. A gap in treatment is a period of time in which there is no medical treatment, whatsoever, for your injuries. This can be the period of time from the date of your accident until your first date of treatment, as discussed above, or a period of time between two treating appointments, with no medical explanation.
Insurance companies love gaps in treatment and they’ll use any gap in treatment to argue that you either weren’t hurt in your accident, or that your injury resolved and any treatment after the gap is not related to the accident. But if you consistently treat for your injuries, even if it’s just a regular maintenance appointment, the insurance company will take note of this and they won’t be able to make this argument.
3. Follow Your Doctors Recommendations
The absolute worst thing you can do for your injury case is to not follow your doctor’s recommendations. Aside from some exceptional circumstances, like caring for a sick family member, there is really no good explanation for not following your doctor’s recommendations.
A good example of this is when therapy (ex., physical therapy or chiropractic) has been recommended and the injured person either doesn’t go at all, or doesn’t go at the recommended rate. Or, worse yet, when therapy hasn’t fully resolved a person’s pain and the doctor recommends a pain management procedure – like an epidural steroid injection - and the person refuses this treatment. While it is understandable for someone to not want to have an injection, because nobody likes injections, the problem is that when you’re asking someone to pay you for your medical treatment and even more for your pain and suffering, you have to bet that the person or insurance company is going to look at the fact that you refused to do something that could have helped you, and they’re going to think that maybe your just not as injured as you claim.
Bottom line, if you want to increase the value of your personal injury case, you have to have early and consistent medical treatment, and you have to be compliant with what your doctors tell you. Anything short of this, you’re just helping the insurance company. More importantly, you’re costing yourself valuable dollars in recovery.
Call Jim The Lawyer, Accident and Injury Attorney,
After Your Apollo Beach Car Accident
Hiring an experienced car accident lawyer can make all the difference in the outcome of your Apollo Beach car accident case. If you’ve been injured in a Apollo Beach, Florida car accident, Jim The Lawyer is here to help you fight to get the maximum compensation you deserve for your injury. Contact Jim The Lawyer, Accident and Injury Attorney, at (813)937-9907 for a FREE Consultation and Case Evaluation.
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