Dealing with painful injuries or expensive bills after an accident can be overwhelming, especially when you’re juggling numerous documents and medical appointments. Understanding the top mistakes to avoid during a personal injury claim is crucial, ensuring you don’t let anything fall through and securing the full compensation your claim deserves.
Let’s look at the top 4 mistakes to avoid if you’re filing a personal injury claim:
1. Delaying and/or not following Medical Care
As soon as you are involved in an accident, you must have your injuries checked by a medical professional. Taking care of your health should always be priority number one, and ensuring there are no internal injuries or anything life-threatening is essential. This will also help document your injuries and create a paper trail for your claim. It is also extremely important to follow all medical instructions and attend all follow-up visits that may be scheduled. Even if you’re feeling a little better after the treatments, not following up with these appointments can cause the courts to believe you’re not taking your injuries seriously or that your injury is not very serious.
2. Providing a statement without an attorney
If you are ever asked to make a statement about your injuries by either the opposing party or the insurance company, always consult a personal injury lawyer beforehand and have them present if you decide to make a statement. Anything you say in a statement can be used against you later in court or when determining a settlement. You do not want to be unclear or have words you said when not fully prepared come back to haunt you later in the claim process.
3. Accepting a settlement without an attorney
In the same vein of advice, you never want to accept a settlement offer without speaking to or having a personal injury attorney present. Insurance companies are for-profit businesses and don’t have your best interests at heart. Consulting with an experienced attorney can help you calculate how much you are actually owed in damages rather than the reduced cost that an insurance company may offer to save their company money.
4. Avoid Social Media
After a traumatic injury, you may want to post about it or let people know you are doing okay. Maybe you have a big family event you’re excited to go to and plan to grin and bear whatever pain you are in to be able to participate. You have followed the doctor’s orders and taken all prescribed treatments, and think you can make this one day and want to post about going. However, anything you post online on social media is public information and can be used against you to make your injuries seem not as damaging as they are. What for you was a painful but worthwhile visit to see family, others can use to show your injuries are a mild inconvenience, and you’re out living normally despite your claims. It’s a safe course to avoid social media during this timeframe.
As you can see, there are many different pitfalls that you can easily fall into during a personal injury claim. Simple mistakes that fall through the cracks can add up and make your claim much harder than needed. That’s why we always encourage you to contact an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as possible after an accident that left you injured, like our team at Smith & Beckey Personal Injury Lawyers. We can help you ensure that all your “i’s” are dotted and help you bring the strongest case for your claim. If you’ve been in an accident as a result of someone else’s negligent actions, get in touch with us today.
