Did a car accident leave you struggling with your injury claim?
Automotive personal injuries can feel like a constant uphill battle. Between the pain, the medical bills, and insurance companies working overtime to pay you as little as possible, it’s enough to make anyone’s head spin.
Automotive personal injury claims follow certain strategies that can make or break your case. Here’s the hard evidence: recent statistics show that 52% of all personal injury cases involve a motor vehicle accident. It’s the number one most common type of personal injury claim.
Did you know? Automotive personal injury cases have a number of strategies for you to use that can dramatically improve your claim.
The best part is you don’t need to go it alone. Working with an experienced professional like Mahony Law with an established track record in automotive personal injuries makes all the difference between a weak settlement and full maximum compensation.
The average settlement for automotive personal injuries is between $15,000 and $100,000. Some of these strategies can make all the difference.
Learn the insider secrets:
- Understanding Your Rights After an Automotive Accident
- The Documentation Game-Changer
- How to Handle Insurance Company Tactics
- Medical Treatment That Strengthens Your Case
- When to Involve Legal Representation
- Maximizing Your Settlement Value
- Common Mistakes That Kill Claims
- Bottom Line Takeaways
Understanding Your Rights After an Automotive Accident
Here’s some info most people don’t know…
The first few hours after an automotive accident are absolutely critical to the success of your personal injury claim. Countless injury victims make monumental mistakes that seriously impact their settlements simply because they’re uninformed about their rights.
You have the right to seek immediate medical attention for any automotive accident, even if you don’t think you’re injured. Adrenaline is a powerful force that masks pain, and many injuries don’t have any outward symptoms for days or even weeks.
You also have the right to document everything. This means taking photos of the scene, the damage to your vehicle, the other driver’s vehicle, and any visible injuries you or passengers may have sustained.
Why this matters…
Insurance companies will do anything they can to reduce your personal injury payout. If you make incriminating statements at the scene or skip out on seeking medical treatment, they’ll happily use that against you down the road.
The Documentation Game-Changer
Documentation is your secret weapon for all automotive injury claims.
This includes:
- Police reports from the scene
- Medical records of all treatments and checkups
- Photos of any and all vehicle damage and injuries
- Witness contact information and recorded statements
- Lost wage documentation from your employer or place of business
Medical records are especially important when it comes to delayed injuries. Some automotive personal injuries like whiplash or concussions take a while before they start really making themselves known.
How to Handle Insurance Company Tactics
Did you know something that will blow your mind?
Insurance companies have entire departments and divisions whose only job is to pay out as little as possible on automotive personal injury claims.
This means tactics like:
- Offering “quick” settlements before you have any idea the full extent of your injuries
- Requesting you give a recorded statement which is designed to trap you into saying something they can use against you
- Delaying, delaying, and more delaying until you get desperate and accept a smaller payout
- Questioning the legitimacy of your medical treatment and even accompanying you to appointments
The “quick settlement” scam is a particularly dangerous one. Insurance companies may offer a few thousand dollars within a matter of days of your automotive accident in hopes you’ll take it and sign away all future rights.
The reality is many automotive personal injuries can take weeks or months to fully present themselves. That herniated disc or bulging disc can take time to show up on MRI or X-ray.
Never accept the first offer from an insurance company. The industry standard for negotiation on personal injury claims is to offer you far less than your claim is actually worth.
Medical Treatment That Strengthens Your Case
Getting the right medical treatment isn’t just important for your health – it’s important for your case.
Guidelines to follow:
- See a doctor ASAP after your accident, even if you don’t think you’re injured
- Follow all medical recommendations and treatment guidelines from your doctors
- Attend all scheduled appointments and treatments
- Be honest and thorough about your pain levels and symptoms
What most people don’t realize…
Gaps in medical treatment can be a death sentence for your case. Insurance companies will pounce on any missed appointments or gaps in your treatment.
Some automotive personal injuries require long term and/or ongoing treatment like physical therapy, chiropractic care, and specialist visits. Each of those items will rack up higher medical bills – and a higher potential compensation.
When to Involve Legal Representation
Possibly the most important section of this entire article.
Here’s the real secret: People with legal representation see settlements that are nearly three times higher than those without any form of legal representation.
The big question is: when do you contact an attorney? The answer is much sooner than you might think.
If any of the following apply to your automotive accident, you need legal help:
- Your injuries required emergency room treatment or immediate medical attention
- You missed more than a few days of work due to your injuries
- The other driver was clearly at fault but their insurance company is denying liability
- You’re running into resistance from the insurance company
The consultation mistake most people make is waiting until the insurance company makes an offer before seeking out legal advice. By then, it may be too late as you might have already made statements that hurt your claim.
Maximizing Your Settlement Value
So you want to know how to maximize your settlement value?
Focus on a few key areas:
- Document everything related to your injuries and the impact they have on your life
- Follow all medical advice and treatment recommendations from your doctors
- Keep careful records of lost wages and other financial impacts of your injuries
- Don’t discuss your claim on social media or with friends and family
- Be patient, don’t rush the negotiation process
Multiplier method explained:
Insurance companies have a standard multiplier to figure out pain and suffering damages. They take your economic damages, which are your medical bills and lost wages, and multiply them by a number.
This multiplier can range between 1.5 and 5, depending on the severity of your injuries.
So let’s say your medical bills are $20,000, and your case is a serious injury case. The multiplier could be used to determine your pain and suffering is worth anywhere from $60,000 to $100,000.
Common Mistakes That Kill Claims
Let’s finish up with the all-time common mistakes people make that really hurt their claims.
- Admitting fault at the scene – even saying “I’m sorry” can be twisted around
- Waiting to seek medical treatment – this can be ammunition against you
- Giving a recorded statement without legal advice first – these things are designed to trip you up
- Accepting the first settlement offer – it will almost always be too low
- Posting on social media – insurance companies have eyes everywhere on your accounts
The social media trap is particularly pernicious because even innocent posts can be twisted around to claim your injuries aren’t that bad.
Bottom Line Takeaways
Successfully navigating automotive personal injury claims is a complex process that requires patience, knowledge, and some advanced planning. The difference between a strong case and a flimsy one can boil down to knowing and following these simple principles.
Critical points to remember:
- Document everything from day one
- Get medical treatment and attend all follow-up appointments
- Don’t rush into settlement negotiations with insurance companies
- Consider legal representation from the start
- Stay off social media while your case is active
The truth is automotive personal injuries can have long-lasting and even permanent consequences on your life, your finances, and your family. You deserve compensation that is fair, that accurately reflects the cost of your injuries.
Take these tips, consult with a professional, and get the outcome you deserve.
