In this video, I will provide you with four tips on how you can possibly maximize your back injury car accident settlement. And if you stick around to the end of the video, I will also provide you with a bonus tip on how you can possibly maximize your settlement for your back injury following a car accident if you’re up for the challenge.
To illustrate how these tips can help, let me tell you the story of my past client, Sean. Sean was a young man in his 20s at the time of his motor vehicle accident. He was stopped waiting to make a left turn when a car slammed into the back of his vehicle. As in most rear-end car accident cases, liability was clear against the driver who slammed into the rear of Sean’s vehicle. In fact, the other driver’s insurance company accepted liability for the accident.
Thus, we simply had to prove the amount of Sean’s damages. And, like for all my clients, it was my goal to get Sean every penny I possibly could for him. Sean experienced back pain, neck pain, bruising, and abdominal pain as a result of the accident. The most significant injury he sustained was to his low back. He was transported by ambulance to the hospital, where diagnostic testing was performed, and he was prescribed a muscle relaxer and discharged.
Tip 1: Go in an Ambulance
If you experience any back pain following your car accident, go in an ambulance. Not only is it the smart decision for your health, but going in an ambulance to the hospital if you’re experiencing back pain is also the smart decision for your injury claim. Insurance companies typically evaluate claims where the injury victim went to the hospital in an ambulance from the scene of the accident at a higher value as opposed to claims where the victim did not go to the hospital. An ambulance bill can certainly increase the amount of money that you might get in your settlement. It also adds credibility to your claim.
In Sean’s case, after he was discharged, he began physical therapy and pain management treatment shortly after he was discharged from the hospital. He consistently stuck with his medical treatment in his attempts to recover from his injuries. He continuously got medical treatment up until about three months following his accident when he finished his medical treatment.
Tip 2: Get Consistent Medical Treatment
Get consistent medical treatment following your accident. Do not skip your appointments with medical providers. If you consistently get medical treatment while you are still in pain, you can possibly maximize the value of your case. If you miss doctor appointments or only sporadically get medical treatment, you hurt your chance of maximizing the value of your case.
While Sean was getting his medical treatment, he also had an MRI completed on his low back, which revealed a disc herniation at L5-S1. This leads me to my third tip.
Tip 3: Get an MRI
Get an MRI on your back. An MRI can provide objective evidence of your injury that may reveal that you sustained a bulging or herniated disc. This objective evidence can increase the value of your case. If you don’t get an MRI, even if you actually have a bulging or herniated disc, the insurance company will likely just view your back injury as a soft tissue injury, which are injuries typically valued at a lower amount than a bulging or herniated disc injury.
In Sean’s case, once he completed medical treatment, I sent a written demand package to the insurance company, and they agreed to pay out their driver’s insurance policy limits to settle Sean’s claim.
Tip 4: Send a Demand for the Policy Limits
Send a demand for the policy limits or an amount much higher than your claim’s approximate value. By sending a demand for the policy limits or an amount higher than the approximate value from your injury claim, you give yourself a shot to potentially get maximum compensation. Insurance companies won’t just give you money after you send them your medical bills, medical records, and other evidence in support of your claim. You typically need to initiate settlement negotiations by making a demand in writing.
Now back to Sean’s case, because I told you Sean was not done after he got the $50,000 policy limits settlement from the other driver’s insurer. You see, the vehicle Sean occupied had underinsured motorist insurance coverage on it, so Sean was eligible for even more compensation. So I sent a demand package to the underinsured motorist insurer as well. After some negotiations back and forth, I was finally able to settle the claim as well to get Sean even more compensation. At the end of the day, Sean took home over $75,000 for his total settlement after the underinsured motorist claim settled.
Bonus Tip: File a Lawsuit
For those that stuck around to the end of this video, that leads me to my bonus tip on how you can possibly maximize your back injury car accident settlement. File a lawsuit, especially if you get a lowball settlement offer in your case. While in Sean’s case, I don’t necessarily think we got a lowball offer, so it probably did not make sense to file a lawsuit in his case even though I think we could have squeezed a little bit more compensation for Sean in his case. Filing a lawsuit and litigating your case can be challenging, though, as it can take a significant amount of time and money, so you have to determine if the case makes sense to file a lawsuit on in light of the settlement offer in your case. It’s been my experience that the insurance company will almost always offer more compensation in the case at some point after filing a lawsuit. Sometimes it might not be much more compensation, but other times it could be a significant amount of compensation.
If you want to maximize your back injury settlement after your car accident, follow the tips I discussed in this video. The thing is, now that you know the tips I discuss in this video, how do you know when it’s the right time to put my bonus tip to use and file a lawsuit in your case? Well, that’s exactly what I discuss in this video about to pop up here, where you will learn the factors to consider when determining whether or not you should file a lawsuit in your injury case.
Lastly, if you’ve been injured in a car accident, slip or trip and fall incident, or dog attack incident in Kentucky, remember: don’t wait, call Tate.
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