Car accident Claims by Abraham S. Ovadia
Mistake Two: Failing to See A Doctor Right Away
After a car accident it is your responsibility to prove your were injured in the car accident. Many of my clients are injured after a car accident but are so busy getting their car repaired and paying bills that they don’t make time so see a doctor. If you see a doctor right way, it will help show the insurance company that you had injuries from the accident, and you will have proof in the form of medical records and a medical diagnosis from your doctor.
If you are injured immediately after an accident but don’t see a doctor for six weeks, the insurance companies don’t care if you work two jobs, take care of a sick elderly relative, or are going through a rough patch in your life. They only care about evaluating your car accident injuries in the light least favorable to you so that they can offer you less money for your injuries.
If you take to long to see a doctor, the insurance company can claim that (1) you weren’t Injured from the accident, or (2) you got hurt from something else after the accident, and you are pulling a fast one by claiming your pain is from the accident.
If you aren’t bleeding, didn’t bump your head on anything and don’t feel like you are going to die, then you may want to go to an urgent care clinic or a chiropractor’s office instead of the emergency room at a hospital. The urgent care/hospital care/chiropractic visit is usually no more than $300 dollars where the Local hospital charge may be as much as $30,000. The urgent care/chiropractic clinic will be able to evaluate your injuries and let you know if your injuries require an emergency room visit.
Important Note:
In Florida you need to see a (doctor of medicine [M.D.], Doctor of Chiropractic [D.C.], Visit a hospital, or receive treatment from a paramedic within fourteen days if you want to have access to $10,000 in personal injury protection (PIP) no-fault benefits from your insurance company.
Don’t be like Cliff-don’t have huge gaps in treatment
I represented Cliff. He was involved in a car accident and went to a hospital immediately afterward, where he complained of neck and lower back pain. The hospital gave him a lot of muscle relaxers and a note to follow up with an orthopedist. Cliff took the muscle relaxers but never followed up with any doctors because he didn’t know which ones took his health insurance. He called my office after seeing one of my billboards and told me that he had a lot of pain from the accident, but he didn’t know which doctor to go to. I helped set him up with a doctor that took his insurance, but two months had lapsed between the accident and his visit to the doctor. When it came time for the auto insurance company to make an offer to settle Cliff’s case, the insurance company took into consideration the two-month gap in treatment. Even though Cliff was finally able to see a doctor and get some treatment that made him feel better (he underwent steroid injections), the auto insurance company took the two-month gap into consideration when making him an offer.
