Injuries After the Accident
Immediately following a car accident, you may not have felt some of the serious soft tissue damage done in the course of the incident. Not all injuries present immediately. In fact, some injuries will take days or weeks to emerge. Some less-than-reputable insurance companies may try to use this injury delay to convince you that you can’t make a personal injury claim.
Regardless of whether you were at fault or not, insurance policies exist to cover any injuries caused by an accident. While insurance companies are not allowed to lie about covered claims, they can say, “You didn’t report that injury at the time of the accident” and “You could have avoided further damages by taking an ambulance to the hospital.” Although these sentences are true, the real intent of making these statements is to dissuade you from pursuing the personal injury claim.
If you have seen a doctor, some insurance companies will imply that they won’t pay out on a claim unless you see one of their approved doctors. On the other hand, if you report a delayed injury to the insurance company first, they can imply that you should have already seen your own doctor and not wasted time calling them first. In other words, some insurance companies will try to deflect and confuse the medical issues in an effort to reduce the likelihood of a successful claim.
If you suspect the car accident caused any recent aches and pains — even if it’s months after the incident — call a personal injury attorney. Don’t bother calling the insurance company. Insurance companies are experts on minimizing pay-outs for medical claims. While we might hope all companies put your health as a priority, most will simply be unhelpful in the hopes that you won’t bother pursuing the problem through a claim.
