Top 5 Mistakes Accident Victims Make in Obtaining Treatment

Written by Dan Shaivitz

After 16 years of practice, I tend to notice the same trends often cause personal injury claims to wind up in court with clients frustrated about why the insurance company did not offer a better pretrial settlement.

The simple reality is the more diligent my client is about obtaining treatment, the more likely they will be to receive a more meaningful settlement offer without going to court.

Here are the top 5 most common mistakes made by personal injury clients in obtaining treatment (and how to avoid them):

1. THEY DON’T GET TREATMENT.  If you’re looking for the most effective way to destroy your personal injury case, you’ve found it.  Many folks who are injured think that the accident was not too serious and the aches and pains are not too bad.  They may be proud or stubborn or don’t want to appear weak.  They may decide to live with the pain, stiffness, and soreness instead of getting appropriate medical attention.  However, insurance adjusters believe that truly injured people who are entitled to compensation get medical treatment—and generally, they are correct!  Make sure to seek appropriate medical attention if you are hurt and follow through with the recommended treatment plan.  Otherwise, your injuries will not be treated and documented and your claim will have little value.
2. THEY DO NOT ASK FOR MEDICAL ATTENTION AT THE ACCIDENT SCENE.  If you feel unwell at the scene of the accident, call 911 and ask for police and an ambulance.  Your health comes first!  First responders are never too busy to help you and in most cases, you may experience anxiety, stress, and other emotions as a result of being involved in an accident.  Get the help you need right away, no matter what the consequences of leaving the scene in an ambulance may be.
3. THEY WAIT TOO LONG TO GET TREATMENT.  This is related to the mistake above.  Instead of obtaining immediate treatment, accident victims often wait too long to start treatment.  While it is totally reasonable and understandable for an injured person to wait to see whether their injuries will get better and they actually need treatment, insurance companies do not see things that way.  The time you reasonably wait to see if your symptoms are temporary is what the insurance companies call a “GAP IN TREATMENT”.  The insurance company will then argue that your soft tissue injuries, like sprains and strains, should resolve on their own in 6-8 weeks.  If you start treatment after a delay, insurance companies will also likely argue that some other event or activity after the accident caused, contributed to, or worsened your injuries.  Don’t give the insurance companies the ammunition to fight your reasonable medical treatment.  Get treatment right away.
4. THEY DO NOT FOLLOW THEIR PROVIDERS’ RECOMMENDATIONS.  We all live busy lives.  We balance work, families, and other activities.  It is often inconvenient to attend all your doctor and therapist appointments.  It is critical that you do so.  Listen to your treating health care providers and avoid the temptation to discharge yourself from care at the first signs of improvement.  Often, it takes weeks (sometimes months) for therapeutic treatment to help you reach maximum medical improvement, particularly with back and neck injuries. Be patient and trust the process.  Otherwise, you may experience incomplete results and flare-ups which could have been prevented.  Remember that all of your medical bills can be recoverable.  Go to all your appointments, get proper rest, and do your home treatment!
5. THEY DO NOT TELL THEIR DOCTORS EVERYTHING.  Your treating health care providers need to know everything about your history and symptoms to provide effective treatment of your injuries.  If you had prior accidents or treatment, tell your providers.  Let them know whether your symptoms are totally new since your accident or if your symptoms existed before the accident but have become worse.  Tell your providers what is wrong with your body so they can completely document your injuries and progress during your path to recovery.  Give your providers the information they need to help heal you!

I hope these tips are helpful to you. If you have questions about personal injury law, please contact me at (301) 656-1177 or dshaivitz@bulmandunie.com.