I bet it was awesome! You were having the time of your life. Winning at everything, football, cricket, racing, baseball and even at work. Met targets, been promoted and of the likes. You were at the top of Mount Everest, going crazy like Rocky at the top of the stadium.
You've heard about accident injury claims and injury compensation claims meaning all the same thing. But never had the pleasure of feeling it and you DON'T want to. You think it can't be that bad except when you get involved in a car accident. Those I believe are painful!
Anyway reaching the pinnacle of success couldn't get any better.
Then one day an accident injury occurs to YOU!
Your life falls apart. You can't win a single thing! Not even a date. You become a goof in the eyes of other people. You use to go out every Friday night. But now thanks to the accident injury, your bed is the only Friday night entertainment... well for the time being.
Life During An Injury Or Injury Claim
You feel like crap. PERIOD!
You were the first person everyone called when there was something going on everyday. You were like an operator, call after call after call. You had to specifically buy a phone that had a battery life for enough talk time in a whole day.
Now you don't even charge it for days and still your battery's full!
The Picture
There's nothing much you can do, beside catch up on films you kept thinking you'd get round to one day. Now you can watch movies all day or keep up to date with the news. What's happening around the world?
Before you hear about an accident and think how awful. But now you have absolute sincere remorse for those people in such situations. Just like Hurricane Katrina. How terrible is that?
The Feeling
You feel for other people, their losses, regardless how large or small.
Considering the best you can do is watch TV, soap after soap, movies after movie. Theres one thing you should never watch are the music channels!
These are happy, joyful 5 minute clips of people dancing, clapping, rocking their body and of the likes. If after a couple of clips your favourite tune comes on. You wanna move. You'll remember how it felt to be in such a happy position, singing and dancing.
You forget about your injury and move... 'OUCH!'
You remember you're injured and feel like crap again. Then you'll start wishing you weren't in that position and how the hell did you even get in that position in the first place. Just the thought of not moving let alone winning the games makes you think about your life in a different perspective.
The Move
After days of thoughts, it's time to do something about it. Get the best medication possible for pain relief, get a physiotherapy arranged, anything that gets you out of bed. Anything to be part of the real world again.
But what about the time lost? How are you going to get that back as once it's gone it's gone. You can't recover that, practically impossible!
The Injury Claim
Make an accident claim or an injury claim, both giving the same result. Choose the best no win no fee solicitor around and go for it. Then pour your feelings out! Sounds crazy even stupid for some people to mention their emotions to an accident solicitor let alone a stranger. It tends to be more difficult for men than women.
A compensation solicitor knows how you feel, they see many of the likes day in day out. However, if you don't mention your feelings including your injury then they can't make the 'ultimate winning personal injury claim'.
The Settlement
Compensation settlements cheques are based on various factors. It's not just your physical ability that's affected, so are your feelings.
For example if you were the best center forward in your neighbourhood, everyone wants you on their team. You can't play for anyone and after a while they don't want you on their team. How would you feel?
Hundreds of professional players around the world have to give up their careers cause of an accident injury. They also have to choose a different profession. It kills them psychologically! So what helps them to forget and move on? A compensation claim! Not exactly getting them back in the profession, but does compensate them to carry on with their lives.
Think about it?
Question: I was injured in a rear-end collision where little damage was caused to my vehicle. The other driver's insurance company is denying my claim, saying that I could not possibly have been injured when the damage to my car was so small. What do I do now?
Answer: Unfortunately, more and more insurance companies are implementing a policy of denying bodily injury claims outright, or only offering a nominal sum to settle, when the property damage is below a certain monetary amount, like $1,000. The first thing you should know is that there is no credible scientific support for the proposition that injury potential can be determined based on the extent of property damage caused to the vehicle. However, these "low damage" cases may be difficult to prove in court because jurors often believe that injuries cannot occur in low speed crashes.
Insurance companies will often hire self-proclaimed "experts" to help them spread the myth that low damage means little or no injury. If you find yourself in this position, here are a few suggestions. First, take your car to another reliable automotive shop to determine the full extent of damage. Quite often, most of the damage will be hidden and an expert will need to dissemble the rear bumper and check the vehicle for all possible signs of impact. Second, you must adequately document all damage and all evidence that a collision occurred. This means taking photographs and compiling a thorough repair estimate. Third, do not repair the vehicle or accept a property settlement until you have spoken to an attorney. Finally, you need to hire experienced counsel because a lawsuit is probably inevitable. My office has successfully handled many claims involving "low damage" collisions. Please email me directly or contact my office if you wish to discuss your claim further.
Question: I've been receiving medical treatment for injuries I received in a car crash 6 mos. ago and my insurance company has been paying the bills as required under my PIP coverage. Just recently, I attended a medical exam requested by my insurance company and now the medical examiner says that I am "fixed and stable" and no further treatment is necessary. Now my own insurance company is refusing to pay for any more of my treatment even though I still hurt and am no where near "maximum medical improvement" according to my own doctors. Is this legal!!?
Answer: Unfortunately, and in most cases, yes. Your insurance company has the contractual right to have you examined and to have your treatment reviewed by another medical professional. Insurance companies like to call these one-time examinations "Independent Medical Exams" or "IME's." This is a gross misnomer however-- they should really be titled "Insurance Medical Exams" because insurance companies use these one-time exams (or in some cases, a one-time medical records review) as a way to terminate benefits regardless of whether you are still benefiting from additional treatment. Insurance companies use "IME's" to save them money and their medical examiners are often "hired guns" willing to offer the right medical opinion to justify this goal. As one doctor friend of mine aptly states -- opinions are commodities like everything else and you can always buy the right one you are looking for. If you find yourself being requested to submit to an "Insurance Medical Exam," here are a few suggestions. First, before submitting to an exam, read your policy! The insurance company's right to request an exam is contained within the insurance contract. Review it to make sure the company is not violating any of the policy provisions. Second, you really should consider hiring an attorney. Recent case law has suggested that the "IME" report may be discoverable by the third party tortfeasor, providing additional ammunition for the defense attorney. Attorneys can often insist that the exam be delayed and insist that an impartial observer be present during the exam. Third, make sure you give the examiner an accurate description of your prior health problems, current complaints, and the facts of the crash. Any discrepancies will be used against you. Lastly, recognize that the examiner will be looking for all signs that you are not injured -- how you walk into the examination room, how you sit, how long you sit, facial expressions, etc. In one case I handled, the examiner wrote in his report how he watched my client drive into the parking lot, "jump" out of his car with no "apparent difficulty" and "ran" into the building entrance! Need I say more?
Question: Can I settle my case on my own without an attorney?
Answer: If most people could settle claims on their own for fair value, we wouldn't need lawyers. Lawyers are necessary because there is no formula for determining the value of a given claim. Representing a person's rights is complex--to do it successfully takes formal training, experience, guts, and some hard-earned intuition. Think about it, insurance companies make a lot of money settling claims for far less then what they are worth. If you don't settle claims for a living, how are you to know whether the insurance company's offer is fair and reasonable?
However, some claims do not require the assistance of an attorney. Each case is different and depends on its own set of facts. If we believe we can't recover a higher settlement than the insurance company's last offer, or that the attorney fee will leave little money left over for you, we usually will decline to take the case and advise you to settle on your own. We always decline to accept a case if the client is likely to recover as much money without the assistance of an attorney. On the other hand, if we accept your case, we guarantee that you will recover as much as you would have received based on the insurance company's last offer before our office was retained. In most cases, you should retain experienced and competent counsel. Without an experienced attorney, a person can seriously damage the value of his or her case.
Both John Pawlett & Christopher Davis are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
John Pawlett has sinced written about articles on various topics from Mobile Phone Reviews, Home Based Business and Facelift Before and After. Online Solicitor is an informative Solicitor site that looks into all aspects of Solicitors from Claims to Price.To find out more visit . John Pawlett's top article generates over 368000 views. to your Favourites.
Christopher Davis has sinced written about articles on various topics from Family, Marketing and Wrongful Death. Christopher M. Davis is the managing partner of Davis Law Group. He brings over 15 years of practical yet innovative experience to personal injury cases. He practices law in Seattle, WA. You can learn more about Mr. Davis at. Christopher Davis's top article generates over 22200 views. to your Favourites.