Mistakes After a Personal Injury

Answer:

We had a client come in the other day who had a personal injury claim in Kansas and, unfortunately, they had made a lot of the most common mistakes that we see with people who do have a personal injury claim. One, they failed to collect all the evidence at the scene. Everyone thinks that law enforcement at the scene of an injury or anyone investigating is going to be documenting all the evidence, gathering all the witnesses’ information, and taking photographs, but unfortunately that does not always happen. Sometimes it does happen, but, before they get back to their desk to finalize their report, that information is lost, so it really is important to gather evidence there immediately at the scene, take photographs and get as much information as you can. If you’re injured to the point that you can’t do that, get in touch with an attorney right away who can get as much evidence gathered as soon as possible. The more time that goes by, the more difficulty anyone will have in locating that evidence.

Another mistake that this person made is they did not go get the medical treatment that they needed. When something first happens, a lot of people feel like they’re not injured. They have a lot of adrenaline going at that time, and they immediately turn down calling the ambulance or going to the emergency room, but that adrenaline often wears off and people then start feeling the effects of their injury. Even then, a lot of times, people think they’ll get better, and they don’t need to go to the doctor, don’t want to rack up medical bills, and they’ll wait sometimes weeks or longer to get the treatment that they need. That is a huge mistake. If you have waited several weeks to go get any treatment at all, the insurance company is going to argue that you were not actually injured from the injury or the incident and instead that you had an injury some other time after that. It’s helpful to document that treatment and the symptoms that you’re having, and also to get started on your treatment right away so that you can get ahead of it hopefully and improve as quickly as possible.

Another mistake this person made was they spoke to the insurance company and gave a recorded statement. That is a common mistake that we see. People think they don’t have anything to lie about and they’re just going to tell the truth. They figure they can’t do any harm to their case, but unfortunately that is a big mistake. Insurance companies know what they’re doing and are skilled at this. They ask questions in a certain way, in a certain order, focused on or with the goal of making sure they can gather evidence to help them delay or deny your claim.

The biggest mistake that this person had made was they hired a different attorney, which ended up being the wrong attorney. It’s very important to make sure that you hire an attorney who is skilled and experienced in personal injury law, as well as a trial attorney who is willing to take your case to trial if the insurance company is not being fair and reasonable and not willing to pay a fair amount for your damages. If you don’t hire the right attorney, then you either won’t get the best recovery available or you may end up having to try to find another attorney, like this person was doing.

Those are the four things that this person did that we see pretty consistently with a lot of people, so don’t make those mistakes. If you have any questions about this or any other personal injury matter, give us a call and we’d be happy to answer any questions you have.