6 Things Personal Injury Claimants Must Do After Injury

What Should Claimants Do After an Injury?

For those who submitted a personal injury claim to their insurance, it’s important you follow through with your treatment. This is important as pursuing the best treatment will allow for a better chance of receiving max compensation. Below are 6 tasks to complete after enduring an injury.

1. If you’re in pain, immediately see a doctor – After an accident, you must receive immediate medical treatment from your general physician or an emergency hospital clinic or visit your local 24-hour clinic. All your out-of-pocket expenses for such costs are reimbursable upon settlement.




2. Discuss your injuries and health problems with your doctor experienced after your accident –  Make sure you tell your treating doctor what happened and describe in detail your injuries. Whatever you tell the doctor or nurse will be in your report. Later in litigation, this report will be used in discovery, depositions, mediation, and/or even trial. So be careful.




3. Follow your doctors’ instructions – Doctor’s orders are vital. You must adhere to what your doctor prescribes; such as physical therapy, keeping your referral appointment (i.e. seeing an orthopedic surgeon for a potential evaluation), or just keeping with your medications. Following doctor’s orders is a key to a quick and solid recovery. Remember, that you may see several medical providers through the course of your therapy, so it is vital to make notes during your doctor visits.




4. Keep and attend your doctors’ appointments – This section should be a no brainer. You must keep the doctor’s appointments because your treatment is a building block to the next step of more aggressive treatments. For instance, if you miss your chiropractic therapy, this could delay your next appointment with more aggressive treatment, such as receiving an orthopedic evaluation regarding your condition. If, conservative treatment such as chiropractic therapy is not enough, then your next step would be an MRI after an ortho evaluation. However, if you miss your chiropractic appointments, your MRI will be delayed resulting in a delay of your settlement.




5. Don’t discuss your case with anyone apart from your attorney and/or doctor –  You must not discuss your case with anyone! Including friends and government agencies. Especially insurance adjusters. You will notice that immediately after an accident, a very “friendly” insurance adjuster will call you and ask you for a “recorded statement”. This adjuster could be from your own insurance agency as well. DO NOT under any circumstances, give the adjuster your recorded statement because essentially, the adjuster is trying to find a way out of paying you less for your settlement. In other words, they will try to attribute fault to your conduct. Their questions will seem very harmless, but they can later come back and bite you! You may provide a recorded statement to the adjuster if your lawyer allows you to do so. Generally, I am present with my client during a recorded statement.




6. Relax and let your attorney handle your case – After you have retained an attorney, they should handle every aspect of your claim or lawsuit. Your only duty is to follow the steps above and keep in contact with your attorney and do as he/she say as they have your best interest in mind. Good luck and be safe.

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For more information on your claim, a free policy audit, or for your free case evaluation, contact our stellar legal team at Los Angeles City Law today. We’re here to help you seek proper justice.