Well, the first thing that we do when we see a client is we want to make sure that there’s continuity of treatment. We’re always recommending to clients that if injured that they go immediately to the urgent care or an ER after the accident. A lot of times people will say, but I don’t feel that bad. And sometimes the onset of pain or injury is felt days, if not weeks later. We want to make sure they go get evaluated, at least at a minimum, within a few days of the accident. But then over time we will make sure that they’re managing their care, that they’re seeing a primary care physician and that they’re being referred out for whatever the necessary treatment is. That could be from chiropractic to acupuncture all the way up to MRIs and epidural injections and in more severe cases that could be surgery.
The key is to make sure that it’s continuous. Because one of the main things that I don’t think necessarily most people understand is the insurance company is looking for any opportunity to try and decrease the value of the case. And one of their biggest arguments is lack of treatment. And it’s counterintuitive because people say, well, I don’t want to over treat, and I don’t want it to appear that I’m being a wimp. I hear that a lot from the guys, especially. I don’t want to be looked at as a wimp. I can get over this on my own. And then of course, two weeks later, they’re not getting over it on their own. And now we have a gap in treatment that the insurance company will point to and say, if you were that injured, why weren’t you going to the doctor? You should have been reporting this to somebody.
The other issue that people don’t realize is that as a claimant, in a personal injury case, you have a duty to mitigate your damages. Just like you, you can’t tell the insurance company, “Hey, you have to pay for my car because it runs like crap now, and I’ve got things falling off of it.” You should pay me more than what it would cost to fix the car rather than going and just getting the car fixed, right? It’s kind of the same thing with your treatment. I’ll have clients come to me and say, well, I’ve been injured for six weeks. And I say, okay, well, what have you done about it? They go, what do you mean? I don’t have to do anything about it. I’m just sitting around an I’m resting and I’m getting better. But actually, in reality, you have a duty to mitigate your damages. Meaning if you can make yourself better, you need to go to the doctor, you need to seek physical therapy, you need to seek epidural injections or whatever the treatment is that the doctors believe is going to get you better. And if you don’t, it’ll decrease the value of the case.
Hi I’m James Tedford, aka “Ted”. I’m the lead trial attorney at Tedford & Associates and I’m a fourth generation Californian. If you are facing challenges from your insurance company over an injury call (626) 790-1066 today.
What many victims do not realize is that the insurance companies will purposefully offer you a very low sum of compensation in order to make a profit for themselves. They do not have your best interests in mind, and they can be extremely difficult to work with if you do not have a lawyer on your side. At Tedford & Associates, we make your best interests our number one priority. We are compassionate with our clients and aggressive when fighting to protect their rights.