If you’ve been injured in a car accident, you should probably see a doctor. You may even need to go to the emergency room. Sometimes injuries get worse without proper medical treatment.
But medical bills will start arriving in the mail, and the amounts you owe can be pretty shocking, especially if you were hospitalized or needed surgery.
If you were injured and someone else is at fault, you need to make sure those who are at fault do pay.
If your injuries were caused by another driver’s negligence or carelessness, you may be entitled to get money from their insurance company through a “personal injury” claim. Under the law, victims can seek compensation for, among other damages, both past and future medical costs.
Should I Accept the Offer from the Insurance Company?
Insurance companies will often contact you quickly, offering money to help. It can be tempting. You might have bills piling up. Maybe you've missed work or had other problems because of your injuries, so you feel like you need money fast. And you might want to put this unfortunate incident behind you. The insurance adjuster may make a quick settlement sound like a good idea.
The insurance company will probably offer you a low settlement that will barely cover your current medical bills. And you may think you’ve gotten all the medical treatment you need.
But once you settle, you can’t go back and ask for more money if it turns out you need more medical treatment.
We recommend that you don’t accept the insurance company’s first offer. It's especially important to wait if you’re still being treated and expect more doctors' visits. You really don't know what the total amount of your medical bills are going to be.
Once you’ve accepted their settlement offer, you can't go back and get more. There’s usually no way for you to reopen your case.
This is why it’s important to hire a personal injury attorney who knows how these things work. We know what a reasonable settlement range is, because we’ve handled hundreds of personal injury cases.
We may be able to get you money you didn’t even know was available, and the insurance adjuster didn’t tell you about. Sometimes, the at-fault driver has something called medical payments coverage (something attorney refer to as med-pay). Not everyone has medical payments coverage, and the insurance company may make it difficult for you to recover. We know how to get the insurance companies to cough up the med-pay pretty quickly. And you can take that money, and still ask for more.
It can be complicated. If you don’t know what to ask, you may not receive enough money to cover your medical expenses. An experienced personal injury attorney can help protect your right to a full and fair recovery. Call us. We offer free consultations and will let you know what your rights are.
Contact us online or by phone at (919) 373-3390 for a free consultation with our personal injury team at Thorp Law after you’ve been injured in an accident. Whether you’ve been injured in a car accident or by a dangerous product, at our firm, your needs and goals come first.