Sometimes people ask me whether it is better to put off getting medical treatment for their injuries in a wrongful death,car accident or slip and fall case.
Their reasoning is that if they delay getting medical treatment, the insurance company will know they are not just trying to run up the bill to get a better offer.
And the insurance company will reward them for their honesty.
You know what the answer to this one is.
In my opinion there are no good reasons to delay getting medical treatment for your injuries.
Why?
It has to do with the rules of the game in personal injury cases.
You may or may not like these rules but we are stuck with them nonetheless.
The first rule is what insurance companies use as a big barometer of setting a value of a case.
How much $$ they offer you in your case.
What is it?
It is the victim’s medical treatment.
I cannot tell you how many times we have had a good liability case with minimal treatment.
What happens in those situations is the adjuster calls me and says Bernie we want to be fair to you and your client.
But Bernie your client just didn’t get any medical treatment.
So even though we are at fault we are only going to make a $$1000 offer for your client’s injuries.
Not a happy result for anyone.
About the price of 4 box seats to a Penguins game!
Now let’s compare that with a client who is say hit from behind in an auto accident and is injured.
The client goes by ambulance from the accident scene and is checked out at the emergency room.
Then a week later that same client goes in to see her family doctor for her injuries.
The same client then begins a course of physical therapy.
Finally, after finishing her physical therapy she goes back to see her family doctor who sends her to a specialist.
The specialist runs tests and determines there is no further need for medical treatment.
We then send a demand package to the insurance adjuster with all this documentation noted above.
In that situation, even though the injuries are soft tissue in nature, the insurance company by way of example may offer $$15,000 to settle the case.
Why?
Because the insurance adjuster can document and justify to their superiors why they put a higher value on the case.
The reason being of course is that the second client received a lot of medical treatment.
Of course, you shouldn’t go for medical treatment just to enhance the value of your case.
However Pittsburgh wrongful death, car accident and slip and fall attorney Bernie Tully believes the more you can document your injuries, the higher the money value of your case becomes.
Do you agree with the advice of Pittsburgh wrongful death car accident and slip and fall attorney Bernie Tully?
We would love to hear from you.
Thanks for reading.
Bernie the attorney.