After an accident, an injured person will talk to the insurance company for the other driver and tell them what happened. They might even say things like “I feel fine” or It’s nothing just a little sore.” But what if they later feel worse? Or maybe what they thought was just a little pain and soreness was a serious injury? Have they blown their case?
If you ask any attorney, they will tell you not to speak to the insurance company before you talk to them, and while that’s good advice, it’s not always the way things go. It’s natural to answer the phone when the insurance company calls. Or maybe you called them, and now you feel differently.
Don’t despair, while it was probably better not to speak to them, if you did, a good attorney can still make a good case so long as you have an injury backed up by medical evidence.
A Record of the Injury
If you have a record of the injury, and the seriousness of the injury is supported by the medical evidence, then you most likely will be fine. After an accident, it’s not uncommon for some people to feel fine and later feel much worse. Some injuries like a fractured bone are going to have immediate pain, but others like nerve damage or soft tissue damage might not hurt though all the adrenaline, or the seriousness of the injury might not manifest itself until a later time.
The important thing is that your doctor eventually discovers what the injury is and provide a record of his or her diagnosis and treatment. Then your attorney can use this as evidence of and actual. Verifiable injury and will then be able to make a case for compensation.
Injuries That Commonly Manifest Over Time
- Traumatic Brain Injury: There are some claimants that wish to sue even if their headaches only lasted for less than a day. However, many head injuries only present a headache right after the accident, and then will often get better before the victim realizes they are much more injured than they knew.
- Whiplash/Soft Tissue Damage: When some of the soft tissue in the neck or other parts of the body are damaged, at first, they might not present much pain or even discomfort. But as time goes on, and massage therapy is unable to alleviate the symptoms, the injury can become more pronounced and the victim can start experiencing debilitation pain and loss of movement.
- Brachial Plexus Nerve Damage: This is an injury to the nerves that originate in the spine at the neck and provide feeling and motor function to the arms and hands. In many accidents, these nerves can be stretched and even be torn at the “roots.” When this happens, there is some pain and soreness at first, but the nerves will still function. Over time, the victim feels more pain, numbness, tingling and a loss of sensation and even movement.
- Back Pain: An injury to the back can bring on immediate pain and discomfort, but many times it is either not serious or it will even feel better after a short period of time. However, soon after, the pain might increase and the victim might get numbness, weakness and even paralysis as the nerves in the spinal cord have been affected.
- Emotional Injury/PTSD: Mental pain and anguish can take time to manifest itself. However, after an accident, the victim can start experiencing symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder, depression, trouble sleeping, restlessness, irritability and other forms of mental anguish.
These are just a few, but there are many types of injuries where the full extent of the damage isn’t readily known. Also, many times, the victim feels that things will just go away after a bit, and they don’t want to make a big deal of everything.
While that’s understandable, if the pain gets worse and the symptoms of the injury get worse, this might affect your quality of life, your finances, relationships, livelihood and many other areas of your life.
What Should I do if I’m More Injured than I told the Insurance Company?
First, don’t continue talking to them, either speak to an attorney or go see a doctor (or both). If it turns out your injury is more serious, then you should call an attorney right away. Tell the attorney exactly what you said, who you said it to and when you talked to them. Don’t leave anything out, your attorney needs to know everything so they can start righting the ship.
Then if you want to pursue your claim for compensation, hire the attorney and then forget about everything except getting better and getting your life back on track.
The Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyers at Law Offices of Steers & Associates offer a free consultation where you can ask questions and explain everything to an attorney who can give you advice and explain your rights to you. Call us today at 800 824 5416 or click here to contact us online. We have attorneys with years of experience dealing with every type of motor vehicle accident, and we get results against the insurance companies and their highly-paid lawyers. Call us now to even the playing field and get the compensation you deserve.
