1. Report the accident immediately to the police. They will conduct an initial investigation that should include accident reconstruction, documenting evidence, and the interviewing of witnesses.
2. Record the names and contact information of all witnesses to the accident before they leave the scene and take pictures of the accident. This will help ensure the full value of your insurance claim.
3. If you experience any pain at all, go directly to the hospital or doctor.
4. If you are seriously injured, wait for paramedics to arrive to examine you.
5. Notify your insurance company as soon as you are able. But remember, never begin the settlement negotiation process until you are fully recovered.

Case Study

Gender: Female

Age: 20’s

Type of accident: Female was hit from behind at a stop light and pushed into the car in front of her

At-fault insurance company: Nationwide

Type of medical care: Ambulanced to the hospital with a few follow up visits

Length of treatment: 2 weeks of medical care with a few months of pain

Settlement amount: Her total money offer (medical bills and pain and suffering) was 2.04 times the total medical bills.

Example: $8,000 in medical bills times 2.04 equals a $16,320 total money settlement from Nationwide.

Things to note: Even though the actual medical treatment was relatively short, the severity of the injury helped bolster the value of this claim. Any time you have a broken bone, scar, surgery or other major injury, your claim is worth more money. A fractured sternum is painful and there is not a lot of treatment that can be performed and that is why the claim still had good value.

Most medical professionals will tell you that working with attorneys has caused them nothing but trouble. Think about it, medical professionals carry medical malpractice insurance and why is that? Because they get sued by attorneys. Its as if they are born to be enemies. However, in 0rder to have a successful claim against the insurance company, you need both the medical doctors and the attorneys to be on the same team. Your Team!

The best way to find attorneys and doctors that work well together is to ask. If you already have an attorney, find out if he has a doctor that he prefers to work with. If you already have a doctor that you are treating with, find out if he has an attorney that he can refer you to. If the doctor says something like, “Oh, we don’t work with attorneys”, you might want to try and find a different physician just in case you end up needing to hire an attorney down the road. The difference will be night and day when it comes time to settle your claim with the insurance company. Make sure your team is working for you and not against each other.

1. Waiting to seek medical attention. The longer you wait to see a doctor after an accident—even if it’s to see if you can get better on your own—the harder time you’ll have convincing the at-fault insurance company you were injured.
2. Failing to properly report the accident. This means you either didn’t file a report with the police at the scene of the accident or didn’t take pictures of the damage to your vehicle and injuries sustained.
3. Divulging too much information to the insurance company. Recovery from an injury takes time. Nevertheless, insurance adjusters will try and get you to commit to an injury, often the same day of the crash, even before a doctor has properly diagnosed and treated you. This is an attempt by them to reduce a payout to you. Don’t do it unless you want to minimize your claim (Simply say “I’ll know more once I finish treatment with my doctor.”)
4. Waiting to file a claim. As soon as you are able (the day of, if possible), file a claim with the insurance company. This can be done by you or an attorney, the latter of which can be added to your original claim at anytime, so long as a settlement hasn’t been reached.
5. Exaggerating or lying about your injuries. Don’t do it unless you want to kiss your legitimate recovery money goodbye.
6. Failing to complete medical treatment. If you skip visits or fail to complete your treatment, the insurance company will argue you weren’t really hurt in an accident. Stick to the program unless your doctor says otherwise, even if you feel you are getting better.
7. Exaggerating or lying about personal mobility. Some people do this in an effort to inflate their general damages award (aka “pain and suffering”). This is an auto accident, not the lottery. So for the second time, don’t fudge the truth. Be honest so you can get compensated for your injuries and loss of life (if any).

For a more comprehensive explanation of personal injury recovery, please see our Settlement Booklet.

Special damages are really simple to calculate. You have a fixed expense in medical bills and other expenses and you know exactly how much that cost you when you add them all together. If your medical bills were $2,000 and you had $50 out of pocket for prescriptions, you have $2,050 in special damages. General damages are not so easy to calculate.

When trying to figure out how much your general damages (pain and suffering) are worth, you are trying to put a price on something that does not have a price. How much is it worth to you to miss your sons t-ball game because you had a doctor appointment? $100, $200, or maybe there isn’t enough money in the world to keep you from your sons t-ball game. This is why you value your pain and suffering different than the insurance company will value your pain and suffering. You may think there is no price for missing your sons t-ball game, but the insurance company does think there is a price. Because the insurance company can not turn back the hands of time and get you to your sons t-ball game, they will offer you money instead.

So even if you really can’t put a price on your pain and suffering, when negotiating your personal injury claim with the insurance company, you will have to try. If the adjuster offers you $1,000 for pain and suffering, come back at $3,000 and see if he increases his offer. If you want to settle your claim, you and the adjuster will have to reach some common ground on the general damages portion of your personal injury claim.

Case Study

Gender: Male

Age: 20’s

Type of accident: Male stopped at a red light is hit from behind and pushed into the car in front of him

At-fault insurance company: Allstate

Type of medical care: Chiropractic care only

Length of treatment: 2 months total

Settlement amount: His total money offer (medical bills and pain and suffering) was 1.54 times the total medical bills.

Example: $3,000 in medical bills times 1.54 equals a $4,620 total money settlement from Allstate.

Things to note: Treating with only a chiropractor or physical therapist can limit the value of your claim. This is especially true when dealing with Allstate or the other big insurance companies like Farmers and State Farm. Big insurance companies see these as “soft tissue” injuries and really don’t offer a lot of value on these types of claims. That’s not to say you should seek treatment you don’t need just to try and increase the value of your claim, but understand if you have a minor injury with only chiropractic care, your claim isn’t worth a whole lot of money.

1. Failing to see a medical professional immediately after the accident. This is a no brainer for serious injury, but what about minor injuries? Soreness in your neck or back will go away, right? Headaches too, no? They might. They might not. Whatever the case, you lose if you don’t see a medical professional right away. This isn’t a cold you can treat on your own. It’s an injury that could worsen into something more serious over time. So see a doctor within 24 hours if you feel pain.

2. Exaggerating your pain to a medical provider. Remember, this is an auto accident not the lottery. If you’re in this hoping for a free ride, you’ll be disappointed with the results. If you’re hoping to get compensated for your treatment and the inconvenience associated with an injury, you’ll have a better chance in doing so by being up front and honest with your medical provider about your injury.

3. Talking with your doctor about filing an insurance claim or lawsuit. The doctor’s job is to treat your injury. Your job (or your lawyer’s job) is to ensure you get fair settlement from a stingy insurance company. Talking with your medical provider about your altercation with your insurance company only complicates the issue. And as soon as you file a personal injury claim, doctor confidentiality is out the window.

4. Missing your medical appointments. Defaulting on scheduled visits with your medical provider(s) suggests you may not as injured as you say you are. Don’t do it unless you want to jeopardize your claim.

5. Failing to update your medical records. Everyone knows you’re suppose to share physical ailments with your doctor. What you may not know is to share your emotional ailments with your doctor as well in the event of an auto injury. Losing sleep due to headaches and pain? Tell your doctor. Feeling depressed due to the injury? Tell your doctor. And don’t forget to maintain a personal journal as well to keep track of your medical care.

6. Failing to inform your doctor and employer when an injury is affecting your work. If you want to get compensated for wage loss or additional pain and suffering, notify the authorities. You paid for the insurance. As claimant, you’re entitled to the legitimate benefits.

7. Failing to follow or complete your treatment plan. As with reason No. 4, insurance companies will argue you aren’t as injured as you say you are if you fail to follow the treatment plan as directed by a medical professional. Hopefully you recover from an injury faster than expected. If you feel this is the case, tell your doctor and let him update the treatment plan if he chooses. But always do as prescribed. Otherwise you’ll suffer the physical and financial strains.

8. Negotiating or accepting settlement before finishing treatment. In the case of an claim, which you should open within 24 hours of your accident, the at-fault insurance company will offer fast cash to get you to sign a preemptive agreement, releasing them from further liability. This is an attempt by them to, again, maximize profits. When this happens, simply tell the adjuster your working with, “No, thank you. I’m not going to negotiate a settlement until I’ve finished my treatment, so I can be fully compensated for any unforeseen injury.”

Click here to download a free sample from our Personal Injury Settlement Booklet™ discussing medical treatment and how it affects your claim.

Case Study

Gender: Male

Age: 20’s

Type of accident: The at-fault driver sideswiped his car after losing control in wet conditions

At-fault insurance company: American Family

Type of medical care: First seen at an InstaCare and then had follow up therapy with a chiropractor

Length of treatment: 2 months total

Settlement amount: His total money offer (medical bills and pain and suffering) was 2.91 times the total medical bills.

Example: $5,000 in medical bills times 2.91 equals a $14,550 total money settlement from American Family.

Things to note: Not only did he have the typical whiplash type injury but this claim had additional value placed on it because of the injury to the foot. The pain was very severe and it hurt to put pressure on it. Because everyone has to walk around, that extra pain put extra money in his pocket.

We are now entering week 4 of my wife’s injury claim. At this point, I thought it would be a good opportunity to take our Free Crash Evaluator™ and find out what kind of an injury claim we are looking at. Keep in mind that her injury can still change and I will probably have to take the Crash Evaluator again after she has completed treatment if her injury gets worse of any of the variables to her personal injury case change.

As you can see, based on her current status, the Crash Evaluator™ suggests she may have a claim that she can settle on her own. However, I need to point out one word of caution. SHE IS STILL TREATING. You never want to settle your claim while you are actively treating with a medical professional. If you settle your claim and you have to go back to the doctor for injuries related to the auto accident, you will be the one paying out of pocket for any additional care.

The next step for my wife and her claim is to finish her treatment. At that point, we will begin to gather all of her medical bills and records to get ready to submit our demand package to the insurance adjuster. All of the tactics that I am using for my wife’s claim are contained in our Personal Injury Settlement Booklet™. No matter what stage you are at in your injury claim, our Personal Injury Settlement Booklet™ can help you get the most out our your injury claim.

Since the accident my wife was in happened on a Friday afternoon, we weren’t able to get in contact with the adjuster until after the weekend. On Monday morning, I called over to Progressive to set up the claim and talk with the adjuster. After giving him the details that I wanted to give him and being light on details on the ones he wanted, he asked if he could set up an appointment to meet with my wife. I said that would be fine and we scheduled an appointment for Wednesday.

Wednesday came and my wife and I were driving to meet with the adjuster. I took a few minutes in the car to give my wife some pointers so that she would be prepared for what the adjuster was going to ask her. I could have predicted the conversation any better than I did. In fact, you can call me Nostradamus because the adjuster was word for word on what I told my wife to expect. The key points of the conversation went as follows with some inserted commentary for your benefit:

Adjuster: So, tell me about your injury?

Wife: Well, right now I have some pretty severe headaches that are constant all the time. Also, my neck and back are pretty sore.

Adjuster: How bad do you think it is? (Loaded question, if you say, “oh its not that bad or I think I’ll be okay” look out because he will use this against you later on)

Wife: I don’t know how bad it is right now. I went to the ER and they said I should see some improvement by the end of the weekend. If it wasn’t getting better or if it was getting worse, they told me I should start some therapy. (Notice how she uses the doctors opinions to answer this question. Instead of giving her opinion on the injury, she deferred it to the professionals)

Adjuster: Well since you are hurt, can you sign this release of information so I can start gathering your medical records?

Me: No. Instead of letting you gather her records, we will gather them for you and submit them to you as we get them. (If you sign their release of information, you lose control over what they see. You want to submit what you want them to see and not let them have unbridled access to your medical history)

Adjuster: Ok, that’s fine. Let me tell you what we can do for you. I can offer you $750 today to have you sign a release. We at Progressive don’t have to offer you anything, but we are willing to give you something to show you we are all about customer service.  We at Progressive just want you to have the best experience possible during these stressful times. (This offer is NOT about customer service. This offer is intended to get the file off of the adjusters desk. It is also Progressive trying to limit the amount they have to pay out on this claim to line their pockets with bigger profits. This offer goes out to every single person. If someone accepts this offer this early in their claim, the insurance company wins. The longer your claim is open, the larger the likelihood you will have increased medical bills. That means the larger the amount that Progressive or any insurance company will be required to pay out on any given claim eating into their posh profits)

Me: I appreciate your offer, but we are in no hurry to settle. We want to make sure that we fully explore my wife’s injury to make sure she doesn’t have anything too serious wrong with her. Once she is done with treatment, we can discuss settlement at that time. (The only time you should consider accepting any offer from the insurance company is after you have finished your treatment. Once you accept the offer from the insurance company and your case is closed, you can’t re-open it. That means any additional medical bills you incur after you accept the offer will be your responsibility to pay)

We left our meeting with that and told him that we would keep him updated along the way. Next time, my wife takes our Crash Evaluator and the results will be published.