After an Accient,
Know Your Rights.

Even if you believe your injuries are minor following a personal injury accident, you should still see a doctor as soon as possible. Often, serious injuries such as severe head and brain trauma can take days to even weeks to manifest. Yet, the longer you wait to get treatment, the more fatal the injuries can become. That is why it is important to get checked out quickly following your accident by a medical professional so that they can verify that you do not have any of these hidden injuries. In addition, getting treatment may be beneficial to your claim. The insurance company may be looking for any reason to deny your case. By not getting evaluated by a doctor after your accident, the insurer can argue that your injuries are not that serious or were from a subsequent event. Fortunately, when a doctor examines you, they can write down all about your personal injury incident in their medical report, providing you with a direct link between your injuries and the accident.

If the insurance company offers you money following your accident, it may seem like a no-brainer to accept the settlement. However, this may not always be in your best interest. Following a personal injury accident, the consequences can be horrifying, leaving you with skyrocketing medical bills, a need for ongoing care, and the inability to work for an extended time. That is why before you agree to any settlement offer, you need to verify what this amount covers. This is because insurance companies hardly ever take your current expenses, future care, and medical bills into account. Instead, they may try to offer you a settlement check shortly after your accident to try to pay you the least amount of money they can and have this situation go away as quickly as possible. Worse yet, if you accept this money, you can't go back for more later on, even if expenses arise resulting from the original injury. For these reasons, you should speak to a St. Louis personal injury attorney, such as those at The Bruning Law Firm, to help you determine whether the settlement offer fully covers your current and future expenses, as well as any potential ongoing care. If it does not, your attorney can negotiate with the insurance company and pursue a settlement that is truly fair to you.

Unfortunately, no set period dictates how long a case will take to resolve when it comes to personal injury lawsuits. Many factors can influence a personal injury lawsuit timeline, including: the type of injuries you suffered and the severity of these injuries; your present and future medical treatments; whether the insurance company is willing to participate in negotiations; whether there are problematic legal issues with your case; whether the case involves a substantial amount of money; and whether you have reached a point of maximum medical improvement. Due to these factors, a personal injury case can take anywhere from a few months to a few years to resolve, especially if the case ends up heading to trial. However, when you work with a St. Louis personal injury lawyer, they can provide you the legal help you require through this whole legal process, ensuring they fight for the compensation that is fair to you. Plus, if the case needs to head to trial, they can also prepare you for every step of the way.

The insurance company is not your friend and may not want to help you get the money you need following an accident. Instead, they are a business, and like other businesses, they want to make a profit by paying you less. That is why insurance adjusters may try any tactic they can to get you to admit fault for your personal injury accident so that they can justify reducing the amount of your claim or denying it altogether. For these reasons, if the insurance company adjuster is calling, you should be careful when discussing your case with them. In truth, it would be best if you only provide them with basic details about the incident and indicate that all future communications will be through your lawyer. Once you retain a knowledgeable personal injury lawyer, like those at The Bruning Law Firm, they can handle all these discussions and negotiations with the insurance company for you and help ensure you do not say anything that can affect your claim.