Be wary of inconsistent behavior after an automobile accident.  I recently had a client who claimed to be very injured from an auto accident but was subsequently seen dancing at a party about a week after the accident!  Not a good idea!  She certainly didn’t look hurt to anyone attending the party.  

If there were any witnesses or others who saw you doing the inconsistent behavior, they can potentially testify against you.  You don’t want your inconsistent activity showing up on the social media websites either!  I always encourage my clients to be truthful.  

Inconsistent behavior such as dancing at a party a few days after an accident that allegedly provided great injury to you is not going to help your case.  Also, some insurance companies are very aggressive and hire investigators to film you going to the supermarket, going to the gym, hanging out with your friends and going to a party, playing with your children in the park, and many other activities that may prove to be inconsistent with your allegation of injury.  If they want to get very zealous about it, they can bring an action against you for insurance fraud if they can prove you were faking your allegations.  Again, candor is the best policy. 

When you first go to the doctor after being involved in a serious accident, you need to make sure that you mention everything that bothers you from the accident.  This is not a time to be tough and withhold information from the doctor.  I’ve handled many cases were my clients tried to be brave and did not mention certain injuries to the doctor - because they didn’t want to be a bother.  Once again if you don’t mention the injury to the doctor and it doesn’t make it into your medical records, the insurance company will treat it like it never even happened.

For example, let’s say a client has a neck injury from the accident but he doesn’t think it’s that bad.  He may choose not to tell his doctor during the first initial visit.  He’s probably thinking the injury will resolve over time.  The simple absence of that information in the medical records means that you never hurt your neck - at least in an insurance company’s world.   The insurance adjuster will doubt that the person had a neck injury because he did not mention it to the doctor during the first visit.  The client may have been trying to be polite, brave, or simply wasn’t paying that much attention to his neck at the time.  However, the absence of the information leads to some insurance adjusters to doubt the injury.  Therefore it is very important to be very inclusive of every single injury that you had after the accident, no matter how minor.  If the client chooses not to mention something and then it bothers them later on, it may be too late to assert that injury.

When you go to the doctor, basically start at the top of your head and visually make your way down your body, noting everything that bothers you.  It is better to be over inclusive rather than under inclusive during your first visit.  You can always withdraw an injury claim, but it’s much harder to add one!  The most important thing to take away from this entry is that you must mention every single thing that bothers you on your first visit to the doctor, no matter how minor the injury might be.

If you’ve been injured in a car accident, you should get medical care right away.  Don’t wait around hoping that you’re going to feel better.  Sometimes people try to tough it out, and all they’re doing is hurting their own case.  The longer you wait from the date of the accident to when you first seek medical treatment, the more the responsible party, the insurance company for the responsible party, is going to doubt whether you had any injuries at all.  The insurance companies will use your delay against you.   

Make sure you keep track of all medical providers, and make sure that you seek medical care right away.   Also, every time you go to the doctor after a car accident, make sure you mention to the doctor why you’re there.  Some clients go to the doctor and say, “Oh, my back hurts or my neck hurts,” but they never mention to the doctor it was because of an automobile accident.  If you don't mention the accident, some insurance adjusters might say your treatment wasn’t related to the car accident.  Doctors can’t read your mind.  You have to tell them why you are there.   The insurance adjusters review your medical records very carefully. If something isn't documented, it's like it never happened as far as many adjusters are concerned.

Also, when you go to the doctor, make sure that you mention everything that bothers you - no matter how slight.  Start from the head and make your way down.  Make mention of all injuries to the doctor.  Some people try to "tough it out"  but all they’ve done is hurt their own case because they waited too long or failed to mention an injury.   This is not the time to be brave or stoic.  So make sure you are very mindful of what you are telling your healthcare professionals.   After all, they want all the information so they can provide you with the best care. 

Finally, when you seek medical care, you should let your health car professionals know how the accident has affected you.  Have you canceled travel plans? Are you having trouble sleeping? Trouble at work?  Does it hurt to walk or tie your shoes in the morning?  Is it difficult to shower?  What other difficulties are you having?  Insurance adjusters evaluate your injuries but they also take into account how the accident affected your life.  Again, they look to your medical records for that information.  If you don't articulate the information to your doctors, it won't be in your records and likely won't be considered.

So in review:

1) Make sure you seek medical attention right away.
2) Make sure you mention ALL your injuries, no matter how slight.
3) Make sure you articulate HOW the accident affected your life.
4) Keep your health care professionals informed and follow through with your care.
5) Talk to an experienced personal injury attorney about your options.  Your health is very important and should be your primary consideration.

After an accident, tell your doctors of your injuries RIGHT AWAY!!! Don’t wait! The longer you wait, the more like it is the other party will doubt your claim for injury. It’s NOT the time to “tough it out” or “see how you feel in a few days.” Right now, I have a client with a torn rotator cuff who is being raked across the coals by the insurance company because he waited 2 weeks to mention the pain to anyone!

By the same token, if you are not injured, and you are certain that you are ok, then there is no need to involved a medical evaluation.  However, if you are indeed hurt after an automobile accident, this is not the time to be brave.  Your bravery can come back to haunt you.  Therefore, at the very least, go get examined by a doctor and make sure you don’t have any serious injuries.  I’ve had clients postpone their care only to find they actually had a serious injury.  Try convincing an insurance adjuster that you didn’t discover the injury until weeks later and that it is indeed related to the accident.  Your delay only serves to hurt you.

If you’ve been involved in a car accident, don’t forget to take photos of any visible injuries you might have…no matter how trivial. You can talk about your injuries all day, but when it comes to convincing an insurance adjuster, pictures truly do speak a thousand words. Remember I use to work for the insurance companies as a defense lawyer, and I know how persuasive good photos can be.  Insurance adjusters have supervisors who review their decisions and actions in most cases. 

If they cut you a large check, they are going to need documentation in their file as to why they did so.  Insurance adjusters generally won’t pay you out of the goodness of their heart.  Take photos of bruises, cuts, scrapes, or worse.  If you can’t do so, have a friend or family member help you.  Make sure the photos are taken from several angles and they truly capture the injury.  Don’t wait till the injury fades, or else you will be out of luck telling stories to people who, as a general rule, need to see to believe.

There are some occasions when handling your personal injury case on your own makes sense.  If you are only handling a property damage claim, then you should handle matters on your own.  A property damage claim is NOT a personal injury claim.  If you were injured, but you had medical bills that are less than $2000, and no serious residual injuries, then you are probably better off without a lawyer. Also, if there is very little or no visible injury to your vehicle, it doesn’t make sense to get a lawyer involved. If the accident was your fault, then you certainly will not get a lawyer involved because a lawyer won’t get involved unless they are defending you.

If you did not get prompt medical treatment after your accident, then most lawyers will be unable to assist you because of the delay. Insurance companies view delays in treatment as a sign occurred. If you did seek medical attention but did not follow the instructions of the doctors and did not follow through with physical therapy recommendations, then a lawyer probably will not be able to help you. Generally speaking, if an accident was minor in nature and the personal injury was also minor in nature, then getting a lawyer involved doesn’t really make sense. All this being said, most personal injury attorneys will offer a free consultation. Go to somebody that you trust and ask them for a free half-hour review of your case. A good attorney will let you know what the pros and cons of your case are, and they should also let you know if you’d be better off without a lawyer. In some cases, if clients want to handle their case on their own with occasional guidance from me, we do offer that service on a flat fee basis for a certain period of time.  If you don’t have health insurance, there are other ways to get medical treatment.

When it comes to car accident cases, or other injury cases, there are times when involving an attorney doesn’t really add value to your case. When a client contacts my office, there are several things that I discuss with them. I would say at least 50% of the time, I tell the client they are better off without a lawyer. There are several factors that influence this advice.

First, if the property damage is not extensive, it is difficult to persuade a jury to give more than a few thousand dollars to the injured party. While the impact may seem huge to the client, it doesn’t matter what they think. All that matters is what an insurance adjuster or jury may think. If they have to squint to see the property damage, it’s going to be an uphill battle. If the dollar amount of the property damage estimate is low, people often think the impact was “minor."

Second, simple soft tissue injuries are a tough sell. Remember that all that matters is what an insurance adjuster thinks – or what a jury thinks. Since September 11th, juries don’t really care much for plaintiffs who complain of ‘soft tissue’ injuries. Most average people have aches and pains. Everyone is having a tough time with something. Some have financial troubles, family issues, illness, etc. Folks simply don’t have patience for others who complain of aches and pains from car accidents.

In my 18 years of practicing law, most were spent as a defense lawyer. I’ve handled dozens of trials, and I can only recall a handful of times when the jury awarded the plaintiff more than $3000 in a soft tissue injury case. In most cases, they awarded the plaintiffs a big fat zero!

Finally, if medical treatment has been delayed or inconsistent, I am reluctant to handle the case – regardless of the injury in most cases. Insurance adjusters and juries see delays in treatment as a liability. If you delay or have serious gaps in medical treatment, then your actions beg the question: How bad could your injuries be? If you were really hurt, you would have been more proactive about your medical treatment!

When clients call my office, I tell clients they might be better off without me, especially when you consider the typical one-third contingency fee in personal injury cases. If I know the recovery will be minor, why should I take 33% of the client’s potential recovery? That often leaves them in worse position. There are times when a client really needs help, even with a minor case. However, a good lawyer shouldn’t take every case that presents itself. It is our duty to tell clients of their options, and they can decide. However, there are times that I won’t take the case because it simply would be a disservice to the client. I just give them some advice and encourage them to get a second opinion.

Many times, there will be a wealth of information about your car accident on the police report.  Most of the time, the police will only come to an accident scene if there were reported injuries.  If none, they will generally encourage the parties to “exchange information” and they won’t get involved.  The lack of a police report may be used by the opposing insurance company as evidence there was no injury at the scene.  After all, if the police did not show up, then perhaps no injuries were reported. 

If the officer at the scene asks you if you were injured, you don’t want to be brave.  The report, if any, will have no mention of injury.  If you try to make a claim later on, then the lack of a reported injury will likely be used against you.  If there is a police report, please provide it to your lawyer.  It’s going to have a lot of important information in there, including insurance information, the officer’s opinion about the responsible party.  Sometimes there is information regarding witnesses, the severity of the impact, how the accident occurred and much more. 

The officer’s opinion regarding fault is not the gospel truth about liability, but it’s helpful, and it’s one of the pieces of the puzzle that will be very helpful to your lawyer.  Sometimes you won’t have the police report.  Instead you will have a police report card that the officers give you at the scene and it will have the police report number on it.  Give that to your lawyer so they can secure the police report from the responsible agency.  Also sometimes officers take photographs at the scene of the accident and your attorney can obtain those as well.

Remember the police report is only part of the puzzle your lawyer will use to form a complete picture regarding your automobile accident.  If you have a car accident in the Santa Clarita area, including Valencia, Saugus, Newhall, Canyon Country, Castaic, Stevenson Ranch, Palmdale or Lancaster and beyond, call personal injury lawyer Robert Mansour for a candid appraisal of your injury case.