5 Ways You Can Derail Your Personal Injury Case

5 Ways You Can Jeopardize Your Personal Injury Claim

If you’re injured in a car accident, seeing a doctor is your first order of business. The next step is to contact a personal injury lawyer for advice and legal representation. 

Depending on the source, there are around 6 million vehicle accidents yearly in the U.S. Some people walk away from them without a scratch. But that’s not how it works for everyone. If you’re involved in an accident that leaves you with injuries, a personal injury lawyer can help you get a fair offer.

Here’s the thing, though. Even if you do your homework and find a legal representative with the experience and expertise to go toe-to-toe with the insurers, it might all be for naught if you slip up. 

Here are five ways you could derail your personal injury case and make your lawyer’s job harder.

1. Lying About Your Injury

One mistake you have to avoid is lying about your injury or exaggerating the level of pain. If your pain level on a scale of one to 10 is about a six and you say it’s a nine or 10, that’s not a small matter.

You’ll make the situation worse for yourself if it’s determined that what you say doesn’t line up with what your medical record details. So, it’s best to be honest. Your personal injury lawyer will have a hard time salvaging your claim if you can’t be counted on to be honest.

2. Failing to See Your Doctor

Another no-no is failing to go to the doctor after your accident. You should make an appointment to see your primary healthcare provider after an accident that leaves you with an injury. In fact, it’s a good idea to see your doctor even if you don’t immediately feel the worse for wear. 

If you try to work through your injury without seeking medical assistance, that will jeopardize your personal injury claim. You must be able to prove you saw a doctor and received a diagnosis that details your injuries and their extent. Otherwise, it’ll be easy for the insurance company to argue that you probably weren’t injured if you didn’t see a doctor.

3. Failing to Follow Your Doctor’s Advice

If your doctor recommends seeing other medical professionals or taking medications for your pain, failing to follow through could come back to hurt you. No pun intended. Again, the insurer can easily argue that your reluctance or refusal to follow your doctor’s orders undercuts your claim.

It’s best to respect what your doctor says. That doesn’t mean you can’t discuss any concerns you have and maybe work out an alternative strategy. But simply refusing to follow recommendations will hurt rather than help your personal injury case.

4. Doing Things You Shouldn’t

You’ll want to avoid doing things that contradict anything contained in your claim. If your claim suggests you have severe injuries that prevent you from doing day-to-day tasks, you shouldn’t be making social media posts about you preparing for a marathon or going on an epic hike.

5. Ignoring Your Lawyer’s Advice

Yet another mistake you must avoid is ignoring your personal injury lawyer’s advice. While you have the right to discuss things with your lawyer and make suggestions, remember that they know the ins and outs of the process. If they recommend doing something or not doing something, you should have a good reason if you do the opposite.

Avoid mistakes like the ones listed above like the plague. You can’t afford to jeopardize your chance to get fair compensation for injuries, but you may do just that if you make these mistakes.