So you’ve been injured in some way and are losing time at work and falling behind on your bills. You’ve probably hired an attorney and are in the process of filing a personal injury claim against the person or persons you feel are responsible for your current situation. Before you start counting your money, there are a few things you need to know.
You have an attorney; the defendant in the case will have an attorney. It gets better, the insurance company that has covered the defendant against loss from a personal injury lawsuit has an army of lawyers working to make sure they don’t pay at all or little if anything. Be prepared to for a long, difficult case.
If you find yourself as the plaintiff in a personal injury claim against all these intimidating lawyers, you can keep your head about you by following a few simple rules. First rule; do not discuss your case with anyone except your attorney. And that means anyone; not your boss, your coworkers, your mother or father or any member of your family. Only those people who have knowledge of the case or are witnesses should be included in conversations regarding it. Your attorney should give the thumbs up or thumbs down to those who can be aware of the specific case information. Never at any time should you talk to the defendant or his lawyers in person or on the phone. Phone calls can be recorded and people have been known to carry concealed recorders.
Insurance companies do not want to pay money out. They will gather every piece of documentation relating to your claim. They will most likely send an investigator out to put you under surveillance. This investigator will watch and take pictures of your daily activities. If someone claims to have a severe back injury but is caught on film playing a round of golf, it’s pretty much over for their case. Some insurance companies even go as far as to stage a situation that would cause the plaintiff to do a physical activity they claim they can’t. For instance, one insurance company placed very large rocks in front of a plaintiff’s door. This of course caused the plaintiff to physically move the rocks in order to leave the house. If the plaintiff really had the injuries he claimed, he couldn’t have budged those rocks. Case for the defendant.
Remember when you are involved in any lawsuit to follow your lawyer’s advice. As long as you have been honest about your injuries and the actions that caused them, the insurance company is nothing to worry about.
