Injury Claims- 4 Mistakes You Should Never Make

There are things that could ruin a personal injury claim. A piece of advice: read this article and avoid committing these mistakes!

Mistake 1: Keeping valuable information from your lawyer.

OK, here’s the deal. Your lawyer is your ally- your legal representative. As such, he needs to know every relevant piece of information, and this includes any past accidents you might have. You see, this person needs to be aware of these things so that he can prepare your case, including conducting further investigation and assessment to see if your past accidents will be a problem or not. Additionally, this also helps to avoid losing the case due to misrepresentation of your accident history.

One other thing you need to tell your lawyer is if you sustained injuries before or after the accident. Make no mistake, if you consulted with any health care provider, they would have a record of it and the insurance provider will find out. If you hide this from your lawyer, this is certainly going to be something you are bound to regret.

Mistake 2: Lying about your condition.

If you claim that you have been immobilized because of the accident, make sure you are telling the truth. Note that insurance companies have private investigators to conduct surveillance on individuals filing for insurance claims and if their videotape record of you shows that you lied (in terms of being immobile or physically incapable of doing routine activities), then you can say goodbye to your personal injury claim!

Mistake 3: Your doctor is referred by your lawyer.

This may seem unfair but jurors are often very suspicious of doctors referred by lawyers. As the one filing the injury claim, you may be totally innocent of any “unofficial” activities between your lawyer and your doctor, but for sure, the insurance company is well aware of this. When the doctor gives a testimony, jurors will find it hard to believe what he says, especially when it is proven that the same doctor has given 50 other testimonies for the clients of the same lawyer.

Perhaps the only exemption to this rule is when you, the client, requested a highly experienced doctor with a certain specialization, such as that of an orthopedist or a chiropractor. In this case, your lawyer may recommend one. However, see to it that your lawyer has not been recommending the same doctor to his other clients.

Mistake 4: Tax Returns Issues

You should know that if you want to claim lost income due to your injury, this can only be made possible if you have been diligent in taking care of your tax returns. If you have not, then your best course of action is to tell your lawyer about this so that appropriate steps can be taken.