What Should I Do If I’m Injured in an Accident in Sugar Land?

Whatever type of accident it is, be sure to get medical attention as soon as possible. It’s important not to let anyone convince you to delay or even avoid getting medical help. To recover the full amount of your damages and losses, you will need to be able to clearly show a connection between your injuries and the accident. Everything will then follow from this, and it’s about more than just your monetary losses in the medical bills themselves. If you make a claim for pain and suffering or mental anguish, that anguish and suffering has to be connected to a specific injury, and that specific injury has to be connected to the accident.

If you delay in getting medical help, several things can happen. First, your injuries could get worse. Not only is this bad for you personally, but now you’ve opened the door for the other party to argue that, even if the injuries were connected to the accident, the severity of them is now at least partially your fault, and they shouldn’t have to pay for your negligence. If you delay too long in getting medical help, you might even make it possible for the other party to successfully argue that your injuries have nothing whatsoever to do with the accident, but were incurred later. The longer you wait, the easier it is to argue that the injury isn’t all that serious, and that could easily eat into your non-economic damages (pain and suffering, etc). The other side may try to claim that since you waited so long to get medical help, you didn’t perceive yourself to be badly injured and therefore really didn’t suffer mentally or emotionally.

As soon as possible after the accident, contact a personal injury lawyer who has experience in our state and the local courts. Once you call a lawyer, you have someone defending you whenever the insurance companies call and someone who can take over the legalities of your case while you concentrate on healing. Your lawyer will tell you whether you have a case and what it’s likely to be worth and help you understand what evidence is needed and then gather it. Then your lawyer will put the evidence together to tell a story explaining what happened to you and why it was the fault of the negligent party.

Your lawyer will then use the evidence in negotiations on your behalf and even in court if necessary. Most of these cases settle outside of court, but if you do go all the way to a lawsuit battle, you want a lawyer who is comfortable doing both negotiations and courtroom fights. Ideally, they must also have a good track record of success in both areas: at the negotiation table and in the courtroom. Once you have a lawyer, then any time you get contacted by the insurance company, you can refer them to your lawyer. If the insurance company offers you a settlement, take it to your lawyer to make sure it’s fair to you before you sign anything.

Almost as important as getting medical care in the first place is following through on all the medical directions you were given by your doctors. If you fail to do this, once again, the other side may argue that you made your own injuries worse or interfered with your own healing, and they should not be responsible to pay for anything that results from this negligence on your part.

If your doctor tells you not to engage in a certain activity, don’t do it. If your doctor orders certain tests or physical therapy to help you recover and monitor that recovery, be sure to attend all medical appointments faithfully. When you can show that you’re following through on your medical care, you make it clear to the court and to the other side that you are taking your injuries seriously and doing everything you can to recover.

It’s not uncommon for insurance companies to call victims repeatedly, asking them to tell their story over and over again, answer the same sorts of questions repeatedly, or just to “clarify something.” A lot of the time, these calls are actually fishing expeditions. The insurance company is hoping that by asking you these questions, they can get you to accidentally say something they can use to minimize your injuries, hold you more at fault for the accident than you really are, or otherwise reduce the amount of compensation they have to pay out. Be very careful whenever you talk to the insurance compan;, and the best thing to do is just to refer them to your lawyer right away.

It’s also important to be careful what you say on social media. Assume that the insurance company or the entity responsible for your accident is monitoring social media ,looking for something they can use against you. Just posting a happy picture of yourself and telling your followers “I feel fine” in response to their concerns about you could be enough to argue that your injuries are not very serious. If you should happen to post a video of yourself enjoying an activity before the accident, the other side might try to argue that you’re faking your injuries or have already healed from them, and if there is no way to prove that the video was taken before the accident, it can be difficult to fight back. It’s best not to discuss your accident, injuries, or the case generally on social media at all. If you do feel you need to say something, talk to your lawyer first about exactly what to say.

In many cases, the insurance company representing the other side will offer a settlement early on. These settlements are almost always less than what you need to actually cover your losses and damages, but the hope is that you will either be desperate for money or just impatient and will sign on the dotted line. Once you sign the settlement, you almost certainly will not be able to get anything more.

Always run a settlement past your lawyer before you sign anything and listen to your lawyer’s advice about whether it’s fair, to what degree you should compromise, and when you need to push harder for what you really deserve. Your lawyer is on your side and can also help you to understand where to look for the money you need to keep things going while you wait for your claim to be resolved.

For help with your claim after an accident, reach out to the Law Office of Shane McClelland, PLLC, in Sugar Land for help. We also serve the Katy, TX area and Lincoln, NE.