Whiplash May Not Be Whiplash
Posted by
Justin MaddenAugust 28, 2006 9:18 AMToo many injured motorists give their auto accident cases away.
Motorists who are injured in a minor or mild car accident tend to think that the neck or back pain they exprience after the crash is "just a little whiplash". Based upon that incorrect but hopeful self-diagnosis, they settle their injury claim for next to nothing with the eager-to-help insurance adjuster.
Ever wonder why the insurance adjuster is so eager to settle the claim in the first week after the accident? Because they know that often, the injury is more serious than a little whiplash. The insurance industry knows that often the injury is due to a herniated disc in the spine, which will be diagnosed by MRI several months down the road. The goal of the insurance company is to settle the case quickly so that the injured motorist cannot come back later when the herniation is found and request more compensation.
What is the lesson? No injured motorist should ever try to handle their injury claim with an insurance adjuster. The symptoms of a herniated disc often take months to present themselves to the point that an MRI would be warranted. Insurance adjusters are quite skilled in pressuring injured persons to settle up quick and cheap before the bigger problem is discovered.
Don't be the next victim of a slick insurance adjuster. Always get an experienced attorney involved immediately. The attorney can hold the insurance company off while the injured motorist finishes their treatment with their doctor, and makes sure that a bigger problem does not exist. An experienced attorney knows that spine injuries take time to heal, and occasionally, when they do not heal, it is becuase of a structural injury in the spine that will at least require extensive physical therapy, and possibly surgery. No settlement should ever occur until the complete medical picture is known, which is exactly opposite what the insurance adjuster wants to have occur.