Do You Need A Lawyer For A Car Accident?
This blog is not intended to serve as legal advice.
The purpose is to provide a complete understanding of what can happen and who can be involved in a personal injury case for people who have been injured in a car accident. We will elaborate on what we commonly see with our whiplash patients at Corrective Chiropractic. It is our hope to better help you made a decision about steps you can take if you are involved in a car accident. The quick and easy answer to the question above is NO. You do not NEED a lawyer if you are involved in a car accident.
Many of our patients have great outcomes both in reference to their health as well was their settlement. Again, Corrective Chiropractic does not offer legal advice but we are capable of providing information about your injuries to the responsible party’s insurance company to motivate them to recognize the severity of the injuries you may have sustained. The more information they have the more likely they are to offer a reasonable settlement without having to involve a lawyer and go to court.
In our experience, we have observed that when patients who come to our office for chiropractic care as the result of a car accident injury, like whiplash, the patients who do NOT have a lawyer get their chiropractic bill paid faster and with fewer incidents of inadequate payment.
This may come as a surprise to people but the reality is that a full third of the settlement will go to the lawyer. It’s important to realize that the responsible party’s insurance company are not just going to automatically give you more money just because you have a lawyer. Even if they did, the additional money necessary to justify hiring a lawyer is more than just 33%. Remember that no matter what you medical or chiropractic bills will not increase as the settlement increases.
PROS & CONS
At the end of the day, the only person who has the most to gain and the least to risk are lawyers. I’m not saying that all lawyers are bad. Nor that you should or shouldn’t hire a lawyer if you have been injured from whiplash during a car accident that wasn’t your fault. It is important, however, to look at the Pros and Cons of each party that could be involved in your personal injury case. Hopefully, this information will help you make an informed decision. Mostly about who you want to help you get you back on your feet after being a victim of someone else’s negligence.
Patient (whiplash victim) |
CONS |
Lawyer |
1. Has virtually no risk because very little time is spent negotiating
2. Cost. 33% of you entire settlement will go to the lawyer. Regardless of whether or not there is enough to pay you and your healthcare costs your lawyer will get 1/3 even if he or she did not acquire you more money for your settlement. 3. It’s possible the insurance company offered your lawyer the same settlement for your case as they would have if you did not get a lawyer. This could cost you money and leave owing money for healthcare treatment for an injury that wasn’t your fault. 4. Can drop your case at any time leaving you hanging with chiropractor/medical bills to pay for that you assumed or were led to believe could be taken care of with lawyers help 5. Many of our patients have regretted using lawyers unless they have very severe injuries or were planning on going to court. 6. It’s virtually impossible to determine what work your lawyer did you justify his/her fee. 7. If you need to take your case to court the patient is responsible for paying lawyer fees and legal fees in advance. |
Chiropractor |
1. Many chiropractors that treat whiplash injuries based only on pain and symptoms can fail to fully correct your injury and leave you with potential long-term or chronic degenerative spinal conditions that don’t fully manifest until months or years later.
2. Chiropractors are often the only party whose bill is not paid in full because they are small business owners. Chiropractors have the most risk of any party involved because they can put in the most time caring for the patient. Pain focused chiropractors have been accused of providing minimal chiropractic care to reduce their risks of not getting paid in full and having to pursue patients for the remainder of their fees. 3. Some chiropractors have been known to run up the bill with unnecessary chiropractic services. Despite this, chiropractic care is significantly less expensive than its medical counterpart. Even though this is a potential problem it is difficult to incur substantial charges from unneeded chiropractic care. |
Medical Doctor or Hospital
|
1. Unqualified of treating most soft tissue injuries, including minimal, moderate and some severe spinal injuries from whiplash and car accidents.
2. Treatment is limited to basic pain and inflammatory symptom management. Usually via drugs or highly acute and severe injuries like fractures or internal bleeding. 3. Health insurance reimbursements create practical monopolies for medical services allowing hospitals or medical clinics to write off health care cost during personal injury claims where the settlement is insufficient. The time and resources required are minimal in comparison to physical therapists or chiropractors. 4. It’s easy to acquire sizeable medical costs from a whiplash injury from services that did little or nothing to properly diagnose or treat your whiplash injuries. 5. Some doctors have been known to run up the bill many thousands of dollars in one visit for unnecessary medical services. |
Car Insurance of person responsible for whiplash injury
|
1. First and only priority is to their companies’ profits and their shareholders.
2. The primary goal is to reduce the amount of money paid out in EVERY settlement their clients are responsible for. 3. Regularly LIES intimidates and deceives patients to discontinue treatment or settle the case quickly. 4. Easily the most dishonest and deceitful party involved in personal injury claims. 5. Common tactics include: a. Claiming “typical injuries” from these “types of car accidents” can only be treated for “X” amount of weeks or visits. b. Stating that insurance will REFUSE to pay for chiropractic or other health care treatment beyond “X” number of weeks or months despite having no information about the patient’s injury c. Coercing the patient to accept a check and liability before starting or finish their treatment. This allows the insurance company to close the case for a “low-ball” offer before the patient realizes the severity of their whiplash injury. |
Patient (whiplash victim) |
PROS |
Lawyer
|
1. If the responsible party’s insurance company refuses to offer a settlement that is adequate to pay for the healthcare costs you incurred as a result of their client, then a lawyer may be able to help you navigate the legal world if a lawsuit and court action are necessary to acquire more reasonable settlement.
2. Not having to talk with and car insurance adjustor |
Chiropractor
|
1. Cost effect form of healthcare that can address and correct the source of your symptoms.
2. Drug and surgery free healthcare with practically no risk. 3. Structurally focused chiropractic care can help correct spinal misalignments and ligament instabilities caused by your car accident injury that can lead to permanent or chronic degenerative changes. 4. You will feel and function better. 5. Many chiropractors will work on a lien so that you don’t have to pay for care before the settlement is concluded. |
Medical doctor or Hospital
|
1. Rule out life-threatening injuries
2. Drugs or surgery can provide a more immediate change in symptoms. |
Car Insurance of person responsible for whiplash injury
|
1. LOL |
