Injury Claim Pitfalls
I could write a book on the various and sundry ways you can make your North Carolina personal injury claim worse. There are a lot. But these little nuggets are the most common that you should look out for…
Southern Hospitality/Taking the Blame
One of the things I like about the South is that, in general, we do tend to be pretty polite in public. How many times have you been holding a door for someone and then have a polite argument about how the other person should go first? That’s kinda nice. But this instinct can be killer for your claim. After an auto accident you will likely be interviewed by law enforcement and/or an insurance claims agent. If your Southern instinct to demur and not place the blame on someone else kicks in, that could lead to claims disaster. Always tell the truth, but never even come close to accepting blame, or even acknowledging partial fault, if that’s not definitely the truth! EVERYTHING you say can and will be used against you in this claim, so if it was the other guy’s fault, you say that and stick to it!
Health Insurance/Auto Insurance/What? What!?
Insurance is dumb. I’ll be the first to admit it. But in our current system it’s a necessity. But necessary or not, it can be super confusing. Do you use your health insurance if someone has liability insurance that should be paying for your medical expenses? What is this “Med Pay” stuff in my own auto policy? All of this can be confusing, but here’s the bottom line: North Carolina is NOT a PIP (personal injury protection) state, so you DO use your Health Insurance for auto-accident related injuries! Let me say that again louder for the people in the back. YOU DO USE YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE! Here’s the best way to look at it: Your health insurance is on the hook in NC, no matter who else might be on the hook in theory. Yes, your health plan might have a right to get paid back IF you get payment for those bills from someone else, but that’s way down the road. When you incur the health care bills, your health insurance is on the hook for them. Period. How does your auto “Med Pay” play into that? Well, that’s no fault coverage that you can access after any auto accident, but be careful when/how you access it, because lien-holders might have a right to it. That’s another blog post altogether, though, so call me for details on that one.
Tough Guy/Gal Syndrome
“Yeah, I’m a little banged up, but I think I’ll wait a few weeks to see if I really need treatment,” is a great attitude to absolutely shred your injury claim. Here’s the skinny: Insurance companies LOVE to take advantage of good intentions. You might be trying to be tough or trying not to “make a big deal” out of something, but if you’re hurt, you should seek treatment. If you don’t seek treatment, the insurance company is going to argue to your future jury that you must not have been hurt. So that week or two or three or whatever that you’re waiting, albeit for the kindest of purposes, gets used against you as “proof” that you weren’t really hurt in the first place. The bottom line is if you’re hurt after an accident, get checked out and go ahead and start whatever kind of treatment you need or you’ll regret it if you don’t.
Sadly, there are tons of other ways you people will act that will compromise your claim, but I can’t go into all of them. I wish it wasn’t so fraught, but insurance companies have come up with all kinds of tactics to avoid paying reasonable value for claims, so you have to get good advice fast to avoid falling prey to them. So if you’re hurt in an accident, call an attorney asap. Call me. 919-929-2992.
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