Two Mistakes That Destroy Your Injury Claim

By Ben Glass, Esquire

Benjamin W. Glass and Associates

. https://www.benglasslaw.com/

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Two Mistakes That Destroy Your Injury Claim

Have you ever been involved in a car accident? Do you currently have a pending bodily injury claim against an insurer? Here are the two of the biggest mistakes people make during the process of settling a car insurance claim.

Mistake number 1 Posting on social media. Sorry to say it, but social media activity can only become ammunition for car insurers to leverage against you in settlement negotiations, or worse, in the courtroom.

Claimants (people injured in an accident who are trying to recover from the insurer) frequently post photos of themselves doing activities that can easily be misconstrued by an adjuster or jury as misrepresentations of your condition.

For example, if you have a severe left shoulder injury that you claim prevents you from carrying groceries, don't post a photo of you holding your 30-lb daughter with your left arm. While you might be gritting through the pain to smile for the photo, that's not what the adjuster sees or what the jury sees.

Even innocuous posts about your daily activities can, down the road, lead to very uncomfortable conversations with the insurance adjuster. Save yourself the trouble and restrict your social media usage until your claim has been resolved. Oh, and don't think making posts private is an adequate defense, because the insurance companies have avenues to circumvent some privacy measures.

Mistake number 2 Waiting to settle your claim. Now this is a far less common mistake, but it does happen and it's a guaranteed destruction of your claim against the insurance company or the responsible party.

Waiting and waiting and waiting and, well, you get the point, waiting too long to settle your claim may derail the process. Patience is one thing and is in fact, very important to ensuring you receive appropriate reimbursement and ensuring you're at maximum medical improvement (MMI) when settling your claim. But there is a statute of limitations, which governs when you're required to have settled your claim and if that limit has passed, then you're totally unable to recover.

Certain legal circumstances can extend that limit, e.g., filing a lawsuit, but don't put yourself in a compromised situation where you're rushing to settle it creates unnecessary stress.

If you want to get a clearer picture of what all this means to you and your claim, consider reaching out to a competent attorney.