QuestionHere is my question, I was in an auto accident on Jan 20, 08 leaving Lafayette LA and driving with my belongings and my 2 young children 1 and 3 to Washington State (moving). A few hours into the trip a truck hauling a 12ft-16ft enclosed trailer came into my lane without looking and his trailer hit my car into the cement barrier wall and then I swerved off the opposite side of the highway as the driver continued to drive on his way. After I called 911 the police caught up with the guy and got him for hit and run, my car was totaled. My children were fine and I ended up having severe whiplash. I got seen 2 days later in an ER in Washington state since I had to proceed on with my children to my new home in Washington and I was traveling alone with my children, my mother had to fly out and help me drive home. I have been seen in internal medicine 2 times so far and I have been going to PT every week for the past 2 months. My pain is constant and radiates to my upper right side of my back as well as my neck and I have been having bad constant headaches 5-6 days a week since the accident. Three weeks after the accident while at work I had to go into the urgent care due to severe abdomen pain, I was transported to a larger hospital and had to have my gallbladder removed, then I had to have a scope done after the surgery because the doctor found that I had my duct blocked and my liver/pancreas. levels were very elevated. They then removed the blockage. Well my question would be this, do you think that I could blame or partially blame the surgery and or internal issues on the accident? I was thinking at a minimum, since I have been under so much stress and pain the stress could have had negative effects on my body causing (possibly pre-existing stones)to release into my duct and get stuck? Do you have any input on this? I am wanting to settle this thing to get it done with but I am not sure I should add in the info about surgery 3 weeks (Feb 15) later or not if it would be a legitimate claim.
Thanks
Racheal
AnswerHi Racheal,
I am going to give you some homework since Dr. Settlement personal injury insurance claim information will help do it yourself settlements. The links below from www.SettlementCentral.Com will instruct you on self help personal injury claim settlements.
But first, I want to review with you TWO basic rules of insurance claim settlements that relate directly to your question about bringing in the abdominal pain and blockage.
RULE #1 of insurance injury claim settlements: the initial burden of proof is upon the claimant AS TO EACH AND EVERY ELEMENT OF THE CLAIM.
RULE #2 of insurance injury claim settlements: the claimant’s credibility is important, and credibility is undermined when one throws up all kinds of unrelated claims in hopes that something will stick.
Do not get me wrong, I am NOT saying that you should not bring in the abdominal pain and blockage, but you would need to have medical proof that relates the trauma and its foreseeable consequences to this particular malady.
In all of my experience, I have never encountered a case like this, so I am without any information as to how the two can be connected. The ONLY possible ways to connect the auto accident to your blockage that I could see are direct trauma to the abdomen and severe emotional distress (i.e. stress) that triggers the blockage. Absent one of those, I wonder how your doctors will make the connection.
So, the first place to start is with your doctors. Try to recall if you received any abdominal trauma or if you exhibited any severe emotional distress that a doctor took note of. Then those two are starting points for you to mention to your doctor. You will be trying to get the doctor to make a written comment giving her opinion that the two are connected. This is IMPORTANT since such a conclusion will usually not be found following an auto accident.
Hence, her reasoning will also need to be included as part of her report. I would ask for a narrative letter on the topic if my doctor were to make such a conclusion in my case.
Because of the serious long term consequences of your injuries, I would also CONSIDER USING A DOCTOR'S NARRATIVE REPORT to assist in settling the insurance claims.
Cryptic notes may be medically significant, but why make the insurance adjuster struggle to figure out the significance of the injuries? A narrative report or letter spells things out so the adjuster can see, read, and understand the doctor's diagnosis and prognosis and her record of the problems and pain and suffering you have endured.
Plus, narrative letters can tie together the trauma and its after-effects in a way that is authoritative.
We recommend that claimants almost always include some type of typewritten medical information to accompany to computer coded medical records and/or handwritten records. That is the first clue as to when to use the narrative report: if you are asking the adjuster to evaluate your claim on the basis of handwritten records and/or computer coded records that indicate diagnosis and treatment codes, then you need to supplement the record with a narrative report.
We have a lot of free legal tips on insurance claims settlements using doctor narrative reports http://www.settlementcentral.com/page8003.htm You can get information there as to how to ask for a narrative letter and what it might cost. Talk to the doctor's office manager about it.
Since you would not be asking for a narrative report until much later after you have healed, make darn sure your doctor does have updated full information in her records, or the adjuster may not give you credit for what you have been through. Personal Injury Medical Records http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0114.htm
OK, Rachael, now that I have answered your questions, let’s look to www.SettlementCentral.Com free insurance injury claim settlement tips.
Here is a series of pages that you can review. Take what makes sense to you and don't worry about the rest. Just get a flavor of how the system works without spending a ton of time right now.
Overview Tort Law Personal Injury Legal Claims http://www.settlementcentral.com/page3000.htm
Managing Medical Care After Auto Accident: http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0203.htm
Medical Care Documentation-the Key to Successful Personal Injury Insurance Claim Settlements http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0217.htm
Keys to a MAXIMUM INSURANCE INJURY CLAIM SETTLEMENT http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0089.htm
Outline of questions to be expected from insurance claims adjuster http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0190.htm
Detailed listing of questions to be expected from insurance claims adjuster http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0207.htm
By the way, did you know that getting an early settlement is a favorite trick of the insurance adjusters? Please see my website wherein we show Insurance Claim Adjuster Secret Tactics http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0092.htm
Responding to Settlement Offer From Insurance Claims Adjuster http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0244.htm
Do It Yourself Advantages, or do these claims need an attorney? As for an ATTORNEY, this does not seem to be a case that involves any legal issues in dispute nor any large or complex damages. Why should you pay someone one-third to do what you can do yourself? Do-It-Yourself Personal Injury Claims; Eliminate Personal Injury Attorneys' Fees; Save Thousands of Dollars Settling Your Own Insurance Claim http://www.settlementcentral.com/page3011.htm
Without having to join my website, I have given a lot of free information on handling insurance claims without having to join as a member. Read the module at "5 Easy Steps to Do-it-Yourself Insurance Claim Settlement" http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0102.htm
This stuff is not rocket science, but it will take some effort on your part to read and cut and paste letter examples and to communicate. But hundreds of people are doing it each day, and they are getting good results.
What if you get only two-thirds the way to your settlement goal? Well, you can get as big a settlement as you can and then turn it over to an attorney and save a lot of fees. Thus, you could go it alone just to get an insurance settlement offer, and then take that insurance settlement offer to a personal injury attorney, thus exempting the amount of the offer from her fees. Do It Yourself Personal Injury Settlement Offer Reduces Personal Injury Attorney Fees http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0109.htm
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FINAL TOPIC, Rachael: Effective communication with insurance claims adjusters. Establish Firm, Professional, and Positive Relationships With the Insurance Injury Claims Adjuster http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0059.htm
Always communicate with the adjuster in writing, showing your own analysis of value. It is OK I guess to have one call or so, but no more. Always have your information and ammunition in writing to give to the adjuster.
Let him know that you are FIRM IN YOUR RESOLVE to get what you are demanding (NOT "asking", since that invites a counter-offer, but instead "demanding" as fair and reasonable compensation) by asking him what the options are to resolve the matter fairly should he not agree to a reasonable claim value. In other words, let him know that you will go through with a court filing if need be.
Remember these tips, do your homework, print out your evidence, show resolve to get your fair settlement, and you will DO JUST FINE.
I trust that my extra time here has produced some information that has been of value to you, and thus I would respectfully request that you take the time to locate the FEEDBACK FORM on this site and leave some feedback for me.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Settlement, J.D. (Juris Doctor)
http://www.SettlementCentral.Com
