You’ve gotten into a wreck that you weren’t at fault for causing, and now you’re suffering from medical issues, medical costs, disabilities, or potentially lost wages due to being unable to work. All these expenses add up fast and may quickly put you into severe debt if you don’t file an insurance claim to be compensated. However, filing a claim can be tricky when you’re dealing with personal injuries on top of property damage and car repairs. Here’s what you need to know about a personal injury claim and what you might need to go through to get your life back on track.
What Is a Personal Injury Claim?
Just as its name indicates, a personal injury claim is a claim you make to an insurance company to get them to cover any expenses you’ve suffered because you were harmed during the accident. You can file these with the other driver’s insurance company when he or she is guilty of negligence that caused the crash. Be sure to look into your state’s specific laws, however, because while many determine someone is at least partially at fault for an accident, some states have no-fault laws where you cannot file a claim with the other driver’s insurance.
When Must You File a Claim By?
Again, this varies depending on the state where you reside, but a general rule of thumb is that you have two to six years to file a claim. After that, the statute of limitations will no longer allow you to file a claim. If life gets hectic and you don’t feel you have time to file, just check your state’s deadlines so that you know when you must absolutely have it done by if you hope to get compensated.
What Is an Independent Medical Examination?
In the process of determining fault and providing proper compensation, the insurance company will send out a claims adjuster to investigate all damages, including your personal injuries. If the agency doesn’t like the report given to them by your own physician, they can request that you go to an independent, and the supposedly unbiased, physician to get a second opinion. However, these physicians are often chosen by the agency and may make your results seem less severe to keep the agency happy so it continues to send them examinations. You should bring someone along with you so that you have a second witness should the exam seem unfair.
If you feel your examination was biased and the doctor downplayed the extent of your injuries, contact an attorney, like an automobile accident law firm in Memphis, Tennessee, who can walk you through what to do next. They want you to be treated fairly and gain as much back from the accident as you can, so don’t hesitate to schedule a consultation.
Thank you to the experts at Patterson Bray for their insight into car accidents and personal injury law.