Maximizing Your Recovery and Avoiding Common Pitfalls After a Tennessee Car Wreck
After a car wreck, most people are overwhelmed. You may be dealing with pain, medical appointments, missed work, vehicle damage, calls from insurance adjusters, and the stress of figuring out what to do next.
Unfortunately, the decisions you make in the days, weeks, and months after a wreck can have a major impact on the value of your injury claim. Insurance companies handle claims every day. Most injured people do not. Knowing what to do — and what not to do — can help protect your case and maximize your recovery.
Here are some important steps to keep in mind after an auto wreck.
1. Do Not Give the Other Driver’s Insurance Company a Recorded Statement Without Talking to an Attorney First
One of the first things an insurance adjuster may ask for is a recorded statement. They may make it sound routine or harmless, but these statements can be used against you later.
Insurance companies often use recorded statements to look for evidence that can reduce the value of your claim. For example, an adjuster may ask if you are injured, and many people instinctively respond with something like, “I think I’m okay,” especially when they are still in shock or their symptoms have not fully developed. Later, if you seek medical treatment, the insurance company may try to use that statement to argue that you were not really hurt.
Adjusters may also ask questions about how the wreck happened, your injuries, your medical history, or your daily activities. Even if you are trying to be honest and helpful, an innocent statement can be taken out of context.
Insurance companies often use friendly slogans and reassuring language, but at the end of the day, they are businesses. Their goal is not to make sure you receive the maximum compensation available under the law. Their goal is to resolve claims as efficiently and inexpensively as possible.
Before giving a recorded statement to the other party’s insurance company, it is wise to speak with an attorney so you understand your rights and obligations.
2. Do Not Delay Medical Treatment
If you are hurt, get medical treatment as soon as possible. Your health should always come first, but prompt treatment also helps document your injuries.
Waiting too long to seek medical care gives the insurance company ammunition to devalue your claim. They may argue that you were not really injured, that your injuries were not caused by the wreck, or that something else must have happened after the wreck to cause your symptoms.
Some injuries are obvious right away. Others develop or worsen over time. Neck pain, back pain, headaches, concussion symptoms, soreness, numbness, and radiating pain may not fully appear until hours or days later. If you are experiencing symptoms, do not ignore them. Get checked out and follow up as needed.
3. Take Pictures — and Keep Taking Them
Photographs can be powerful evidence in an injury claim. If you are able, take pictures of the vehicles, the scene, your injuries, debris, skid marks, traffic lights, road conditions, and anything else that may help show what happened.
If you have visible injuries, such as bruises, cuts, scrapes, scratches, swelling, or scarring, document them at every stage of healing. Bruising often looks different several days after a wreck than it does immediately afterward. A single photograph may not tell the full story.
Photographs help paint a picture of what you went through. Months later, when the bruises have faded and the vehicles have been repaired or totaled out, pictures may be some of the best evidence available.
4. Use Your Health Insurance (If you have it!)
Many people hesitate to use their own health insurance after a wreck because they feel like the at-fault driver should be responsible for the bills. That feeling is understandable. However, using your health insurance can often help maximize your recovery.
Health insurance companies typically have contracted rates with medical providers. This means the provider may accept a reduced amount as payment for the services provided. As a result, less money may have to be paid back from your settlement at the end of the case.
If you do not use health insurance, the full billed charges may remain outstanding. That can create a larger balance that has to be dealt with when your case resolves. Using your health insurance does not mean the at-fault party is “off the hook.” It simply helps manage the medical bills in a way that may leave more money in your pocket at the end of the claim.
5. Keep a Journal While You Recover
Pain and suffering can be difficult to remember in detail months after the fact. Most people try to move forward and forget the hard parts. But when it comes time to resolve your claim, those details matter.
Keeping a simple journal can help. You do not need to write pages every day. Short notes are enough. Write down things like:
- Pain levels;
- Missed work;
- Missed family events;
- Sleep problems;
- Activities you could not do;
- Help you needed from others;
- Medical appointments;
- Medication side effects;
- Anxiety about driving;
- Limitations with household chores, childcare, hobbies, or exercise.
Six to twelve months later, you may not remember all the ways the wreck affected your daily life. A journal can help preserve those details while they are fresh.
6. Follow Your Doctor’s Advice
If your doctor recommends physical therapy, go to physical therapy. If your doctor recommends follow-up appointments, attend them. If you are referred to a specialist, make that appointment.
Insurance companies and defense attorneys pay close attention to gaps in treatment and non-compliance with medical recommendations. If you do not follow your doctor’s advice, they may argue that you must not have been that hurt, or that you failed to do what was necessary to get better.
Life is busy, and medical treatment can be inconvenient. But following through with your recommended care helps both your recovery and your injury claim.
7. Do Not Wait Until the Statute of Limitations Is About to Expire to Hire a Tennessee Attorney
Tennessee has a short statute of limitations for personal injury claims. In most Tennessee auto injury cases, you only have one year from the date of the wreck to file a lawsuit.
That may sound like plenty of time, but it goes by quickly. Attorneys need time to investigate the claim, gather records, collect medical bills, obtain evidence, review insurance coverage, communicate with adjusters, and attempt to resolve the case before filing suit.
If you wait until the deadline is near, important evidence may be gone. Witnesses may be harder to locate. Video footage may no longer exist. Medical records may still be outstanding. And there may not be enough time to negotiate the claim before a lawsuit has to be filed.
Hiring an attorney early gives your legal team more time to build and protect your case.
Final Thoughts
After a Tennessee car wreck, the insurance company begins evaluating the claim right away. You should be protecting your claim just as early.
Avoiding recorded statements, getting timely medical care, documenting your injuries, using your health insurance, keeping track of your recovery, following your doctor’s advice, and speaking with an attorney before the deadline approaches can all make a meaningful difference in the outcome of your case.
If you have been injured in a car wreck, do not wait until the insurance company has already gathered evidence against you or the statute of limitations is close to running. Speaking with an attorney early can help you understand your options and avoid mistakes that may reduce your recovery.