Can I Make a Personal Injury Claim Myself?

Steven A. Bagen | December 13, 2024 | Personal Injury

In the same way that you wouldn’t walk into an operating room without the knowledge, experience, licenses, and credentials to perform surgery—you shouldn’t walk into a courtroom lacking the knowledge, experience, licenses, and credentials to handle your personal injury claim.

So, to answer the question, “Can I make a personal injury claim myself?” —no. It’s risky and generally results in denied or seriously undervalued claims that don’t cover the financial losses of legally unrepresented injured parties.

If you suffered injuries in an accident that wasn’t your fault or lost a loved one to wrongful death due to another person’s negligence, consult a wrongful death attorney immediately. You’ll want to explore your legal rights to recover compensation for injuries and incurred damages.

 

Making Harmful Statements

Insurance claim adjusters will contact you almost immediately after an accident to inquire about how you feel and the extent of your injuries. They may also call and conduct multiple interviews, asking the same questions and searching for discrepancies in your responses.

Typically, insurers will request that you provide a recorded statement to answer questions designed to get you to say something they can use to dismiss total or partial liability. For example, they may secure a recorded statement of you saying you feel “fine” on the day of the accident before injury symptoms develop or before receiving a medical evaluation.

Personal injuries, including concussions and whiplash, can take several days to present. Suppose you discover you are injured after providing the recorded statement. In that case, it may not matter when they have your recorded voice stating that you feel “fine.” That harmful statement may be enough to deny your claim. If you have a personal injury lawyer, you’re not legally obligated to speak to liable insurance companies. Contact a personal injury attorney now if you’ve already provided a statement.

Posting on Social Media

Insurance companies may stalk your social media accounts to find posts they can use against you to deny liability. Some go as far as hiring private investigators to monitor your feeds and real-life activities.

It’s common for the defense to take statements or photos out of context to downplay the severity of your injuries and your pain and suffering. Examples of how they may use your social media posts against you are as follows:

• Photos: Posting selfies of you happy or engaging in activities that may be questionable with injuries, such as hiking, won’t bode well with liable insurers.  Even posting an innocent photo of you dining out can be misconstrued as not being injured. 
• Lives and Videos: Going live or posting videos can be interpreted as not demonstrating pain or limitations on activities or enjoyment of life—especially if you’re uploading TikTok dances or Internet challenges.
• Statement Contradictions: Liable insurers and private investigators search for any statement that may contradict what you’ve stated or that they can misconstrue to mean you’re not as injured as you claim. If you post or comment saying, “I feel good today,” they may use this to suggest you are better and ready to settle.
• Tagging in Photos and Geolocation: Friends and family sharing your location and tagging you in photos or videos engaging in activities contradicting your accident injury claim can be detrimental to the outcome.
• Checking-In: Injured parties who run around virtually checking in to many places for their followers to see may have their claims denied easily. That behavior alludes to a party not being injured or suffering legitimate pain. 
• Accident-Related Posts: A common mistake of unrepresented personal injury victims is posting about accidents and injuries. If there are any discrepancies between your claim and posts, your claim may face claim denial.

The insurance claims adjuster’s sole responsibility is to minimize their company’s losses, and they go to great lengths to ensure that success. What may seem like an innocent post can become a significant obstacle in your personal injury claim.

If you’ve already posted about your accident and injuries, schedule a free consultation with a local personal injury lawyer. They will mitigate what’s been done and advise you on best practices moving forward.

Settling Too Soon

It’s common for insurance companies to pressure injured parties into settling too soon to minimize their loss. Unfortunately, that often results in injury victims settling before fully recovering from their injuries or incurring the full impact of financial losses. If an injury victim experiences complications that lead to further medical treatment and bills, they cannot file another claim and will unfairly absorb the costs.

Accepting Insultingly Low and Unfair Settlement Offers

It’s standard for insurance companies to send meager first offers, knowing most unrepresented victims will accept them. There are various reasons why injured parties accept first offers, such as:

• They’ve jumped through insurance hoops for months and fear not being paid
• They are inexperienced negotiators
• They fear negotiating because it may result in no settlement offer
• They feel intimidated or threatened by the liable insurer

Another critical factor is the surmounting pressure of medical debt and other expenses, which stress individuals without the means to pay them. That pressure comes in your mailbox in the form of bills, and phone calls asking for payment. Injured parties who want to avoid having bills go to collections and affecting their credit reports may accept an insultingly low and unfair settlement offer.

How an Attorney Will Help Win Your Personal Injury Claim

Personal injury lawyers are educated, experienced, and skilled professionals who provide invaluable services to accident injury victims. They offer contingency arrangements so anyone can afford their services and referrals to parties needing them.

Additionally, they identify all liable parties, handle communications with insurers, gather evidence, and prove negligence in personal injury claims. Finally, they provide comprehensive case valuation, send demand letters to liable parties, and negotiate fair settlements before dispersing funds.

Offer Contingency Arrangements

Contingency arrangements with personal injury lawyers mean they only get paid if they successfully win your case. Furthermore, no upfront, out-of-pocket, or ongoing costs are associated with retaining their legal counsel.

Contingency fee-based arrangements make legal representation accessible to injured parties who may otherwise be unable to afford an attorney. They also strongly incentivize personal injury lawyers to secure substantial compensation. With zero financial risk, trusting an experienced lawyer to handle your personal injury claim makes sense.

Provide Referrals 

Personal injury attorneys often have a network of medical and rehabilitation professionals they work with regularly and can refer you to. The benefit of these referrals is that the healthcare providers understand how personal injury claims work and are willing to wait for payment.

They can place a medical lien on your settlement and wait until your lawyer dispenses funds before receiving payment. This practice allows injured parties to undergo necessary treatment without the subsequent bills stressing them and going to collections and their credit reports.

Identify All Liable Parties

Generally, personal injury claims entail working with the at-fault party’s insurance company. Part of a personal injury attorney’s investigation is identifying all liable parties to maximize your compensation claim.

It’s common for some claim types to involve the complexity of multiple liability. For example, truck accidents may include filing claims with the truck driver’s and the trucking company’s insurance.

Handle All Communications With Insurers

After retaining a personal injury lawyer, insurance companies aren’t allowed to contact or harass you any further. Having a lawyer protects you from being a victim of their bad-faith tactics. Your attorney will handle all communications, provide all necessary paperwork and documentation, and coordinate all claims-related processes.

Gather and Preserve Critical Evidence

Establishing liability and proving negligence involves gathering and preserving evidence quickly before it is lost or destroyed. Depending on the accident type, evidence commonly collected in a personal injury case includes:

• Police, accident, and incident reports
• Video surveillance from dashcams and traffic cameras
• Video footage from witnesses’s cell phones of the accident
• Photos of the accident scene and injuries 
• Photos of ticketing red light cameras (known to increase car accidents)
• Debris from the accident scene
• The at-fault driver’s cell phone records at the time of the accident
• Witness statements
• Medical bills and records
• Financial documents demonstrating monetary losses

Personal injury claims, such as truck accidents, wrongful death, and toxic torts, may involve more complicated evidence that an unrepresented injured party may not access. Claims that don’t have solid evidence demonstrating negligence and liability are generally denied.

Prove Negligence

Proving the four elements of negligence—owed duty of care, breach of duty, causation of injuries, and damages suffered—is part of the personal injury claims process. The elements state:

• The defendant owed you a duty of care, such as following traffic laws or keeping their property clear of unsafe conditions. 
• The defendant breached their duty by acting in a negligent or deliberate manner.
• The breach of duty is directly responsible for your injuries.
• The breach of duty caused actual damages, such as medical bills and vehicle repairs or replacement.

Personal injury lawyers frequently work with experts, including accident reconstruction specialists, to cement liability. Accident reconstruction diagrams and models can help pinpoint precise points of negligence, making your case a slam dunk.

Provide a Comprehensive Case Valuation 

Valuing your case involves calculating the economic losses and non-economic damages incurred from your personal injury accident. These losses may include:

• Healthcare Costs: Medical, rehab, and disability, including emergency care, surgeries, hospitalizations, primary care, physical therapy, orthopedics, massage, chiropractic care, occupational and vocational therapy, mobility modifications, and future healthcare costs.
• Vehicle-Related Damages: Vehicle repairs to body, frame, and mechanics or replacement in accidents where they are totaled; wheelchair-accessible vehicles or modifications to existing vehicles; rental or temporary transportation, such as taxis and rideshare services. 
• Property Damages: Costs to repair or replace personal property damaged in your accident, such as cell phones, work or school Chromebooks, car seats, bicycles, helmets, fences, mailboxes, lawn, and home or building damages.
• Income Losses: All financial loss associated with missing work, including lost income, salary, overtime, tips, commissions, sick leave, healthcare benefits, retirement, lost progress toward promotion, and diminished earning capacity.
• Pain and Suffering: Physical pain, mental anguish, psychological trauma, loss of activities, decreased quality of life, worsening of existing injuries, shortened life expectancy, substance misuse problems, and permanent impairment.
• Wrongful Death: Final arrangement costs, including funeral, burial, or cremation;  pain and suffering of the decedent before their passing; loss of financial support; loss of consortium; loss of household services; loss of inheritance; loss of parental guidance. 

Economic losses are supported by their paper trail. Keep records of all billing statements, invoices, receipts, and other financial documents proving monetary losses.

To prove pain and suffering, document them in an injury journal. Keep detailed entries of pain levels on a scale of 1-10, sleep disturbances, inability or limitations on daily activities, and emotional distress.

Send a Demand Letter

After valuing the damages in your personal injury claim, your lawyer will draft and send a demand letter to liable insurers. It’s uncommon for insurance companies to agree to the terms in the initial demand letter and issue payment. Usually, the demand letter is what begins negotiations.

Negotiate a Fair Financial Settlement

Negotiations involve multiple rounds of communication, during which attorneys and insurers exchange offers and counteroffers until they mutually agree on settlement terms. They begin by countering the demand letter with a lowball offer and end with compromise and settlement.

Distribute Settlement Funds

After your attorney and liable insurance companies agree to settlement terms, they will issue payment. Your lawyer will disperse funds to medical treatment liens, recover their contingency fee, and issue you a check to compensate your damages.

What Happens if the Insurance Company Refuses to Settle My Personal Injury Claim?

According to recent statistics, about 95 percent of personal injury claims are settled outside the courtroom—giving you a one in twenty chance of going to trial. However, if your attorney and insurers cannot agree, your lawyer will discuss filing a personal injury lawsuit with you.

They will only advise and pursue a lawsuit if they believe they have outstanding odds of winning it. For example, if the insurance company acts in bad faith by not paying a valid claim with solid evidence.

Call an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney to Handle Your Claim

Consult a local personal injury lawyer in Gainesville to discuss the merits of your personal injury claim. You’ll want to determine a plan to recover compensation for your losses.