Common Mistakes To Avoid After a Personal Injury Accident

Knowing the steps to take after someone else causes you harm in Pennsylvania is important. But what’s just as important is knowing the mistakes to avoid. Many personal injury victims hurt their own cases by making common mistakes that are easily avoided, such as delaying medical treatment, speaking to the insurance adjuster, and posting on social media.

Delaying Medical Treatment

Delaying seeking medical treatment after sustaining an injury can harm your legal case by indicating to the at-fault party’s insurance company that your injuries aren’t very serious. The insurance company may claim that you would have sought medical treatment earlier if your injuries were severe.

However, not every injury is immediately apparent. For example, after a car accident, you may not begin feeling the symptoms of whiplash until days later. But it’s vital that you seek medical attention as soon as you realize you sustained an injury so that it and the connection to the accident can be documented in your medical records.

Waiting To Contact a Personal Injury Attorney

In Pennsylvania, personal injury victims only have two years to file lawsuits against the parties responsible for their injuries. While this may sound like plenty of time, you should always contact a personal injury attorney early on in your case to give them sufficient time to investigate.

During your lawyer’s investigation into the incident that caused your injuries, they’ll gather various types of evidence, including:

• Accident scene photographs
• Surveillance or traffic camera footage
• Eyewitness statements
• Expert witness testimony
• Medical records

Some types of evidence, such as accident scene photographs, can only be collected soon after the incident because the scene will get cleaned up. The longer you wait, the harder it will be for your lawyer to collect the evidence they need.

Speaking to the Insurance Company

The at-fault party’s insurance company may contact you for a statement about the incident or to ask about your injuries. When this happens, you should politely decline to speak with them and direct them to your lawyer.

Despite what the insurance adjuster says, they’re not on your side. Their job is to reduce their employer’s liability for your injuries, and one way they do that is by trying to trick you into admitting fault.

Posting on Social Media

Never post about the accident or your injuries on social media. The insurance company will have people monitoring your accounts and even the accounts of your friends and family.

It’s best to lock down your accounts and avoid posting while your case is active, as the insurance company may even take unrelated posts out of context. For example, you may post pictures from a trip you went on three years ago, and the insurance company will claim they’re new photos showing you without injuries.

Exaggerating Your Injury Claims

You may feel compelled to exaggerate your injury claims to make it easier to recover compensation for them. Don’t do this. In most cases, the evidence will contradict those exaggerations, which could jeopardize your ability to recover anything for your injuries.

At worst, these exaggerations could be considered insurance fraud, and at best, they could cause the insurance company to reduce the compensation they offer during settlement negotiations.

Don’t Make These Mistakes – Contact Our Pennsylvania Personal Injury Lawyers for Help

If you were injured by someone else in Pennsylvania, contact Stine & Associates, P.C., for a free consultation with a knowledgeable personal injury lawyer. Our team will help you avoid the common mistakes people make after they’ve been injured and will work to maximize your compensation by thoroughly investigating the incident and negotiating with the insurer on your behalf.