Sometimes the victim of a car accident tries to exaggerate the effects of a small injury. At other times, a driver that has not suffered any harmful physical effects assumes that all of the vehicle’s passengers have remained uninjured. It requires an expenditure of time and effort, in order to file an insurance claim. Each person that has experienced such a jarring incident must decide whether or not it makes sense to file a personal injury claim. That is why consulting with a Personal Injury Lawyer in Mississauga becomes important.
What was the nature of any sustained injuries?
It does not pay to try exaggerating the effects of a minor injury. The insurance company normally requests the claimant to undergo an independent medical exam (IME). No doubt, the absence of support for the submitted claim would appear during such an examination.
Pain cannot be seen, but a patient with ongoing pain can keep a record of the frequency and length for any painful sensation. The insurance company would have trouble questioning the veracity of such a record, unless the claimant had chosen to share certain photos with friends, by using a social media network.
Does the claimant have any concerns about the rates for his or her health insurance?
Sometimes expensive diagnostic tests are needed, in order to prove the existence of a serious injury. For instance, the symptoms of a traumatic brain injury might not show up for several weeks. Yet, an imaging test might reveal the presence of the traumatized brain tissue.
It could be that performance of extensive diagnostic tests would result in a rate increase for the holder of a health insurance policy. In that case, the policyholder needs to weigh the effect of such an increase against the possible effect of overlooking the presence of a significant medical problem.
Has the injury caused the claimant to experience periods of emotional stress?
If you are an injured claimant, ask yourself these questions:
• Has it become harder to concentrate on what others are saying?
• Has it become harder to remember facts that you have been told?
If you are a parent and your child was involved in a car accident, then make an effort to answer these questions:
• Have I noticed a decline in my child’s performance at school?
• Do I seem to find it harder to get and keep my child’s attention?
• Does my child seem to get angry much faster than he or she did previously?
Hopefully, an observant parent has also arranged for the child that might have some type of injury to meet with a pediatrician. Proof of an initial visit could support any claims that a late-appearing symptom had developed as a result of the young passenger’s previous exposure to a sudden and forceful impact.
