Yes. Depending on the level of impairment, the person that caused the accident that resulted in your injuries could be liable for punitive damages in addition to the normal compensatory damages. The insurance company will not usually volunteer this information, so you should contact an experienced attorney right away to make sure you are recovering full value for your case.
Imagine there are two different car drivers driving the same make/model car that received virtually the same exact car bumper damage in a rear end collision, in two different cities at two different times and both are rear ended by the same exact make/model SUV going the same speed. One driver is on the East Coast and one is on the West Coast. Could the East Coast driver be permanently injured and the West Coast driver suffer no personal injury? Of course.
Imagine the East Coast driver is a 58-year-old who had two prior neck surgeries, and is still in physical therapy months after the second neck surgery. However, the West Coast driver is a 19-year-old who has never had a prior neck problem. The 19-year-old from the West Coast might get out of the car, have no injury noticeable at the scene, in the days after or ever. The 58-year-old East Coast driver feels an immediate onset of neck pain, leaves the scene with the rescue squad to receive emergency care, and then begins a more aggressive merry-go-round of medical visits, further physical therapy and possibly a third neck surgery, likely due to the existence of the pre-existing neck condition.
The legal phrase is that this person is an “egg shell skull” victim, meaning that this person might not have had a skull or body part in a regular condition but is still as delicate as a skull made of an egg shell. Under nearly all situations, the law states a responsible driver takes the injured victim as they are even if the responsible driver has no awareness that the person in the car that they smash has an egg shell skull, or some significant pre-existing conditions that make them more susceptible to personal injuries. Doctors know that someone who had a previous surgery on a body part develops scar tissue and is more susceptible to re-injury.
The point here is that minor car property damage may indicate something significant or it may not, especially if the person who was rear-ended has some special physical condition or medical condition that makes them more susceptible to injury.
Here’s the bottom line: the insurance companies love to deny claims or pay pennies on the dollar for minor damage car accident cases as an excuse not to pay what can be a significant and valid injury claim backed up by several medical Doctors opinions. People that suffer new personal injuries, but have a pre-existing condition are wise to hire an experienced personal injury attorney like those working for Shapiro & Appleton. Insurance adjusters love to deny any compensation to a consumer for an obvious permanent injury, because permanent injuries are not tied directly to an economic loss formula, plus our clients often do not know what type of medical opinion to get from their treating doctor in order to outline the permanent nature of their injuries.
About the editors: The motto at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharplaw firm is simple -“All we do is injury law.” We hope you were able to find the answer to your injury query. If not, please review our North and South Carolina Accident Attorney FAQ library for additional information. If you’d like to speak to an actual attorney about your potential injury claim for free, please contact our office at (833) 997-1774.
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Yes. Notifying your own insurer gives you instant access to coverage.
This depends on the type of insurance plan you have. Some insurance companies, after paying for your medical bills, seek reimbursement through the “right of subrogation” or through written contractual provisions in your health insurance plan documents that call for reimbursement of any medical bills/expenses paid to you that are incurred due to a tort or third party’s fault. Basically, this means if you get hurt in an accident due to the carelness of another person/company and you decide to pursue a personal injury claim, the insurance company will try to recover the money they paid for your medical bills. However, not every health insurance plan is entitled to this type of reimbursement. For example, entities which are not formed under the ERISA act (traditional health insurers) often cannot recover the medical expenses paid.Keep in mind that even if your insurance company pursues the cost of your medical bills, there is still a good chance you’ll receive a sizable recovery for pain and suffering, lost wages, and other damages. To learn more about the right of subrogation and insurance reimbursement/repayment, check out this article.
Yes. There is no requirement that a ticket or citation be issued in any car accident personal injury case. Under the civil justice system, the injured person typically just needs to prove by the greater majority (“greater weight”) of the evidence that the other party was the cause of the accident and injuries.
Even more significantly, most states do not even allow into evidence in a personal injury case whether the police officer issued a ticket or citation to the responsible driver that caused the crash. In some states, the only exception to introducing evidence of a traffic/criminal ticket issued to the responsible driver is if that driver actually pleads guilty or mails in the ticket accepting responsibility-then that evidence is admissible.
Sometimes a police officer just doesn’t feel comfortable saying which driver is at fault, but once we interview a client and investigate the crash, we often become highly convinced that our client is free of fault and have accepted many injury cases over many years where no ticket was issued.
About the editors: The motto at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharplaw firm is simple -“All we do is injury law.” We hope you were able to find the answer to your injury query. If not, please review our North and South Carolina Accident Attorney FAQ library for additional information. If you’d like to speak to an actual attorney about your potential injury claim for free, please contact our office at (833) 997-1774.
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