The Importance of Following Doctor’s Orders After an Accident
You’ve suffered a personal injury and gone to seek medical care. That’s a great first step. Getting checked out by a doctor is crucial, both for your physical health and for your personal injury claim against the liable party. However, you can’t stop there. It’s incredibly important to follow your doctor’s orders until you’re completely healed, and your claim is settled.
If you’re not sure what your next step is after an injury, we’re here to help. Call Weaver Tidmore at 205-980-6065 to schedule a consultation now.
Proving Your Injury
To start, you must follow your doctor’s orders to prove your injury and track its progress. There is a temptation to avoid follow-up scans or diagnostic tests, due to the cost associated with these tests. But this is the best way to track the progress of your healing and figure out what your prognosis is.
Not only is this important for your health, it is important for your accident injury claim. Insurance companies will take any opportunity to decrease the value of your claim. If you don’t have medical proof of the severity of your injury, they’ll assume it’s milder than it truly is. If you want a full and fair settlement, you will have to fight for it every step of the way.
What Happens When You Ignore Your Doctor’s Advice
From there, you might feel an urge to ignore or stray from your doctor’s advice. This can seriously hinder your personal injury claim, not to mention your actual physical health.
To start, the insurance company responsible for paying out your claim will get their information about your injury from the doctor. If the doctor says that you should be on bedrest and the insurance company catches you out grocery shopping, they’ll assume you are faking your injury.
Not convinced that the insurance company will find out? They may not, but they probably will. In many personal injury cases, especially high-value ones, the insurance company will hire a personal investigator to check out the victim’s actions.
If the victim is asking for full income replacement but is still reporting to work, the insurance company will find out. If the victim is supposed to be on bedrest but is training for a marathon, the insurance company will find out.
If you stick to what your doctor says, it will be better for your claim all around. You might feel healthy enough to take on extra challenges, but don’t be afraid to take the extra rest. Work, home obligations, and your hobbies will still be there once you’re healed.
What If the Insurance Company Suspects Fraud?
The insurance company will generally engage in two levels of investigation. First, they may do a quick background check on you as a victim. This is just a cursory glance at who you are and whether or not your history and online presence raise any red flags.
If they find anything that makes them suspicious, they may start a more in-depth investigation. This might involve following you, as they are looking for anything that suggests you are falsifying your insurance claim. They might want to find out if you are going to work while requesting compensation for missed work, if you are grocery shopping and lifting heavy items, or if you are playing sports. Anything that directly contradicts your accident report could be used to cast doubt on your reliability and deny you compensation.
Putting Your Health First
Above all, you have to consider your health. Like many people, your urge to move faster than recommended might be motivated by finances and a desire to get back to “normal”.
Spending time away from work can be financially devastating, which leads many victims to return to work before they’re ready. But going this route could actually hurt your ability to work. Failing to let your injuries heal completely could make them worse and keep them from healing fully. As a result, you could be left with lingering injuries that impact your ability to work long-term.
No matter what, you want to maximize your quality of life and stay healthy as long as you can. Giving your injuries time to heal fully is the best way to do that. Taking the extra time that you need to heal allows you to heal completely, get back to work with your full strength, and take care of your family.
It just so happens that doing what’s best for your health also means doing what’s best for your injury claim. Sticking with your doctor and following their advice from start to finish makes it hard for the insurance company to poke holes in your claim and deny you fair compensation.
Discuss Your Claim with Weaver Tidmore Today
The team at Weaver Tidmore has handled a wide variety of personal injury claims, and we know how insurance companies fight to devalue your claim. We’re on your side every step of the way. Whether you’ve been injured in a car crash, a fall, or another type of accident, reach out to us today. Give us a call at 205-980-6065 or get in touch with us online to take the first step.
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