Medical Bills - Evaluating Your Personal Injury Insurance Claim

The value of a personal injury claim has a direct relationship to the amount of your medical bills. Why? Because a claim with medical bills of $500.00 is worth three to five times more than a claim with $100.00, or less. And thats a fact of life in the world of insurance claims.

The adjuster will reason if you were hurt badly enough to run up $500.00 in medical expenses than its correct to assume that your injuries must be substantial. But, if you see your chiropractor or physician only once or twice, and your final bills are in the vicinity of $100.00, that adjuster will assume you werent hurt too seriously.

DEMAND THAT ALL YOUR MEDICAL BILLS BE PAID: The adjuster may try to disallow a substantial part of your total medical expenses which he contends doesnt qualify as medical in character. Hell often attempt to divide your medical costs into two arbitrary parts - - Diagnostic and Treatment. In the Diagnostic category hell include items such as ambulance and emergency room costs, costs of X-rays, and other diagnostic procedures, plus visits to specialists. And the rest (principally costs of the hospital and regular office visits to doctors, physical therapy and medication) will be termed "Treatment. The items that are categorized as Diagnostic expenses are the bills the adjuster would like to disallow as not being Medical types of activities.

He may try to do this because with a differentiation (between what is Diagnostic and what is supposedly true medical Treatment) the basic worth of your claim will have been drastically reduced, as the amount of your Special Damages and thus drastically reduce the true value of your claim. At that point the adjuster will argue that the Treatment portion of your medical bills thats directly related to the severity of your injury, therefore its what truly reflects (and measures) your Pain and Suffering.

Dont let him get away with that! If he should attempt to pull this on you tell him, Its absurd and illogical to separate medical expenses into two arbitrary categories and designate one as Diagnostic and the other as Treatment. Each area works hand-in-hand with the other in medical practice. I cant get properly treated without being diagnosed!

Hell gulp, because he knows what you say is true and that will usually be the end of such nonsense on his part.

PERMANENT AND/OR TEMPORARY DISABILITY: In discussing Disability. its important to develop a working knowledge of these two legitimate concepts. Commonly, personal injuries are classified as either Permanent or Temporary. These two terms are used basically to describe the anticipated duration of an injury, and not its degree of severity! Thus, if an injury is conceived as one which would continue throughout the remainder of an individuals lifetime, its said to be Permanent in nature. Conversely, if its a reasonable probably that the claimant will attain a full or complete recovery (within some future period) the injury is classified as Temporary" - - regardless of how severe or extensive the injury might otherwise appear.

TOTAL AND/OR PARTIAL DISABILITY: Another common classification of Disabilities will relate to whether they are considered to be Total or Partial. These terms refer to the actual extent of the claimants injuries, regardless of whether theyre permanent or temporary in duration.

THE FOLLOWING FOUR SPECIAL CATEGORIES

ARE REFERRED TO AND UTILIZED IN PERSONAL INJURY LITIGATION

1. TEMPORARY TOTAL DISABILITY: This is symbolized by a seriously injured person who is temporarily hospitalized or otherwise completely impaired, although expected to eventually regain full function.

2. TEMPORARY PARTIAL DISABILITY: This is that period when, following the initial period of complete impairment of the seriously injured party (that period of Temporary Total Disability), the party recovers and is able to resume some (but not all) formal activities.

3. PERMANENT TOTAL DISABILITY: This describes a condition (usually applicable in the most sever cases, in which the injury produces a nearly total impairment to the body as a whole) - - again placing the emphasis both on the extent of the functional impairment and its duration.

4. PERMANENT PARTIAL DISABILITY: This describes a condition where the injured party, (even after sustaining a permanent injury) still retains some substantial body function or earning capacity, with the emphasis centered on the extent of the functional impairment itself.

MEDICAL BILL COVERAGES: Read your Motor Vehicle Policy to discover if you have Medical Payments Coverage. Also check all your non-automobile insurance policies. You may have coverage(s) to pay your medical bills regardless of who was at fault. If you have a Health Insurance Policy and/or Health Plan of some sort, read the fine print. Your policy may not require you to pay back the medical bill payments made in your behalf - - even if you collect from the person who struck you!

DISCLAIMER: This article ~Medical Bills ~ Evaluating Your Insurance Claim, is intended for background information. Its only purpose is to help people understand the motor vehicle accident claim process. Neither Dan Baldyga, Peter Go nor ARTICLE CITY make no guarantee of any kind whatsoever, NOR DO THEY purport to engage in rendering any professional or legal service, NOR TO substitute for a lawyer, an insurance adjuster, or claims consultant, or the like. Where such professional help is desired IT IS THE INDIVIDUALS RESPONSIBILITY to obtain it!

For more How To insurance claim insights read Dan Baldygas latest book AUTO ACCIDENT PERSONAL INJURY INSURANCE CLAIM (How To Evaluate And Settle Your Loss). This book can be found on the internet at http://www.autoaccidentclaims.com. This book reveals How To successfully handle your motor vehicle accident claim, so you wont be taken advantage of. It also goes into detail regarding the revolutionary BASE(The Baldyga Auto Accident Settlement Evaluation Formula). BASE explains how to determine the value of the Pain and Suffering you endured - - because of your personal injury.

Copyright (c) 2003 By Daniel G. Baldyga. All Rights Reserved

Dan Baldyga - Author

19 Winona Drive, West Springfield, MA 01089
Phone: (413) 733 0127 FAX: (413) 731 8358
Mail to: dbpaw@attbi.com
AUTO ACCIDENT PERSONAL INJURY INSURANCE CLAIM
(How To Evaluate And Settle Your Loss)
Found On The Internet At: http://www.autoaccidentclaims.com
Or: http://www.caraccidentclaims.com

About The Author

For 30 years Dan Baldyga was a claims adjuster, supervisor, manager and also a trial assistant.He is now retired and spends his time attempting to assist those involed in motor vehicle accident claims so they will not be taken advantage of. Mail to: dbpaw@attbi.com

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How Much Compensation Money for a Whiplash or Neck Injury?

Whiplash or neck injuries are very common but there seems to be a stigma involved in claiming compensation for whiplash.With the ever increasing traffic on our roads there are more and more road accidents where whiplash is a common injury. Any accident involving the neck and shoulders can be painful and should be compensated for. Claiming compensation for an accident that was not your fault is your legal and civil right.

There are many different types of neck injuries and many are found in conjunction with back and shoulder problems. The most devastating cases may leave claimants very severely disabled and these claims may have a value of 86,500. On the lower end of the scale where claimants may only suffer a minor strain and only suffer for a few weeks the amount could be as little as 750. Severe neck injury which is associated with incomplete paraplegia or with permanent spastic quadriparesis or where the injured person still has no movement in the neck and suffers severe headaches, the amount of damages awarded could be in the region of 86,500. The compensation awarded to someone with injuries which give rise to severe disabilities could be in the region of 38,175 to 76,350.

With injuries which cause severe damage to soft tissues and or ruptured tendons the amount you could be entitled too could be in the region of 32,000. The precise amount would depend the prognosis and the length of time during which the most serious symptoms are more bearable. Fracture injuries or dislocations which cause severe immediate symptoms and which may necessitate spinal fusion could fetch in the region of 14,500 to 19,100. Fractures can leave markedly impaired function or vulnerability to further trauma and some limitation of activities.

Moderate cases involving whiplash or wrenching type injuries can result in cervical spondylosis, serious limitation of movement with permanent or recurring pain and stiffness with the possible need for further surgery. For this moderate case the amount you would be entitled to would be in the region of 8,150 to 14,500.

The type of injuries which may have exacerbated or accelerated some pre-existing unrelated condition but they may have made a complete recovery. The amount you may be entitled too could be in the region of 4,575 to 8,150. This will also apply to moderate whiplash injuries. The more minor cases where a full recovery takes place within a couple of years the amount would be in the region of 2,550 to 4,575. For a complete recovery that takes a few weeks or months the amount would be 750 to 2,550.

If any of these describes your injury and you believe the accident was not your fault then you should claim compensation. Over 2 million people in the UK have accidents each year, and very few claim compensation for their injuries which is ridiculous. Seeking compensation for pain and suffering your civil and legal right. Whatever type of accident, as long as youre not responsible then you are entitled to compensation and should go about claiming it. The financial loss you would be compensated for could be due to loss of earnings or due to damages to your car or any other personal item. Some people may have to adapt their homes to deal with the injury permanently. Or they may have lost their job and are no longer able to work; stress depression and anxiety are all illnesses that may not have occurred if the accident had never happened. This is why it is ethically right that people should have the opportunity to claim compensation for their injuries however mild or severe they maybe.

No win no fee (Conditional fee agreements) were first introduced in 1995 when legal aid was still available for personal injury cases. The reason it was introduced was to give the people with incomes above legal aid eligibility limits the chance to fund personal injury litigation. People whose income was just about the limit were still finding it difficult to pay for a solicitor. This no win no fee agreement eventually became available to fund most civil cases and the consequence of this was that legal aid was abolished 2000. Contrary to popular belief there has not been a compensation boom, in fact the number of claims has dropped since this time.

So if you have damaged your neck and have suffered whiplash you should be seeking out an accident claims solicitor. Ignore the stigma attached, and find yourself a solicitor that offers free impartial advice and one that has years of experience dealing with accident claims.

Accident claims for the UK market contact Accident Consult for your no obligation consultation. They are experts in dealing with whiplash claims.

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