Call a Doctor first not a Lawyer
Many patients of mine come to my office for treatment after they have been involved in a car accident, but all too often the first phone call they make is to an attorney. I have seen this hundreds of times over the last sixteen years of practice as the Miramar Chiropractor and Pembroke Pines Chiropractor and I immediately stop and explain to the patient that in most cases this is not a very good way to proceed.
Unfortunately, for many people involved in an accident and injured, the first thought after the loud crash and the cars have come to rest is, “I’m gonna sue that guy.” Now, although you may have a legal right to fight for compensation if you are a victim with injuries due to someone else’s doing, in most cases you are not actually suing anyone at all, rather you are putting an insurance company on notice and they should be prepared in the future for a monetary demand. Well, insurance companies have departments set aside to handle these phone calls and demands. It’s called a claims department. In fact, the insurance company creates teams of trained specialists that sit behind desks, and answer these calls and literally process these claims all day, to pay out to accident victims. Actually, it is very rare that an insurance company is actually sued to pay these bodily injury claims. They simply look at the facts, damages, and injuries of the claim, and make a determination as to what they think the claim is worth. The next thing that happens is that your lawyer tries to negotiate that amount as high as possible. It’s like buying a car, when you go back and forth with the salesman until the price is agreeable.
But I don’t want to get too far off topic and off the purpose of this article. What is important is that only under certain conditions is it wise to contact a lawyer before a doctor. You see, the insurance claim representatives are trained to recognize a claim that is based on real injuries and back pain or whiplash versus a claim that is based on the foundation of, “Pay Me.” If you have a car accident and the first thing you do is hire a lawyer, and the lawyer “sends” you to one of “his” doctors, the insurance representative who holds the checkbook is going to pick you claim out of the stack and is likely to scrutinize the treatments and question the claimants motivation.
I explain this to patients all the time because sometimes it even makes me question my patient’s motives. I have an obligation to release patients from care that I feel are not as hurt physically as they want you to believe. Contact your doctor first, not a lawyer.
My Chiropractic Clinic is in the Miramar/Pembroke Pines area of South Florida. Call me for an appointment. Dr. Alan Himmel 954-659-8600 My websites are www.MiramarChiropractor.com and www.PembrokePines-Chiropractor.com
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