Lafayette Paraplegia Lawyer

Pitfalls to Avoid After Suffering a Paraplegia Injury in Lafayette, LA

Even with such a life-altering injury as paraplegia from an accident in Lafayette, getting the compensation you deserve from the at-fault party is not guaranteed. Many things can happen that diminish the amount of your financial recovery. We want to help you avoid that situation.

Here are some of the pitfalls you should avoid when you have a pending Lafayette paraplegia claim:

• Settling your claim before completing your medical treatment. Until you complete your medical treatment and get released by your doctor, you do not know if you will have an ongoing impairment that might be permanent. After you settle your paraplegia injury claim, your case is over. Even if you need additional treatment like surgery, you cannot pursue additional money from the defendant or insurer from this accident.
• Accepting a lowball offer. Unless you work in the liability insurance industry and have access to the jury verdict information that insurance companies and personal injury attorneys use, you will be taking a wild guess about how much your case is worth. You should expect the first offer the claims adjuster makes to be far below your case’s value. A paraplegia injury attorney can guide you toward a fair settlement offer amount.
• Not understanding how waivers or releases work in settlements. When you settle your claim, you must sign some paperwork before they give you your check. One of these documents is a waiver or release, in which you give up the right to go after the defendant for any more money for this accident. That one will represent your medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, long-term impairment, and everything else.
• Thinking that the insurance company will pay you a fair amount for your injury claim. The insurer’s adjuster might be friendly, but their job is not to pay you the full value of your injury claim. Their job is to get your claim off their books for as little money as possible, even if it means blaming you for the accident that left you with paraplegia.

When you work with a Lafayette paraplegia injury attorney, we can protect you from some of the tactics injured people encounter when dealing with insurance companies.