Insurance companies will look at prior injuries (you have had in the past) in evaluating how much your case is worth in terms of pain and suffering money. So it is very important to skillfully contrast your health before the car accident and afterwards. It is better in an injury claim if you were in good health before the car accident but bad health or related or similar injuries at some point in the past do not necessarily mean an injury claim is barred or is not winnable. It is also important with prior injuries to look at how far back the pre-car accident injury was in evaluating your car accident injury in Oregon State and Washington State.

I never tell people who are in car accidents in Oregon state or Washington state to sign medical releases from the insurance company for the at fault party because this will give the insurance claims adjuster a green light to delve into private medical issues that are nobody’s business but your own. I have had many cases where drivers injure their back or neck and have had prior back and neck injuries. Peterson Law Offices’ staff of lawyers and paralegals have a lot of experience in evaluating and distinguishing prior injuries with the injuries you suffered in the car accident.

If the evaluation of your medical history is not properly performed and this information is not thoroughly explained and documented to the insurance company if may affect your bottom line which should be a maximum injury settlement that you as a victim deserve. There is a maxim called the Egg Shell Plaintiff Theory of recovery. This means the person who is liable and at fault is responsible to his or her victim no matter what the consequences. Elderly accident victims may suffer greater injuries than a healthy twenty something accident victim. Children accident victims may suffer greater injuries than adults.

The Egg Shell Plaintiff Theory applies to prior injuries too, so if you suffered injuries in the car accident and are worse off for it. The at-fault party is responsible for your car accident injuries even if you hurt that area before or it aggravated and made worse a preexisting injury.

A wrongful claim involves one family member coming forward to present claims on behalf of the deceased person for patient suffering and for claims of the surviving heirs. Legislatures throughout the country have imposed caps on “non-economic” damages, which may be lower than you think. Studies show that huge jury verdicts are rare, and that most injury victims are under compensated. By misrepresenting the exceptional case as the norm, insurance companies have successfully protected their wealth at the expense of society’s most vulnerable injury victims.

The worst and most dangerous drivers often carry the lowest possible amount of insurance that the law allows, or carry no insurance at all. Few people would voluntarily allow themselves to suffer even a simple fracture of a bone, even for tens of thousands of dollars. Surely the loss of a loved one cannot be financially compensated at any amount, but they certainly don’t deserve a lifetime of negative aftereffects because of eschew vision of insurance industry.

If you have faced the loss of a loved one from a catastrophic injury, seek assistance from an attorney who has experience with this, and who knows how to find every possible source of recovery. Insurance companies may try to take advantage of your vulnerable state by offering a ridiculously low amount. Don’t let them get away with it. Do not sign or record any statement for an insurance adjuster before consulting me. Most importantly, remember that delay can be costly. Time is of the essence.

The worst time to settle an accident suit is right after the accident occurs. All parties are shocked and in a state of confusion, impairing their judgment. For this reason, an accident victim should never sign or record a statement for any insurance company, either his own or the other party’s. Police and medical records should be completed and memorialized, since they will become part of the evidence presented should the case come to trial.

Although most accident cases are settled out of court, a certain percentage of them do go to trial, either a bench trial where a judge makes the decisions or a jury trial, where six, eight or twelve people will decide the merits of the case. Either way, you need to be represented by an experienced trial lawyer.