5 Common Misconceptions about Personal Injury Claims
Due to the proliferation of over the top advertising hype and unflattering media portrayals of claims being faked for comedic effect, most people don’t really understand what a personal injury case is really all about. With this in mind, here are 5 common misconceptions that people have about personal injury cases:
Misconception #1 – Your lawsuit will involve you fighting directly against the other party: What many personal injury Plaintiffs do not realize is that although their accident was caused by the negligence of another driver or a property owner, the real opposing party in a personal injury case is invariably the insurance company for that person. Although the other driver or property owner may be the named Defendant, it is the insurance company that truly defends the claim and pays for any recovery.
Misconception #2 – The insurance has to pay if their insured is “clearly” liable: One common statement we hear from clients when their claims do not resolve quickly is that the insurance has to pay because they are “clearly” liable. However, liability is only half the battle in a personal injury claim. Even in cases where liability is admitted by the insurance company, a personal injury claimant still needs to prove their injuries and prove the actual damages from those injuries.
Misconception #3 – An attorney can predict the result of your claim, just by hearing your story: In almost every interview our firm does with a potential personal injury client, we inevitably get the same question. Nearly every potential client asks the attorney to tell them how much they can recover on their case. Unfortunately, this is impossible for an attorney to estimate as every single claim is different. Depending on factors like the insurance company in question, the area in which the accident took place and the individual adjuster handling the case, you can end up with vastly different recoveries on identical injuries. There is simply no way to predict in advance the eventual recovery in a personal injury case.
Misconception #4 – All personal injury claims are the same: We’ve all seen the news stories about how some person recovered millions of dollars for a McDonald’s coffee cup spilling on their lap or finding a bug in their food at a restaurant. However, as much as it would nice if this was the norm, cases like that are the exception and not the rule. They do not guarantee that a Plaintiff will receive that much for their injuries, even if those injuries are “worse” than just getting burned by hot coffee. Similarly, as I noted above, no two claims are exactly alike, so just because you know someone else who recovered a certain amount or their claim was resolved in a certain amount of time, it does not mean that your claim will get the same results.
Misconception #5 – Trial is always the best option: In many ways, this is the most dangerous of these misconceptions for a personal injury claimant. Because of the way that big personal injury verdicts are reported and publicized, many clients believe that going to trial will always result in the largest recovery. What most people do not understand is that for every big verdict you see on TV, there are ten times as many Plaintiffs who received verdicts against them and were denied any recovery at all by a jury. In going to trial, you are giving up control of the outcome of the case and allowing 12 strangers to determine your recovery. In addition, trial is an expensive and time consuming process not only for the attorneys, but for the claimant as well. Plus, even if you do win, the costs of trial are then deducted from any recovery.
I’ll close this discussion with an unofficial sixth misconception, namely that personal injury claims are easy and uncomplicated, capable of being handled by any attorney who puts up a shingle and yells loud enough. Despite the fact that the images of the slovenly, unprofessional “ambulance chaser” and the loud, carnival barker promising giant recoveries are so prevalent on TV and in the movies, this is not the case. The sheer number of variables that can become involved in a personal injury claim create the need for careful planning and experienced representation. The elite personal injury law firms, like Mesriani Law Group, know how to deal with the complexities of personal injury litigation and present these claims in the best manner possible to secure recovery.
