A woman who was getting treatment for a soft tissue injury recently received a note from her insurance company saying something along these lines: “Typically, when you have suffered a soft tissue injury of this nature, it takes about six weeks to heal. We are no longer willing to pay any more costs for your medical treatment.”

How does the insurance company determine what they will and will not pay for? And how do they take individual recovery times into account — or not? They essentially have developed formulas based on large amounts of data and numbers crunched. They then decide that they are willing to allow a person only so much treatment for such and such an injury, or that they are willing to pay out in a settlement claim only a certain amount of money.

This is where it is helpful to have an attorney who understands the way that insurers negotiate and who can stand in your stead to protect your rights.

Insurance companies are required to pay for the cost of any medical treatment related to the accident that caused your injury. They are required to pay any accident-related damages of pain and suffering, emotional harm, lost wages and discomfort. They are required to pay for future medical expenses related to your injury.

However, it can be difficult to put a value on pain and suffering if your quality of life has suffered greatly and you can no longer enjoy your family the way you did in the past. It can seem impossible to put a value on the loss of the ability to actively parent your son or daughter. Nonetheless, a personal injury legal claim will put a value on such things.

It is also difficult to put a value on future medical expenses and treatments that haven’t yet been developed, but that might be developed in the future and that could help you if you have suffered a permanent disabling injury. Nonetheless, this is part of what insurance companies might pay out in a claim.

If you had some fault in the accident, meaning that your actions contributed in some way to the crash, then your settlement will be reduced by the percentage that you were at fault.

Dealing with Insurance after an Accident? Contact the Weber & Nierenberg Law Firm

The personal injury attorneys at the Weber & Nierenberg law firm are experienced in protecting the rights of people injured in car, bike, bus, pedestrian and other types of motor vehicle accidents. Our law firm represents clients throughout the Northern California and San Francisco Bay Area. We will work hard and competently to obtain complete compensation for your injuries and losses. Call 866-288-6010 today.

We represent clients in personal injury cases on a contingency basis; you pay no attorney fees unless we recover compensation on your behalf.

In most civil litigation, a process takes place by which both sides learn about the facts, opinions and legal positions of each other. This discovery process takes place in state and federal court normally after a complaint and a response to it have been filed with the court.

Discovery rules are fairly broad, because the idea is to get as many facts out in the open as possible, because cases are decided on the facts and applicable law. Once the facts are available, they also give the parties a good handle on the case so they can decide if they want to settle, and if so, on what terms.

In order for a plaintiff to bring a case, there must be some kind of harm or damages, either physically, mentally and/or financially. When a plaintiff makes a damages claim, it opens up questions the defendant can ask. If there are claims for medical or psychological harm, the defendant may probe into a plaintiff’s medical and psychological history to try to verify the claims or come up with an alternate cause. If there’s a claim of lost income, your financial history will be at issue. There are limits to discovery, and we zealously represent our clients to make sure defendants don’t go beyond those limits, but the reality is the filing a lawsuit results in a degree of lost privacy.

Defendants or their insurance companies may also hire private investigators to follow plaintiffs, hoping to find evidence they are not as injured as they claim. That also includes viewing postings on social media. If a plaintiff claims to be limited to being homebound due to an injury, but is video recorded riding a bicycle down his street or posts pictures on Facebook of himself hiking, that plaintiff’s case will probably come to a premature end.

Also due to discovery, plaintiffs will lose some time. Our attorneys and staff will go into great detail asking about the circumstances of an accident and the resulting damages. That better prepares us for the case, helps us decide which path it should take and is also used to answer questions posed by defendants during discovery.

More time will be needed to prepare for, and testify at, a deposition. A deposition is the questioning of a party or witness, under oath, by attorneys for both sides. A court reporter is present to make sure there’s an accurate record of the testimony and it may also be video recorded. We will prepare you for the deposition so you can respond as accurately and as honestly as possible. We will also share with you our experiences with opposing counsel so you’ll have an idea of that attorney’s approach and style so there should be no surprises.

The discovery process is a double edged sword. There are downsides, like the time, energy and loss of privacy it takes to respond to the defendant’s requests. But there’s a greater upside, because it’s an opportunity for the plaintiff to tell his or her story. We also ask defendants questions, too, and get information and documents from them as well. In the end, because of the discovery process, in most cases, the parties have to put their cards on the table and whomever has best hand will win.