Mike Hancock is the founder of Hancock Injury Attorneys, a former insurance defense attorney, and an AV-Preeminent–rated lawyer by Martindale-Hubbell, with over 35 years of experience practicing personal injury law.
You may walk away from a car accident with a little soreness, but otherwise feel fine, and decide not to go to the ER, only to be hit with a surge of pain hours or days later. If you were in such an accident, didn’t get medical treatment at the ER and are now suffering from injury pain, you may be wondering if you ruined your potential personal injury case.
The short answer is no, but it can affect how your case is valued. Here, we explain the importance of prompt medical care at the ER after a personal injury accident and how it may or may not affect your case.
Video Transcript: You Didn't Go To The ER Right After the Crash - Did You Just Kill Your Case?
Does Not Going to the ER Kill Your Injury Case?
You didn't go to the ER right after the crash. Did you kill your case by not doing so?
We often see this in car accident cases where our clients call us and tell us that they haven't gone to the emergency room yet. They tell us that immediately after the accident, they felt a little bit sore, but they didn't feel like they had any life-threatening injuries where they felt they needed to go by ambulance to the emergency room.
And does this kill your case? The short answer is no, but it does have an effect. It's just a logical effect. We go on a spectrum of minor accidents that don't need emergency room care to traumatic accidents where we have a helicopter performing life flight to the trauma center.
How Insurance Companies Evaluate Delayed Medical Treatment
When an insurance adjuster looks at your case, they're going to look at how the accident happened, the damages involved in the accident, the damages involved to each car, and whether you sought immediate medical attention. So, does it ruin your case? No. But it does affect the value of your case.
Medical Treatment Options After a Car Accident
Now, here's what we can add as your lawyer. When you call us, we will assess what your injuries are based upon what you're telling us your symptoms are. We will give you advice on what doctors to go to. That advice might be you should still go to the emergency room. It might be that you should go to urgent care, or it might be that you can follow up with an orthopedic doctor or a chiropractor or a physical therapist after the accident. It all depends on the severity of your symptoms.
We want to make sure that you are getting the proper medical treatment. We can provide that advice not only on where to go, but we also can provide advice on what specific doctors actually have the specialty to treat our clients who've been involved in these types of injuries.
Why Seeking Medical Care Quickly Is Important
So, does it affect or kill the value of your case? No. But it does have an effect. So, if you are on the fence and you haven't spoken to a lawyer yet and you think you might need to go to an emergency room, I would suggest by all means do so.
And if you don't want to go to the emergency room and take one step down, go to an urgent care that's convenient for you. And then at the very end of that, go ahead and call us. We're happy to give you more help on what you should do immediately after the accident and within the day or two or three after the accident. Those things that you're doing within those few days after the accident can make or break the value of your case.
If you have any more questions, please give our office a call at 813-915-1110. I'd be happy to consult with you and answer any questions you might have. The consultation's always free.
Why Immediate Medical Care Matters
Insurance adjusters carefully examine whether you sought treatment right after the crash. To them, going straight to the ER signals serious injury, while waiting to see a doctor may suggest your injuries weren’t as severe. This doesn’t destroy your case, but it can give the insurance company an argument to minimize your compensation.
What You Should Do If You Didn't Go to the ER
Even if you didn’t go to the ER, you should still get checked out by a medical professional as soon as possible. Some injuries, like whiplash or soft tissue damage, don’t show up right away but can worsen over time.
Depending on your symptoms, you may need the ER, urgent care, an orthopedic doctor, or even a physical therapist or chiropractor. The key is not to delay your treatment.
Florida PIP Insurance Coverage: The 14-day Rule
Another factor to consider in this situation is your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance coverage. Every driver is required to have a minimum of $10,000 in PIP coverage when they register a vehicle in Florida.
Under Florida Statute § 627.736, every driver who registers a vehicle in Florida must have PIP insurance coverage.
This insurance coverage provides 80 percent of all reasonable and necessary medical expenses, up to the policy limits, resulting from a personal injury accident, regardless of who is at fault. Your PIP coverage is what you will first turn to to cover your expenses in the event of a car accident.
However, to use that PIP coverage, you must get medical treatment within 14 days of the incident. This is another reason why seeking prompt medical care is essential to your car accident claim. An experienced personal injury attorney will make sure you are aware of and meet all the deadlines, such as this one, to ensure the optimal outcome of your case.
How a Lawyer Can Help
When you call Hancock Injury Attorneys, we’ll listen to your symptoms and guide you to the right type of medical provider. We also know which specialists can properly diagnose and document accident-related injuries, something critical to your case. By getting the right care and following your treatment plan, you strengthen both your health and your claim.
Bottom Line: Not Going to the ER Does Not Automatically Ruin Your Case
Not going to the ER immediately doesn’t kill your case, but the steps you take in the days following your accident can make a big difference. If you don't want to go to the ER, you could go to Urgent Care instead.
Protect your health and your rights by getting medical care and then calling Hancock Injury Attorneys for a free consultation at 813-915-1110.
With more than 35 years of experience, Hancock Injury Attorneys will help you understand your legal options after a car accident, including whether or not you went to the ER, and aggressively fight for the maximum compensation you deserve for your injuries, medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.