Atkins Motorcycle Accident Injury Attorneys

A motorcycle accident in Atkins can leave you facing serious injuries, mounting medical bills, and confusion about who is actually responsible for paying your expenses. Understanding who should pay your medical bills, what you need to know to protect a claim, and how to properly document your injuries can make a significant difference in the outcome of your case.

Who Should Pay Your Medical Bills After a Motorcycle Accident?

If you have been injured in a motorcycle accident in Atkins, it will rarely be the case that the at fault driver's insurance company makes payments for your medical bills as they come in. This is true even when liability is obvious and the other driver's insurance company has already paid for your property damage. The at fault driver's insurance company is not required to make ongoing payments, and insurance companies routinely wait to make payments until the time of a final settlement, when they can obtain a release from you. Because of this, you should not expect the other party's insurance company to pay your medical bills as they are incurred.

Where to Turn for Payment of Medical Bills

Instead, there are several sources you should look to in order to get your medical bills paid while your motorcycle accident claim is pending. These include your own health insurance from an employment benefits package, health insurance you have purchased personally, health insurance obtained through a spouse or parent if you are a dependent, and medical payments insurance coverage from your own motorcycle or auto insurance policy. In some cases, you may even be able to access medical payments coverage both from the insurance company covering the vehicle you were riding and your own personal policy. If you are not covered under any insurance plan, it may be worth looking into healthcare marketplace options or Medicaid, or as a last resort, using personal funds if you are able to pay bills as they come in.

With medical debt able to accumulate quickly after a serious motorcycle accident, it is worth knowing that when there are insufficient funds to pay doctors, hospitals, and other medical providers, an attorney's office can often help facilitate an assignment, in which the client authorizes the office to pay a medical provider directly out of any eventual settlement or verdict. This can satisfy the medical provider and often results in them waiting until settlement rather than pursuing collection efforts against you in the meantime.

Understanding Subrogation

Keep in mind that almost all insurance policies include a subrogation provision, meaning that if you obtain money for your medical bills from another source and later recover compensation from the at fault party or their insurance company, you may be required to reimburse that other source. Insurance companies are not looking out for your interests, so it is worth understanding these provisions and how they may affect your final recovery before signing any paperwork presented by an insurance company.

What You Need to Know to Protect Your Motorcycle Accident Claim

Whether or not you decide to hire an attorney, there are several important steps that can help you receive a fair and just settlement after a motorcycle accident in Atkins.

Tell Your Doctor Everything That Hurts

One of the most critical pieces of evidence in any injury claim is how you feel and how your injuries have affected your ability to function on a daily basis. Your doctor is required to keep accurate and detailed records of your medical history and care, including your description of how you were injured, your physical complaints, the doctor's examination findings, and the treatment you received. The insurance company will base its offer largely on this information. If you fail to tell your doctor everything that hurts, not only will it go untreated, but there will be no record of it. If you first complain about a problem weeks or months after your motorcycle accident, the insurance company will likely argue that the problem was unrelated to the crash and reduce its settlement offer accordingly.

Follow Your Doctor's Orders

If your doctor recommends physical therapy several times a week but you only attend once a week, you will damage your claim. The insurance company will argue that you could not have been truly injured, or you would have followed your doctor's recommendations, and will use this to justify a lower settlement offer.

Keep a Diary to Document Your Injuries

Few people think to write down how they feel after an accident, but keeping a record of the details of your injury and how you felt on a day-to-day basis can be extremely valuable. A diary helps provide an accurate account of your injuries and how they affected your ability to function, and it can help prove the true extent of your injuries, potentially leading to a higher evaluation of your claim.

Keep Documentation Regarding Missed Work

It is important to keep track of the time you miss from work because of your injuries, including keeping doctors' excuses for missed work and documenting time missed for medical appointments.

Be Careful What You Say

The insurance company and its representatives will use anything and everything you tell them against you. No matter what, do not lie, since even a small lie can ruin your credibility. The best policy is to always tell the truth, so that you never have to worry about what you said earlier in your case.

What If Your Injury Symptoms Don't Appear Right Away?

If you have been hurt in a motorcycle accident in Atkins, it is common not to feel pain until later the same day or even the next day. Regardless of when your pain starts, you should seek medical care and treatment as soon as symptoms appear.

Why Symptoms Might Not Show Up Immediately

After an accident, a spike in adrenaline and the release of hormones like cortisol can temporarily mask pain. Anyone who has lifted heavy weights or pushed themselves hard physically knows that soreness sometimes does not appear until the next day. What matters most is that once pain does begin, you promptly seek medical care so that it can be documented and your healing can begin.

Is It Too Late If You Waited to Seek Care?

Waiting more than a week to seek medical care after an accident is not necessarily too late, but it will raise a red flag for the insurance adjuster handling your case. It is important to tell your doctor exactly when the pain started and explain why you did not seek care immediately. Going to the emergency room, urgent care, or your regular doctor can be inconvenient, but failing to go at all can cost you your claim.

When an Injury Gets Worse Over Time

It is common for some injuries to develop gradually rather than all at once, sometimes referred to as a cumulative injury. While it can be easier to prove a sudden, traumatic injury than one that develops gradually, it is important to be able to explain exactly what caused your injury and when the pain began. It is also common for new symptoms to emerge after an initial injury has been treated. Someone with severe shoulder and arm pain following a motorcycle accident, for example, might not notice a hip or back problem until they are back on their feet, sometimes with a limp that puts new strain on the body. In situations like these, it is important to report any new pain or problems as soon as they appear, since they may still be connected to the original accident.

Establishing the Connection Between Your Injury and the Accident

When new conditions are diagnosed months after an initial injury, an attorney should work with your doctors to establish which conditions are related to the accident, something often referred to as a causation opinion. Taking the time to speak directly with treating physicians often results in a clearer, more useful opinion than simply writing a letter. A doctor telling you a connection is merely possible does not carry much weight in a legal claim, since the injured person carries the burden of proving that it is more likely than not that the injury was caused by the accident.

Consulting a Atkins Motorcycle Accident Attorney

The toll from severe motorcycle injuries can encompass substantial medical expenses and long-term care costs for victims and their families. Lost wages may compound matters, especially if employment becomes unrealistic for an extended period. Getting help from a motorcycle accident attorney allows the pursuit of comprehensive compensation, from financial damages and emotional distress such as pain and suffering.

Victims of these accidents should seek consultation with a motorcycle accident attorney, as damages may be extensive and recovery of compensation is important.

At Walker, Billingsley & Bair, our motorcycle accident attorneys can represent you in dealings with your insurance company, or when filing a personal injury claim. Set up your consultation now by calling 641-792-3595. 

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