Clinton Personal Injury Attorneys

Personal injury cases in Clinton County, Iowa can arise from car accidents, workplace incidents, falls on someone else's property, and many other situations. Regardless of how an injury happens, injured Iowans almost always find themselves dealing with insurance companies whose primary goal is to pay out as little money as possible. This guide walks through what you need to know about knee ligament injuries and their costs, how to handle insurance adjusters from some of the largest carriers in Iowa, and what your rights are when an insurance company presents a settlement offer.

Knee Ligament Injuries After an Accident in Iowa

Knee injuries are among the most painful and functionally limiting injuries a person can sustain after an accident. Knee ligament injuries can be painful, restrictive, and often require surgical treatment and extensive recovery. Individuals who sustain a serious knee injury as the result of an accident or fall may need to seek compensation from the responsible party to help recover the costs of surgery and the wages lost during recovery.

Understanding the Four Major Knee Ligaments

Ligaments connect bone to bone and are designed to provide support for the knee while limiting the range of motion of the joint. When ligaments are damaged, they lose their ability to stabilize the knee, which can make normal daily activities painful or impossible. The knee joint has four major supporting ligaments, each of which can be damaged in a serious accident:

• Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL): This ligament controls the knee's rotation and the range of forward movement of the tibia.
• Lateral Collateral Ligament (LCL): This ligament provides stability to the outer knee.
• Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL): This ligament stabilizes the inner knee.
• Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL): Located in the center of the knee, this ligament moderates backward movement of the tibia.

Ligaments can be stretched or completely torn in an accident or fall. The severity of the damage determines what treatment will be necessary to repair the knee and restore normal function. In more complicated cases, or when the injured person cannot manage normal daily functions, surgical intervention becomes necessary and is often followed by lengthy physical therapy.

What Types of Knee Ligament Surgery Might Be Required?

While some serious knee injuries may require a total knee replacement, torn ligaments often require surgical repair or reconstruction. This process may involve using healthy tendons from elsewhere in the body, such as from the kneecap or hamstring, and grafting that tissue in place of the damaged ligament in order to stabilize the knee. This procedure is frequently completed in an outpatient surgical center under general anesthesia, with follow-up visits and physical therapy required for a full recovery.

As with any surgical procedure, there are risks to be aware of, including blood clotting, bleeding, infection, and stiffness or laxity of the knee following surgery. If you experience severe pain, redness, drainage from the surgical site, or fever after knee ligament surgery, seek immediate attention from a doctor, as these symptoms could signal infection or other serious complications.

The Financial Burden of a Knee Injury

Knee injuries can be extremely costly. The time required for proper healing often leads to several weeks of missed work, and the associated expenses can include diagnostic tests, prescription medications, surgery, and physical therapy. For many Clinton residents, this creates an unmanageable financial burden. If you sustained a knee injury in an auto accident, a work-related accident, or as the result of a fall on someone else's property, you may be entitled to compensation from the liable party to help you regain financial stability and ease the stress related to your injury.

What Iowa Injury Victims Need to Know About Insurance Adjusters

Once an accident occurs and a claim is filed, you will almost certainly be contacted by an insurance adjuster. Understanding who these adjusters work for and what their real objectives are is essential before you speak with one. Dealing with insurance adjusters is one of the most consequential parts of any personal injury case, yet most injured people go into these interactions without knowing what they are up against.

There are several things that virtually all insurance adjusters have in common. They are trained in techniques to reduce the value of your claim and convince you to accept a small settlement. While they may act like your friend, they do not have your best interests in mind. Their job, at its core, is to pay you as little money as possible in order to maximize insurance company profits. Some of the largest carriers doing business in Iowa each bring their own approach to handling claims, and knowing their tendencies can help you protect yourself.

EMC Insurance

EMC is a Des Moines-based company and one of the largest workers' compensation insurers in Iowa. Generally, EMC adjusters are responsive and will return phone calls, emails, and letters. However, a friendly and cooperative demeanor should not lead you to believe they are on your side or that the amount they tell you they owe is truly all they owe. Polite does not mean fair, and responsive does not mean generous.

Liberty Mutual

Liberty Mutual is consistently one of the top three writers of workers' compensation coverage in Iowa. Their adjusters have access to in-house Iowa attorneys who can step in on complicated cases, and in some situations those attorneys take over the file entirely. If legal counsel has been assigned to manage your claim on the other side, you should strongly consider having your own attorney in your corner, because navigating their strategies without representation can result in costly and avoidable mistakes. As one example, in a workers' compensation case involving an injury after July 1, 2017, being persuaded to voluntarily leave your job rather than being terminated could cost you tens of thousands of dollars in benefits under Iowa's current law.

Sedgwick and Gallagher Bassett

Sedgwick and Gallagher Bassett are not traditional insurance companies but rather third-party administrators, meaning they adjust claims on behalf of self-insured companies or other insurers that do not have their own Iowa adjusters. These organizations are often significantly more difficult to deal with than standard insurance company representatives. Obtaining records, getting return phone calls, and receiving timely responses to correspondence can all be harder when they are involved. In the experience of attorneys at Walker, Billingsley and Bair, the vast majority of cases involving Sedgwick or Gallagher Bassett ultimately require a lawsuit to be filed in order to reach a resolution.

AIG

AIG is a large New York-based insurance company with numerous subsidiary operations. Their adjusters have a reputation for not returning phone calls, failing to respond to letters and emails in a timely manner, and sometimes appearing indifferent to the physical pain and financial hardship their claimants face. Not every AIG adjuster behaves this way, but the pattern is common enough that injured claimants should approach interactions with caution and document every communication carefully.

Travelers

Travelers adjusters are frequently based in Overland Park, Kansas, where the company operates a large claims center. Like Liberty Mutual, Travelers has in-house Iowa attorneys who may provide behind-the-scenes strategic guidance to adjusters or take a more active role in managing claims directly. When a well-resourced carrier has legal counsel involved and the injured person does not, the power imbalance is significant. Having a Clinton personal injury attorney representing your interests levels that playing field considerably.

Zurich

Zurich is a large international insurer headquartered in Switzerland with more than 53,000 employees and over 47 billion dollars in annual revenue. One of its largest subsidiaries is Farmers Insurance. Claims handled by Zurich are often managed by adjusters located far from Iowa who may not be fully familiar with Iowa-specific laws and protections. Regardless of where the adjuster is located, they have been trained to pay you as little as possible, and the nuances of Iowa law that might benefit you are unlikely to be something they volunteer information about.

Do You Have to Accept the Insurance Company's Settlement Offer?

One of the most important things injured Iowans need to understand is that you are not required to accept an insurance company's settlement offer. In Iowa, you have the right to negotiate, reject an offer, and pursue legal action if a fair resolution cannot be reached. That said, there are several important factors to think carefully about before making any decision.

First, consider whether your injuries are minor enough that you might be better off settling on your own to avoid paying an attorney a percentage of your recovery. Second, if your medical bills have already been paid by your health insurance or another carrier, you need to understand subrogation, which is the right of the paying insurer to seek reimbursement from your settlement. Failing to account for subrogation can result in losing your entire recovery. Third, you must be mindful of the statute of limitations, which sets a strict legal deadline for taking action. Missing that deadline typically means you will receive nothing, regardless of how strong your underlying case is.

The First Offer Is Rarely the Best Offer

It is very rare that an insurance company's first offer is their best offer. If you are handling your own claim, you should negotiate. When doing so, keep several things in mind. Anything you tell the insurance adjuster can and will be used against you later, so be thoughtful about what you share and never misrepresent the facts. Being honest does not mean being unguarded. Insurance companies also share databases with each other, which means prior injuries and accidents are likely already known to them before they ever call you. Do not threaten or antagonize the adjuster. As with most situations in life, being respectful and professional will get you further than frustration or confrontation. Know your facts thoroughly: how the injury happened, who treated you, and what diagnoses you have received.

How the Value of a Personal Injury Claim Is Evaluated

Before accepting or rejecting any settlement offer, it is helpful to understand how the value of a personal injury claim is typically assessed. A qualified Iowa personal injury attorney will consider a range of factors, including the severity and extent of your injuries, whether multiple body parts were injured, whether there are objective findings like broken bones or surgical documentation, whether you were hospitalized, how much time you missed from work, where you were working when the injury occurred, how much insurance coverage is available, and whether an underinsured motorist claim might also apply to your situation.

No two cases are identical, but they all share common elements that experienced attorneys use to evaluate what fair compensation looks like. Before you agree to any settlement involving injuries, speak with a qualified Iowa personal injury attorney to determine whether you are being treated fairly. Asking friends and family for their opinions is understandable, but it is not a substitute for guidance from someone who deals with insurance companies on a daily basis and has handled hundreds of cases similar to yours.

We Are Here To Help

Remember, you are not alone in recovering from your injuries. We have helped thousands of Iowans through their physical, emotional, and financial recoveries. If you have questions about what you are going through, feel free to call our office for your confidential injury conference. We will take the time to listen to you and give you our advice concerning your injury matter at no cost or risk to you.

Free Book at No Cost 

If you are not ready to speak with an attorney yet but would like to learn more about Iowa injury cases including tips about how you can avoid making common costly mistakes request a copy of our Iowa Personal Injury book which includes 14 myths about Iowa injury cases and 5 things to know before hiring an attorney.

If you have specific questions about your injury matter feel free to call our office to speak with our Injury team at 641-792-3595 or use our Chat feature by clicking here 24 hours a day/7 days per week. Your information will remain confidential and there is no cost or obligation.

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