How making a deal now can leave you high and dry later
A truck hit your car.
After taking the immediate steps to ensure everyone’s safety, you begin the long and thorny process of sorting out the damages. If you’ve ever been hit, you know it can be quite a long journey to fair compensation. Medical expenses pile up, and not knowing if you’ll receive adequate compensation is extremely stressful.
With a trucking company on the other side of the table, things get especially complicated – more lawyers, more insurance people, more time. But let’s say you and that trucking company reach a settlement you feel comfortable with. All’s well that ends well?
Not so fast.
Future injury costs
Truck crash injuries often resurface down the road. Some can take months or years to become noticeable at all. Neck and spinal inflammation caused by whiplash can bother victims throughout the rest of their lives, and even require future operations or prevent them from working.
In the first year after a spinal cord injury, the average medical cost is $198,000 (according to SpinalCord.com). Nagging injuries like these can force victims into financial strain or debt if they aren’t properly compensated in the initial settlement.
Insurance companies have a variety of strategies for getting victims to settle their cases early, before medical expenses have a chance to pile up. Before you settle, it’s extremely important to consider the potential of ongoing medical expenses for you and your loved ones. If you or someone you love has been in a truck crash, seek legal counsel before speaking with the other party or an insurance claims adjuster.