Every car accident ends in one of three ways: you walk away unhurt, you’re rushed to the emergency room, or you suffer injuries that land you somewhere in the middle. Often, accident victims will decline a trip in an ambulance, opting instead to drive themselves to their doctor later that afternoon or the next day. But what kind of doctor should you see?
Start With Your Primary Care Physician
Some common post-accident complaints include headaches, soreness, and stiffness. Your primary care physician will use a physical to evaluate your injuries and make a diagnosis. From there, they’ll suggest an action plan to help you heal.
Sometimes, your initial injuries won’t seem as serious as they really are. I’ve had clients who started with a sore neck or back but ended up needing surgery to recover. Your doctor, depending on your diagnosis, will be the one to refer you to specialists (like chiropractors or surgeons) if needed.
What If My Primary Care Doctor Won’t See Me?
Unfortunately, many family doctors will refuse to see their patients if they’ve been injured in a car crash. I know this is frustrating – as an injury attorney, I get calls all the time from accident victims who just don’t understand why their doctors won’t take care of their needs. I’d estimate about half of Fort Worth’s physicians will refuse a patient who’s been in a wreck.
Why? Doctors are afraid that they won’t be paid for their services. Since car accident victims use auto insurance to pay for their medical bills, there’s a chance that the claim will be denied and the doctor will be out of luck. They don’t want to take the risk, so they refuse accident victims altogether.
If your primary care doctor won’t see you, you can visit the emergency room or try the “pop up” hospitals like Care Now. Just know that these places will require payment upfront. If you have health insurance, use it – that way, you’ll only have to pay a copay or deductible and you can (hopefully) get reimbursed by insurance later.
Think it’s unfair that you should be using your health insurance when the accident was someone else’s fault? It’s a complaint I hear a lot from accident victims, but there are a few good reasons you should do it. I’ve written extensively on the subject here:
A Personal Injury Attorney Will Use an LOP to Get You Treatment
If you don’t have health insurance or aren’t willing to use your own upfront, it’s time to consult a personal injury attorney. They’ll use a letter of protection (LOP) to get you the medical help you need at no upfront cost to you.
An LOP is an agreement between your lawyer and your doctor promising that your medical care will be paid for. It gives the doctor assurance that they can treat you without worrying about the outcome of your personal injury claim.
If you’ve been hurt in an accident and you have high insurance deductibles or no insurance at all, you might not be able to afford to wait until your insurance claim is resolved and the settlement money is in your pocket. You need help now, and an attorney can help you get it.
If you have questions regarding your medical care, please call us for a no-obligation, free consultation. You can also order our book called 15 Mistakes That Will Wreck Your Texas Accident Case. This book provides valuable information to victims of car wrecks.
Who Needs to Hire a Lawyer?
If you’ve never hired a lawyer before, you might be wondering, “What will an attorney do for me? Do I even need one?” You will benefit from hiring a lawyer if you:
- Were hurt in an accident caused by another driver
- Don’t have health insurance after a wreck and can’t afford to get treatment
- Have never handled a claim before and feel confused about what to do next
- Tried handling the claim on your own but encountered trouble with the insurance adjuster
- Received an unfair settlement offer from the insurance company
- Want a professional to ensure you win everything you deserve to cover the cost of your accident
If you were in an accident that wasn’t your fault and suffered injuries as a result, you will benefit from having a personal injury attorney handling your case. The reason is simple. After a wreck, you’re going to have to convince the other driver’s insurance company to pay you the money you deserve for your medical bills, damaged car, and pain and suffering. However, insurance adjusters are trained to pay you as little money as possible. It’s how insurance companies make money.
Having a lawyer on your side evens the playing field. Here at the Anderson Injury Lawyers, we have over 25 years of experience winning money for hurt accident victims in the Fort Worth metroplex. We know exactly how to set up your case, and we handle everything for you.
Our Personal Injury Firm Takes the Stress Off Your Shoulders
When accident victims come to us, it’s often out of frustration with the insurance company. No one ever tells you how hard making a claim can be, especially when insurance adjusters refuse to call you back or create unfair excuses to deny your claim.
We Fight the Insurance Company So You Don’t Have To
Insurance adjusters might find it easy to brush you off, but they won’t be able to ignore us. Sometimes simply having a lawyer on your side forces the insurance company to stop messing around – they know we won’t let them get away with undervaluing your claim or playing around with your case.
We Prove the Other Driver Was At Fault
This is a sticking point for many car accident victims. You might know that the other driver caused your accident, but how can you prove it? We have over 40 years of combined experience building cases and proving negligence. We know exactly what to look for, who to call and how to handle your case in the right way.
We Immediately Investigate Your Accident
If we’re going to convince the insurance company to pay you full compensation, words alone are not enough – we’ll need to prove that someone else caused your car accident and that your car accident caused your injuries. For this reason, quick and thorough car accident investigations are crucial, which is why we make yours a priority. Since evidence like skid marks, debris, vehicle damage, video camera recordings, and injuries tend to diminish and disappear fairly quickly, we understand the importance of fast action.
We Fight to Win You the Compensation You Deserve
If you’ve been in a car accident that wasn’t your fault, you shouldn’t have to pay the price. Under Texas law, you’re entitled to compensation for your medical bills, missed workdays, pain and suffering. The Anderson Injury Lawyers can help you get it.
How Does It Work?
Schedule Your Free Consultation
First, you’ll schedule your free consultation with our firm. When you come to our office, we’ll listen to your story and get all the facts of the case, then form a plan to get you the medical care you need. From there, we’ll gather evidence to build your case against the other driver and start our battle to win you everything you deserve to cover the cost of the accident.
You Pay Zero Upfront Costs
If you choose to hire our firm, there are no costs upfront. Instead, we work on a contingency basis, meaning we take a percentage of the money we win for you once you’re satisfied with the results and your case is complete.
We Set You Up with Doctors
Even if you don’t have health insurance, you shouldn’t be left to suffer. We work with a network of doctors we trust who can get you the care you need now, and defer payment until later (after we’ve won your case and the money needed to pay these bills).
We Handle Everything, Giving You Updates Along the Way
You’ll be assigned a case manager who is there to answer questions every step of the way. As your case progresses, we’ll keep you updated on its status and check-in with you to see how you’re healing, but we handle all the paperwork, evidence-gathering and negotiations. Your only job is to get better.
Once You’re Healed, We Fight the Insurance Company
After you’re fully recovered from the accident, we’ll gather all your medical bills, photo documentation, police reports, and other evidence and bring it to the insurance company to demand a fair settlement. Attorney Mark Anderson has over 25 years of experience negotiating with insurance adjusters, and he won’t let an adjuster lowball us. If at the end of negotiations we still don’t believe the insurance company is offering you fair compensation, we’ll file a lawsuit.
Filing a Lawsuit
In addition to our attorneys, we have a full litigation team trained to bring your case to court. We’ve won millions of dollars for our clients over the years, and we are confident in our ability to bring justice to hurt accident victims.
Why Trust the Anderson Injury Lawyers?
The Anderson Injury Lawyers’s founder Mark Anderson is one of the most recognized attorneys in our area. Most notably, Mark was named a Top Attorney by Fort Worth Magazine and is consistently recognized as a Super Lawyer by Thompson Reuters. He is rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and is ranked in the top one percent of practicing attorneys in the United States, according to the National Association of Distinguished Counsel.