In recent years it has become more and more difficult to achieve a successful resolution of an injury claim resulting from a minor impact. Seems like insurance companies are quicker than ever to deny a claim where they do not see either impressive photos of the impact or a high repair estimate. Due to a significant number of inflated injury claims presented by people, you can hardly blame them. Nevertheless, if you really are feeling pain as a result of a low impact collision, does this mean that you should not exercise your rights and not pursue such a claim just because an insurance company is likely to deny it?

One of the most important things an experienced personal injury attorney will do when faced with an impending minor impact defense from the insurance carrier, is immediately address the client’s prior medical history. In a majority of these types of cases, the client will admit to having a prior pre-existing medical issue that was either aggravated by the accident or even triggered by it. These types of claimants are known as “egg-shell plaintiffs”. If a healthy athletic individual might come out of a serious rollover accident unscathed, older clients with a history of neck and back problems, may feel sharp pains and become incapacitated from small 5-10 mile per hour impacts. If a normal person may suffer just a minor bruise from a slip and fall, an individual suffering from osteoporosis may sustain several bone fractures because his bones are weaker than normal. Some people are just more brittle than others.

The job of the attorney handling such a low impact case is to anticipate the customary argument of the insurance company and address it immediately. Preferably the explanation should be provided to the insurance adjuster during the very first conversation and before that adjuster’s evaluation negatively brands the claim as a questionable “minor impact” claim. The proof of prior treatment, usually in the form of prior medical records from medical providers who have seen the patient in the past, should be obtained in the quickest possible manner. It is also imperative that the client tells the medical treatment providers dealing with the accident-related injuries about the prior problems. Description of the past medical history in the reports of treating doctors and their discussion of the relationship of the prior conditions to the injuries resulting from the accident is what will make or break the claimant’s case. With proper preparation many low impact claims do get resolved successfully and sometimes for higher amounts than similar claims with much higher property damage estimates.

There numerous other factors that can be utilized in presenting minor impact cases to the insurance companies, including for example recruiting the help of accident reconstruction and bio-mechanical reconstruction experts. What they do, as well as the pros and cons of utilizing their services, is a subject for a separate article. The best advise would probably be that if you were involved in a seemingly minor accident, after which you are left with serious pains, do not proceed with handling that claim yourself. Unless handled properly from its inception, this type of claim is likely to be quickly denied by the insurance adjuster. Getting advice from an experienced personal injury lawyer would be of great benefit in this type of a situation.

This article was written by Vadim Liberman, an attorney who for over 20 years has been representing clients involved in auto accident injury cases. He can be reached at his law firm, Liberman Law Group at (877) 399 - 5877 toll free or at (323) 931-5577, or through his website http://www.la-accidentlawyers.com