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Why Lifetime Costs Must Be Considered When Building Injury Claims

Suffering a serious injury isn’t just painful—it is also extremely expensive. Traveling to the hospital in an ambulance can cost well over $1,000, and that’s just the beginning of the costs associated with a serious injury. The cost of medical treatment, including surgery, can be overwhelming, even if you have health insurance.

Sadly, medical bills aren’t even the full extent of the financial difficulties that injuries cause. Victims also face weeks or months of lost wages. No paychecks means struggling to pay your bills, and when you add medical bills to the pile, it can be simply impossible to keep up. That’s why many victims find settlement offers from insurance companies so appealing after accidents, but accepting them right away is often a bad idea.

Accepting a Settlement Means You Can’t Pursue Additional Compensation

Being in a financial bind after an injury is a difficult situation. You need money right now to cover your bills, but you also may not know exactly how much money you’re owed. However, accepting the insurance company’s offer right away often means forgoing a significant amount of compensation you could be owed. The offer likely only factors in treatments you’ve already received but not any you will need in the future, including prescription refills or follow-up visits to your doctor.

To make matters worse, accepting their initial offer also means you lose the right to future or additional compensation. Simply put, injury claims are a one-and-done affair. Once you sign on the dotted line, that’s it. The money you receive is all the money you’ll ever get for your injury, but your bills and expenses will likely keep piling up.

Medical Bills Don’t Always End When You Get Your Settlement

Many injured victims breathe a sigh of relief when they are released from the hospital or have recovered from surgery. They may think that the worst of their medical expenses are behind them. But depending on the type and severity of their injuries, they may have years or even a lifetime of additional medical expenses ahead of them because of this injury.

For example, they may need to take expensive medications for the rest of their lives. They may need revision surgeries years down the road. They may need regular sessions with a physical therapist to regain their strength and mobility. Over time, the cost of these treatments can rival or surpass the costs of their hospital visit after their accidents and injuries.

Disability Can Persist for the Rest of Your Career

Another major financial factor of injuries is disability. Doctors are supposed to be able to accurately determine victims’ level of disability, but they don’t always get it right. In addition, they may diagnose victims with injuries that they believe will heal, but then ultimately never do, leaving those victims disabled for much longer than initially believed.

In some cases, victims are able to return to work, but they are unable to progress in their careers due to pain, immobility, and other lingering effects of their injuries.  While they are able to resume earning their paychecks, their lifetime earning potential will have been severely diminished by their injuries. Victims of accidents that were caused by someone else’s negligence also deserve compensation for not just their lost wages while they were recovering, but their lost earning potential because of their injuries. Because lost earning potential is harder to prove and calculate, hiring an experienced injury lawyer is recommended to push for the full compensation you deserve.

Pain and Suffering Can Last a Lifetime

Pain and psychological distress that result from accidents and injuries aren’t easily diagnosed by doctors, but they can have dramatic effects on victims’ lives. It’s not uncommon for injuries to never properly heal and leave victims in permanent pain that can last for decades or the rest of their lives. They may no longer be able to participate in activities and hobbies they used to enjoy because of the pain or their new physical limitations.

Other victims may develop depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder after their accidents, which can be even more disruptive than their physical injuries. Sometimes, the extent of these issues may not be fully realized until months or years after their accidents, but they can lead to loss of employment and the ability to enjoy time spent with family and friends.

Victims of accidents that cause physical pain and emotional or mental suffering deserve compensation for these as well, especially when they don’t go away just because an injury appears to have healed.

We’ll Determine Exactly How Much Money You’re Owed AND Help You Get It

At Parrish DeVaughn Injury Lawyers, we have years of experience building successful claims for injured victims like you. But for us, simply winning claims isn’t enough. We work hard to ensure our clients are paid fairly for what they’ve gone through, and that means determining exactly how their accidents and injuries have affected them and will continue to affect them long after the insurance company considers the matter over and done with.

When you call our Oklahoma personal injury lawyers, we’ll look at every aspect of your case. From estimated lifetime medical bills and lost wages, to lifelong pain and suffering and even unexpected future costs, we’ll leave no stone unturned as we build your claim. In addition, we’ll advise you on any settlement the insurance company offers along the way to ensure you never accept less than what you deserve.

Contact us today for a free consultation.