My Friend Tried to Represent Himself

Recently an acquaintance came to me with a problem that could have been easily avoided. The sad tale went something like this: Jay had been injured in an accident over a year ago. The accident left him with back problems requiring a visit to the emergency room and numerous chiropractic visits totaling over $5,000 in costs. Jay decided to represent himself, rather than hiring an attorney to represent him, since he figured he was a smart guy and could handle the claim himself and wanted to save money by not hiring a lawyer.

After several phone calls and what Jay thought was some savvy negotiating on his part, the automobile insurance company offered to settle his claim for $2,500 and, in addition, pay his medical bills, something that insurance companies often offer. Jay accepted the insurance company’s settlement, received the check for $2,500, and promptly spent it. Little did he realize, however, that the insurance company had only paid his emergency room bill, not the $5,000 worth of chiropractor visits. Jay received numerous bills from the chiropractor, but he kept ignoring them as he thought they had been paid as a part of the settlement.

Now, over a year later, the bills from the chiropractor have gone to a collection agency, and the debt has significantly hurt Jay’s credit rating. It turns out that the insurance company’s release never actually paid the chiropractor bills, so he is stuck with that debt. Not only did he spend the settlement money a long time ago, he just got married and can’t afford to pay the chiropractor bills.

Adding insult to injury, Jay settled his claim for far less money than it was actually worth because he had no experience with such claims. I estimate that Jay’s claim was easily worth at least $10,000 to $15,000, in addition to all of the medical and chiropractor bills. Instead of enjoying just compensation for his claim, Jay is now facing the stress of bill collectors and huge collections attorney’s fees and interest when the whole situation could have been easily avoided by merely picking up the phone and calling this firm.

Unfortunately, Jay’s story is not the only time that I know of someone who has squandered their rights in exchange for a quick payment. What happened to Jay is a classic example of how those representing themselves are often taken advantage of by insurance companies. What happens in many cases is that the insurance company representing the driver who caused the injury will contact you very shortly after the accident. They may pretend to be concerned about you, offer you assurance that you will be taken care of, ask you to give a recorded statement, sign a medical release form and then accept a small sum of money to release the insurance company from all future responsibility. That is exactly what happened to Jay, and – unfortunately for him – the insurance company was successful in lulling Jay into a false sense of security.

An experienced injury attorney is skilled in dealing with all types of personal injury claims and can help you obtain the proper compensation for your claim. Your attorney will first investigate the claim, gather all the evidence, explain all options to you regarding possible compensation sources, file the claim for you and negotiate the result. In particular, your attorney can make sure that your out of pocket expenses are covered and that you are not exposed to additional liability due to the claim (like in Jay’s example above). An experienced attorney is also skilled at negotiating with insurance companies and has a much better idea of what your claim is actually worth. If and/or when negotiations fail, your attorney can take your claim to trial and ensure a fair result with a jury of your peers.

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