When you are injured due to the negligence of someone else, you are entitled to collect damages. Personal injury law in Brooklyn is guided by the doctrine of negligence; which states that, if you can prove that either someone’s actions or failure to act led directly to your injuries, then you might be able to file a personal injury suit.
When you are injured, you will typically work with an insurance company to get the compensation to which you are entitled. During the negotiation phase, the two parties in a personal injury case seek to find a happy medium where everyone feels as if there is a fair settlement to the case.
Don’t trust the insurance company.
One mistake that many people make when dealing with a personal injury case is they assume that the insurance company is in the business to help people and to give them all that they deserve.
An insurance company is in the business for the same reasons other businesses operate, to make a profit. To do that they don’t seek to pay as much as possible, but rather to limit their liability and pay as little as they can.
Insurance companies have a plethora of tricks up their sleeve to attempt to pay less for your damages and injuries than they should. To make sure that you don’t get sucked in, or suckered, it is critical to know what those tricks are, so that you don’t fall victim and end up with less, or even nothing, for your personal injury case.
Trying to prove that their client wasn’t negligent.
To win a personal injury case in Brooklyn, you have to prove that the defendant was negligent, and, therefore, responsible for your injuries. An insurance company will try to prove that the assertion that someone is negligent for your injuries is false, and, therefore, your injuries are your financial responsibility.
Your injury isn’t real.
An insurance company will seek to prove that your injury either didn’t happen or wasn’t as extensive as you claim. They might order for you to see a third party physician to diagnose or investigate what you have been doing.
It is likely that they will delve into your social media accounts to see what you have posted, and they might even have you followed to prove that your injuries either aren’t affecting you anymore or that you aren’t truthful about whatever limitations you claim.
It is critical that you pay close attention to all that you do and know that there are probably eyes on your every move. Don’t do things that are contradictory to your claims about what you can or cannot do; otherwise, you will be proven to be less than credible, and you could end up paying more than you should.
Try to catch inconsistencies in your story.
The insurance company will try to poke holes in your story. They do that through something called the deposition. A deposition is when they will question you under oath about the statements that you have made up until that point. If you are contradictory in any of your statements, they will use your words against you to lessen your credibility and create doubt about the truthfulness of your comments.
Before you go through a deposition, make sure to read through what statements you have made, and have your Brooklyn personal injury lawyer help you rehearse, so that you aren’t surprised on the stand or flustered into saying something that will hurt your case out of confusion.
An insurance company’s primary goal is not to make sure that everyone who is hurt is compensated to the highest degree. Since they are in the business to make money, they work overtime to limit what they pay for personal injury instead of working hard to make sure that people get what they deserve.
To guarantee that you aren’t caught up in any of the ugly tricks that an insurance company can pull, hire a Brooklyn personal injury lawyer to protect your best interests and keep you trick-free.
