One car accident can be enough to disrupt a person’s life. But if you’ve been injured in multiple accidents, no matter how far apart in time they were, your case may be tricky to sort out. The most important part of resolving a car accident is for you to get back to normal, so if that means you need to get treatment for your injuries, you may need to visit a doctor.

The Coye Law Firm’s personal injury lawyers have the experience to help you pursue benefits after you’ve been in an accident. If you were hurt in a crash that happened months or even years after another accident, we want to help you. Call our office today to speak with someone who can evaluate your claim and possibly set you up for a free consultation.

Issues with Insurance Claims

Some car accidents happen within months, weeks, or sometimes days of each other. Aside from the stressful toll this takes on a person, it can be difficult to convince the car insurance company to pay benefits on multiple claims at one time.

For example, let’s say that you were rear-ended by a driver in June. You filed a personal injury protection claim with your insurance company to pay for medical treatment because you broke your arm in the accident. But in September, you were rear-ended again and sustained a back injury. If you file another claim for benefits, the insurance company might try to end the June claim and start your benefits over for the September accident. But if you’ve only used $1,000 of your $10,000 in no-fault coverage under Florida law and they end the claim, then you may be losing out on $9,000 of medical benefits. This trick doesn’t allow the injured driver to claim the full medical benefits that they are entitled to for their injuries.

Personal Injury Protection or PIP, also pays for part of your lost wages if you miss work during your recovery from a car accident injury. The insurance company needs to have clear documentation of the time you missed from work, including a doctor’s note stating that you need to take time off and a statement of the days or hours you missed from work. It is important that you keep track of the wages you lose as a result of each accident. If you lost two weeks of wages because of your first accident but only one week worth of wages because of your second accident, make sure that you request those benefits under the appropriate claim. The insurance company may deny the request outright if there are no supporting documents or the dates are mixed up.

A car accident lawyer anticipates these problems before they arise. Drivers who have been in more than one accident may be dealing with multiple injuries at the same time, so they have enough to worry about. Calling the Coye Law Firm as soon as you can after a second car accident can help you claim more benefits for your injuries. 

Similar Injuries in Multiple Accidents

If your car insurance company sees that your second car accident resulted in different injuries, they may accept both claims without an insurance dispute. But if your injuries are similar in both accidents, then the insurance company may try to say that the second claim is not covered.

Consider the same example as above, but you injure your back in both accidents. In the June accident, you hurt your back pretty badly. In September, you got into an accident that made your first injury worse. The insurance company might try to argue that your condition got worse because of time. But you need to show them that the second accident is what made your condition worse, not just time passing. This situation is a lot like health insurance companies denying a claim because of a preexisting condition, and it can leave you feeling helpless when it comes to paying for medical treatment.

The insurance company won’t pay benefits for claims they don’t think fall within the limits of a driver’s policy. This is why it is essential to have all the facts early on. A car accident attorney can conduct a thorough investigation of your accident so they can prepare a convincing argument to the insurance company on your behalf regarding your injuries. Don’t accept the insurance company’s answer if they want to only pay benefits for one of your conditions.

The personal injury attorneys of the Coye Law Firm want to help you get the benefits you need to recover from an accident. If you need treatment, go to a doctor. And if you need help getting benefits, call a lawyer at the Coye Law Firm. There is no substitute for discussing your case with a legal professional, so schedule your free consultation with us today.