The Importance Of Your Narrative In The Claim Process
Understanding the power of the injury narrative in your claim process is key to your success – because it’s your story. Two competing narratives will be presented in a courtroom before the jury: the plaintiff's narrative and your narrative. These two narratives will battle. Yours is based on how severely you were hurt, whether permanently so, and how it impacted your life, whereas the insurance company’s narrative exists essentially just to undermine yours. The jury's job is to weigh the narratives vying for their sympathy and present a value on the case. Some call it the fair trade value, or the amount of money that would be the fair trade for your injuries.
The insurance company will do anything to destroy your narrative, make you seem inconsistent, or paint you as a liar and attack any part of the credibility in your case. Do not do things that give them legitimate grounds to this end. You must be mindful of your narrative and remain honest – the truth usually has a way of getting out.
What Insurance Companies Look For
Ultimately, insurance companies look for unassailable proof of your injuries. In that, they search for inconsistencies in the medical records and other objective findings. For example, if you can show them an x-ray of a broken bone, they cannot argue the x-ray is fake and your claims to be lies. This objective evidence is significantly more potent to the insurance company than classic connective tissue injuries that do not appear on any imaging. Remember, they view you first and foremost as a claimant. They will see if you have a criminal history or anything they can use to attack your personal injury narrative in the claim process of your case. If they cannot, then it will be harder for them to defend their case.
Why Insurance Companies Deny Claims
The most common reason insurance companies deny claims is that it is ultimately a business and wants to protect its bottom dollar. If there is any way they can pin the cause of your injury on you to save money, they will. Insurance companies often deny claims by:
- Finding medical records showing you had the same injury before.
- Claim you are fraudulent in any way.
- Using images or videos that show you not being honest or consistent with your narrative.
When You Should Hire An Attorney
It is advisable to hire an attorney as soon as possible. A good personal injury attorney can help guide you through the process and avoid common pitfalls that will later unfasten your narrative and erode your claim. Most importantly, having a personal injury attorney will put someone between you and the insurance company so you do not have to deal with them and risk them producing a narrative that undermines your case.
I make a concerted effort to get to know my clients. Doing so allows me to tell their authentic story while deepening their credibility. If I can put a story together that is believable, consistent, clearly shows my client was injured, and can be backed up with lay witnesses (people who have no interest in the litigation of the case but who know you and can testify about who you were before and after the incident), we are much more likely to get an adequate recovery. In fact, we are more likely for the insurance company to approach us and offer to resolve the case since it knows we would get a good recovery if we proceeded to sue it.
For more information on The Impact Of Your Personal Injury Narrative, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (206) 900-9342 today.
