I Took an Insurance Payout and Now My Motorcycle Accident Injury Symptoms Became Worse. Can I Get Any More Money to Help With Treatment?
It’s always important to investigate all factors involved in a motorcycle accident injury claim, especially when it comes to your own health. Unfortunately, the nature of certain motorcycle injuries can mean that they take several weeks to a few months to fully emerge. By that time, you may have already filed your insurance claim and agreed to a settlement for your past medical costs.
That’s when more ad news can arrive: in most situations, it can be nearly impossible to re-open an injury claim once a settlement has been agreed to. However, there may be avenues available that can allow you to seek additional compensation, either from the original insurer you went through or from another third party.
In these cases, it is vital to reach out to a Tampa motorcycle accident attorney as soon as possible once you notice new symptoms or worsened injuries. A lawyer can help you examine your legal situation and determine the best strategies for moving forward given your unique case factors.
Why Certain Motorcycle Crash Injuries Can Take a Long to Appear
There are a few factors at play that can cause a delay in injury symptoms or a decline in health quality long after a motorcycle accident has occurred. The first and most immediate factor is the own human body’s reaction to serious injury. In a traumatic event, the human body will produce adrenaline, which can delay feelings of pain while giving you a boost of energy. Endorphins, which are also produced in these situations, can similarly mask the pain while giving you a sense of control and calmness.
Hormones and other factors will mask the pain for several hours and up to several days after an accident has occurred. There’s also the fact that major internal injuries can damage nerves in such a way as to delay feelings of pain, sometimes causing those sensations to feel like they’re coming from other parts of the body. Swelling, stiffness, and other signs of inflammation will also intensify as the body begins to heal. In some cases, the nervous system will act in ways we don’t fully understand, causing pain to spontaneously emerge months or even years after the initial injury.
Common injuries with delayed-onset symptoms can include:
- Whiplash
- Spinal injuries
- Blood clots (deep vein thrombosis)
- Hairline fractures
- Concussions/TBIs
The possibility for these types of injuries or other complications is why it is always a good idea to wait to report your full medical costs after you have filed notice of a claim. Ideally, you will let your injuries develop and give the body some time to heal. That way, you can then not only have a full diagnosis for all your injuries but also have a clearer idea of what your long-term recovery window will look like.
Unfortunately, life doesn’t always work out this way, especially when we are feeling financial pressure to quickly file a claim and accept an insurance check. Even in these cases, though, there may be options available.
Options for Seeking Further Compensation Once You’ve Accepted an Insurance Payout
Re-Opening Your Insurance Claim
Some insurers will allow a claim to be re-opened once it has been closed under certain specific conditions. This can include when new information comes up or when the claimant feels as if their claim was handled improperly.
In most cases, however, insurers will be very reluctant to open a claim based on the same incident. When a payout is accepted, the claimant will almost always sign a legal liability release, meaning the insurer no longer has a legal obligation to pay anything else for that incident. It is entirely up to insurers, then, to decide if they want to re-open the claim out of their own free will.
Filing a Third-Party Claim Against Someone Else
It is more likely that someone with unpaid motorcycle accident injury costs would be able to recover these additional costs from another liable party. This can include another driver involved in the accident, a defective motorcycle manufacturer, or some other third party. You may also be able to file a medical malpractice lawsuit if your healthcare provider critically failed to diagnose your injuries or didn’t follow the normal standard of care during your treatment.
These third-party claims act as a separate claim on top of the one already settled. Worth noting is that the insurance companies will be able to see that a claim has already been paid for the incident, so they will demand to know why their client is at fault compared to the at-fault party that has already settled. Further, the company won’t pay out money for the exact same treatment costs already paid for by another claim, so the injured claimant will have to perform a lot of due diligence in order to show why the separate claim has merit and why the new damages belong on that specific claim.
Taking Legal Action Against the Insurance Company That Settled
In some cases, you can either force an insurer to reopen a claim or recover damages through a new legal action related to how the insurance company handled your claim. A strong example of the latter is a “bad faith insurance” lawsuit that states that the insurer knowingly went against its normal procedures in order to avoid paying out the full amount the claim would normally be valued. Put another way: you’re suing the insurance company because they didn’t pay you like they should have, which can allow you to recover the money needed for the newly discovered injuries.
Talk to Experienced Tampa Motorcycle Accident Lawyers to Explore Your Legal Options
While it can be very difficult to obtain more money for your motorcycle collision injuries after you’ve already accepted an insurance settlement, it is possible. Every situation is different, and if you have major medical costs on top of lost wages resulting from a worsened injury, you owe it to yourself and your family to explore every option for getting better.
Darrigo & Diaz can help you by providing you with an attorney to investigate your case, research possible avenues, and pursue all available compensation with all the legal force available. Do not hesitate to contact us when you are hurt and aren’t sure where to turn. We will provide you with a free case evaluation with no obligation, and our services come at no cost to you until and unless we are able to recover money for your injuries.
Schedule your free appointment with a Tampa motorcycle accident lawyer near you now when you call (813) 774-3341 or contact us online.
