What Causes TBI Claims to Go Underpaid?

Traumatic Brain Injury Cases

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) can be devastating to injury victims. They can change an individual’s entire way of life. In some cases of TBI, victims have to re-learn a lot of basic daily tasks. While TBIs can range from mild concussion to permanent brain damage, any severity of brain injury can affect a person in many ways.
If you’ve suffered from a traumatic brain injury after an injury caused by someone else’s negligence, it’s good to know what causes TBI claims to go underpaid. Understanding the ins and outs of TBIs and the legal process can help you get the compensation you deserve after such an injury.

In The Article

What Makes a TBI Case So Unique?

Traumatic brain injuries are unique for several reasons. A simple slip and fall accident can cause a severe TBI, but you ma not notice it until days later. Likewise, depending on the area of the brain the TBI affects, different symptoms can occur.

TBIs can also be considered unique because:

• Unpredictable Prognosis: TBI recovery can be difficult to predict. They can lead to years of necessary medical treatment and potential permanent disabilities. Additionally, TBIs can also cause other health issues, including: seizure disorders, personality changes, fatigue, dizziness, and chronic headaches.
• Complex Causation Proof: Symptoms of TBIs may be difficult to prove, and insurance companies may try to claim that preexisting injuries could have caused the symptoms. Additionally, proving things like memory loss and changes in your lifestyle could be even more difficult to prove. This is especially true if you have secondary damage from a traumatic brain injury.

Primary and Secondary Damage from TBIs

TBIs can come in two forms. A primary TBI means that immediate damage occurred as a result of direct forces hitting your brain. Primary TBIs can include skull fractures, shearing of nerve fibers, and contusions. On the other hand, secondary TBIs can develop hours or days after the initial injury from welling or high pressure in the brain. While both types of TBIs can be incredibly dangerous to the injury victim, secondary TBIs can be missed on initial scans.

This is why it’s so important to seek medical attention after a head injury, and it’s why you should always follow up with medical imaging and specialists to monitor your injury.

Why Do TBI Cases Go Underpaid?

Risk of Insufficient Documentation of Your Injury

Improper or insufficient documentation of your injury can lead to your TBI case going underpaid. It’s important to realize that a TBI can affect your memory and your cognitive ability. This may be slight or somewhat unnoticeable in the beginning of your recovery, but even small lapses in memory or cognitive ability could affect how you collect, file, and preserve documents. A brain injury lawyer can help by collecting medical records, investigating your case, and finding witnesses who saw the accident, which is incredibly helpful, if you don’t remember the specifics of the incident.

Low-Ball Settlement Offers

Insurance companies love to give low-ball offers to injury victims. If you suffered a traumatic brain injury, you may just want to focus on getting better, and a settlement offer might be nice to just get a check and move on with your lie. However, this could lead to your case going extremely underpaid, especially if you aren’t thinking about how long your road to recovery is.

What Happens When You Don’t Have a Lawyer for a TBI Claim?

It can be easy for your claim to go underpaid if you don’t have a brain injury lawyer to help you sort through the facts of your TBI case. Additionally, a brain injury lawyer’s investigation may find that damages far exceed what the insurance company offered you, leaving you without enough to fully recovery from your injury. Brain injury lawyers also negotiate with insurance companies to ensure you get the maximum coverage.

If you suffered from a traumatic brain injury that was someone else’s fault, contact Ron Bell Injury Lawyers to get a free case evaluation. Learn how you can get the compensation you deserve and that your TBI claim doesn’t go underpaid.