Woman exaggerating her injuries after a car accident

You’ve seen a doctor and you have documented car accident injuries. You may be worried that you won’t make a fair recovery for your injuries, even if your injuries are severe, and you may be tempted to exaggerate your injuries in the hopes of making a fair recovery.

However, lying about the extent of your injuries is a mistake and it is against the law. Therefore, exaggerating your injuries is more likely to hurt than help your recovery.

What Could Happen If You Exaggerate Your Car Accident Injuries

There are two ways to exaggerate injuries. You may claim that you have injuries that have not been diagnosed by a medical professional or you may report that your injuries impact your life and activities in ways that aren’t true. Both types of exaggerating injuries could significantly impact your potential recovery. For example, if you lie about your car crash injuries:

  • The insurance company may deny your claim or accuse you of insurance fraud
  • The judge or jury may not trust the other facts you present in your case or know how to accurately value your damages

The insurance company or defense attorney will thoroughly investigate your claim prior to making a settlement offer or going to court. If you exaggerate or lie about your injuries, you may end up with less than you deserve for the injuries you actually suffered. In some cases, you may forfeit your entire car accident recovery.

What to Do Instead of Exaggerating Your Injuries

You don’t have to exaggerate your injuries or how your injuries impact your life to make a fair recovery. Instead, our car accident injury lawyers encourage people to:

  • Get immediate medical attention after a car crash. Prompt medical attention will not only help you manage your pain and prevent your injuries from worsening, but it will also create a medical record that may help establish that your injuries were caused by the accident.
  • Continue to get medical attention from trusted healthcare providers in the weeks and months following the accident. Regular medical attention will also help you manage your pain, recover from your injuries, and document your injuries in a way that insurers and the court will understand.
  • Report every symptom to your healthcare provider and ask that everything you report be documented in your medical record. This may help prevent unfair accusations of injury exaggeration.
  • Follow medical treatment plans. It’s essential to follow medical advice to avoid being accused of making your injuries worse by going against medical advice.

Additionally, you can protect your recovery by:

  • Not posting on social media. Anything that you post may be taken out of context and misconstrued.
  • Acting consistently with your injuries. Insurers may use investigators to try to catch you acting inconsistently with your claimed injuries.
  • Talking to a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible after a car crash. A lawyer can help protect your case and help you avoid costly mistakes.

Have You Been Accused of Lying About Your Car Crash Injuries?

As explained above, you need to be honest about your injuries, but the burden isn’t only on you. The insurance company must also honestly evaluate the information it has to provide you with a fair recovery.

Unfortunately, some insurance companies may accuse you of exaggerating your injuries even if you’ve been telling the truth. The insurer is trying to pay you less than you deserve for your accident claim.

You deserve fair and honest treatment from the insurance company. Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa insurers know that our car accident lawyers mean business. Often, they provide fair settlements to our clients to avoid going to court, because they know that we won’t hesitate to go to court if necessary to protect your recovery.

Contact Our Car Accident Lawyers Today to Protect Your Rights

Our experienced car accident lawyers are here to help you every step of the way. Contact us as soon as possible to protect your rights and to get the fair recovery that you deserve. So far, we’ve helped more than 70,000 people recover more than $1 billion in damages. Learn how we may be able to help you by contacting us for a free consultation in one of our 11 personal injury law offices, your home or hospital room, or by phone or video conference.

 

Jason F. Abraham
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Helping car accident and personal injury victims throughout Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa since 1993.