Someone isn’t paying attention while driving. Maybe they’re on the cell phone, texting or looking at emails. Maybe they’re late and can’t find an address, frantically looking around for a street sign. For whatever reason they don’t keep their eyes on the road ahead. Not paying attention while driving isn’t just negligent, it’s illegal and dangerous. Doing so can cause a collision. People can get hurt. Property can get damaged. Not paying attention makes you responsible for the other person’s injury and property damage. Compensation has to be paid for the damage you caused.
When people do this they usually turn the responsibility over to their insurance company. After all, that’s what they pay them for. Once they hand over the responsibility however, they rarely learn what happens to the people they hurt. They aren’t told how the other driver is treated. People stuck dealing with an insurance company to recover fair compensation for an injury don’t typically find any sympathy. To the contrary, they find their injury being questioned or its seriousness disbelieved. Many find their credibility attacked and their statements about how the injury affects their life belittled. If they choose to treat with a chiropractor they are often told the treatment won’t be covered.
When injured consumers can’t deal with this confrontation and can’t get fair compensation on their own, they often find themselves calling a lawyer and becoming involved in a lawsuit. That’s when the real attacks on credibility occur. Insurance companies know that the American public has bought into their now decade’s old media and public relations program to convince everyone in the country that all lawsuits are frivolous. They know by attacking the victim’s credibility they can use that public perception to their advantage. One of the tools they have at their disposal is the court ordered medical exam. The tool is often referred to in the language of the industry as the “independent medical exam”. The process involves forcing the injured consumer to have their body examined and submit to questioning by a doctor chosen by the insurance company. Often the outcome is predictable. People weren’t really hurt or any injury they grudgingly concede occurred is pooh pooh-ed as minor and inconsequential. They never seem to agree with the doctors who treated the victim. They either treated them too much or kept them off work too long. The end result? The injury victim from the collision finds themselves being victimized again by the process. They wonder why they ever brought the claim in the first place. And the insurance industry? Not only do they cherish having created this feeling, they hope the victim tells all their neighbors, friends and family.
