If you have suffered injuries in an accident, your doctor will advise you to get enough rest to allow your body to recover completely. However, medical, hospital, nursing or rehabilitation care can be quite expensive and these expenses on top of the loss of wages can put severe pressure on your financial resources. This is a common factor that prompts many personal injury victims to try to get back to work as quickly as possible, regardless of whether they have fully recovered or not.
If you have suffered injuries in an accident, your doctor will advise you to get enough rest to allow your body to recover completely. However, medical, hospital, nursing or rehabilitation care can be quite expensive and these expenses on top of the loss of wages can put severe pressure on your financial resources. This is a common factor that prompts many personal injury victims to try to get back to work as quickly as possible, regardless of whether they have fully recovered or not.
Some people may also feel that resuming work will keep their minds busy and help them forget the unpleasant memories of the accident they suffered. Whatever your reasons for seeking to return to work soon after your accident, it’s vital to discuss the issue with your attorney to understand how it may diminish your NYC personal injury claim.
How Does the NYC Injury Claim Process Work?
When you have been injured due to the fault of some other party, you can file a claim to receive compensation for the losses you have suffered. This will typically involve compensation for the expenses you have incurred due to medical treatment, hospitalization, loss of wages, and damages for the pain and suffering you have undergone.
Once you have completed this step, the insurance company takes over the claim and begins scrutinizing your case. After a thorough probe, they are likely to offer you some amount of money in the settlement of your claim. You have three options after this. Either you can accept this offer, or you may negotiate with them to increase the amount being offered, or you can choose to reject their offer in order to pursue your NYC personal injury case in court.
How Can Returning Early to Work Harm Your Injury Claim in New York?
The involvement of the insurance company is considered beneficial because such companies generally have the economic resources required to pay your compensation.
However, this does not always work out as expected because insurance adjusters do all they can to minimize the amount they pay to settle injury claims. This means that they will probe the case in a thorough manner, and scrutinize all your actions to try and find evidence to show that your injuries are not as severe as you claim.
If your doctor recommends that you take rest for at least a fortnight to fully recover from your injuries, but you return to work within a few days, the insurance company will argue that this indicates that your injuries are not as severe as you claim them to be.
The insurance company may also claim that fact that you returned to work earlier than recommended by your doctor means that you are not serious about your health and therefore, do not deserve to receive damages from them.
There could be other more serious fallouts of returning to work too soon after an injury. When you have not fully recovered from the impact of an injury, the added stress of commuting to and from the office and the actual work you perform there could slow down your recovery process. Some types of injuries may even worsen due to your actions, causing a long-term negative impact on your health.
If your injury worsens, and you need further medical treatment, the insurance company will refuse to pay for it, claiming that the situation was a result of your returning to work early, and not, therefore, due to the actions of their client.
What If My Employer Insists I Get Back to Work Soon After an Injury?
As an employee, you are likely to have certain responsibilities at the workplace and taking off from work for a long time can make things difficult for your team. However, you also have right as an employee to take time off from work as recommended by your doctor in order to recover your health completely after an injury.
If you are feeling guilty about missing work due to a sense of duty, speak to your employer and offer to guide a colleague to deal with things you used to handle at the office. However, if your employer insists that you return to work at once, heedless of what your doctor says, it is important you speak to a New York personal injury attorney about this to find out what options are available to you.
Tips to Protect Your Personal Injury Claim in New York
When you file a personal injury claim in New York, your aim is to receive the full compensation for which you are eligible under the law. However, it’s vital to remember that the aim of the insurance company is exactly the opposite – they will seek to do all they can to limit the money they have to give you. So, you must always remember that they will be watching all your actions with great interest to catch you doing some tiny thing that can be used to prove that your injury is not as serious as you claim.
Here are a few tips on what you must do and what you must avoid doing in order to protect your personal injury claim:
- Follow your doctor’s guidelines about the medication, therapy, care and rest you need to take after your injury. Sticking to the prescribed regimen indicates that you are serious about recovering your health.
- Do not miss any doctor appointments or therapy sessions. Not only will this slow down your recovery process, but such acts will be used by the insurance company to reduce the credibility of your claims. If you cannot make it to a particular session, call and have it rescheduled for another day.
- Get written advice from your doctor about the recommended rest period after your injury. If you feel incapable of returning to work even after this time, check with your doctor and have them authorize a longer rest period. In the rare event of the doctor disagreeing with you, visit another doctor for a second opinion and try to get the documented recommendation of at least a few restrictions on your work activities.
- Always think of all of your actions in the light of how it will be considered by the insurance company. Whether it is getting back to an active social life, or returning to the office for regular work, or beginning to participate in your usual exercise or sports activities soon after an injury, remember that the insurance company is waiting for an opportunity to discredit your claims.
- Be very careful of the information you put out on social media. Insurance companies are quite likely to search the social media profiles of persons who raise injury claims in New York, looking for posts that they can use to discredit the claims. If you have put out pictures of yourself playing a sport, or enjoying yourself at a party with your friends or family, they could use it against you, to prove that you have not suffered a serious injury as you claim.
Avoid Sharing Too Much Information with Insurance Adjusters
When you file a personal injury claim in New York City, the insurance adjusters of the party at fault for the injury will approach you for information. You must remember that however genuine and friendly they sound in their conversation, their ultimate aim is to make sure they pay out the minimum possible amount in settlement.
Never get too friendly with insurance representatives or reveal too many details of the accident. Give clear information that you have previously discussed with your New York personal injury attorney and avoid lying about anything. Do not share any contact information of your friends or family to make sure the insurance representatives do not use this to dig up personal information to discredit your claims.
Talk to an Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer in New York Today
If you have been injured in an accident, it is important that you get enough rest to recover fully from your injuries. While it can be difficult to sit quietly, losing your wages even as your expenses pile up, it is imperative that you do not make the mistake of returning to work too early. Resuming regular work schedules before the doctor approves it can wreak havoc on your body and lead to long-term health problems. Equally important, it can damage your prospects of recovering full compensation in your personal injury claim.
Navigating the complex legal maze of a personal injury claim settlement or a lawsuit can be a tough task even as you are recovering from your injuries. Our team of competent NYC personal injury attorneys has years of experience handling such cases for thousands of clients. We have succeeded in winning our clients the maximum compensation they deserved for their injuries. Before you talk to any insurance company or their representatives, contact our lawyers at Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP for a free and fair case evaluation.
To know more about how we can help you recover the damages due to you, call Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP today at 212-344-1000 or contact us online for a free and confidential consultation.
