A catastrophic injury lawyer in Plantation, Florida, should be among the first calls when you or a loved one are severely injured.
The losses suffered as a result of being catastrophically injured by someone else’s negligence can be immense. If the injury is catastrophic, it can alter the course of your future, and obtaining the compensation to which you are entitled is likely to play a critical role in your overall ability to recover.
An important early step you should take to help protect your claim in support of your health and well-being is discussing your concerns with an experienced Plantation catastrophic injury lawyer. Pick up the phone and call Scarfone Auto Accident and Personal Injury Attorneys — dial 561-609-1200 or contact us online.
What Qualifies as a Catastrophic Injury?
A catastrophic injury is a severe injury that temporarily or permanently interferes with your life by affecting your physical or cognitive functioning either temporarily or permanently. The hallmarks of catastrophic injuries are that they require very long recoveries and are often permanently life-altering.
While many kinds of injuries can prove catastrophic, those that are most likely to be labeled as catastrophic include the following:
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
- Spinal cord injuries, including permanent paralysis
- Disfiguring burns
- Injuries that lead to amputation
- Injuries that cause limb loss
- Injuries that lead to blindness
A catastrophic injury will reverberate into your future, which makes determining your complete losses and carefully representing them in your claim paramount.
Physical, Financial, and Emotional Losses From Catastrophic Injuries
The losses you suffer as a result of a catastrophic injury that was caused by someone else’s negligence are very likely to be ongoing and can generally be divided into three basic categories.
Your medical bills
The medical bills associated with a catastrophic injury will start high and are likely to only increase from there. Catastrophic injuries are closely associated with serious complications and secondary health conditions that require intense medical care of their own.
Some of the medical expenses you can expect to face after a catastrophic injury include:
- Emergency care and transportation
- Surgical care
- Hospital care and stays
- Pain management
- Prescription medications
- Therapy and rehabilitation
- Follow-up care
- Assistance with the activities of daily living
- Home health care
Your lost income
A catastrophic injury can leave you off the job for a very long time, but it can also mean the end of your career. A financial loss of this magnitude can be very difficult to overcome – especially in light of your cascading medical expenses.
If you cannot continue advancing your career as you’d planned, it can be as emotionally challenging as it is financially.
Your Physical and Emotional Pain and Suffering
The physical pain you’re forced to endure as a result of a catastrophic injury is likely to be intense, but the emotional suffering can be even more considerable. Someone else’s negligence has altered your life and career, and that can be difficult to wrap your thoughts around.
Common psychological manifestations of catastrophic injuries include:
- Terrifying accident flashbacks
- Paralyzing panic attacks
- The onset of increased anxiety
- Depressive episodes
- Difficulty concentrating
- Insomnia and other sleep disturbances
- Fluctuating moods that are difficult to master
- A tendency to push others away – just when their support is most needed
Reaching out for the skilled legal guidance of an experienced Plantation catastrophic injury attorney can help.
Negligence in Catastrophic Injury Claims
Catastrophic injury claims are forms of personal injury claims, which means they are predicated on the other party’s negligence. A prevalent cause of catastrophic injuries is traffic accidents of every kind, and the following forms of negligence tend to play a pivotal role:
- Failure to follow the safety rules of the road
- Excess speed
- Distraction
- Impairment
- Exhaustion
- Aggression
The Insurance Company Handling Your Claim
You will likely file your catastrophic injury claim with the at-fault party’s insurance provider, and while this company is paid specifically for this reason, this does not alter the fact that it will do what it can to minimize your settlement.
Common tactics for doing so that you should be aware of include:
- Making an early but lowball settlement offer
- Denying your claim right from the start
- Disagreeing with your assessment of overall damages
- Disagreeing on the matter of their policyholder’s fault in the accident
- Artificially prolonging or complicating the claims process to the point of prompting you to simply give up
The most important point to remember in terms of the insurance company is that the law will determine your fair compensation if the insurance company refuses to engage in fair negotiations with you.
How Your Skilled Catastrophic Injury Attorney Can Help
The severity of a catastrophic injury makes having professional legal counsel on your side that much more important. You can count on your catastrophic injury lawyer to ably engage in all the following primary tasks:
- Communicate with the insurance company for you. There is no requirement that you provide the insurance carrier with a statement, and not doing so helps to ensure that you don’t accidentally say something that goes on to harm your claim.
- Build your strongest claim by gathering all the available evidence – including the testimony of eyewitnesses – and compiling it into a cohesive whole.
- Hire the expert witnesses necessary to bolster your claim and have professional accident models created that highlight your version of events.
- Negotiate skillfully with the insurance company for just terms that fairly address your physical, financial, and emotional losses in their entirety, but we’ll also be well prepared to take the matter to court if need be.
Request a Consultation With a Plantation Catastrophic Injury Lawyer Today
Rocco Scarfone serves Plantation, Florida as a well-respected catastrophic injury attorney who prioritizes your concerns. Scarfone Auto Accident and Personal Injury Attorneys is committed to assertively advocating for the compensation to which you are entitled.
Learn more by picking up the phone and calling Scarfone at 561-609-1200 or contacting us online today.