Lake Charles Personal Injury Attorneys

There are five BIG MISTAKES injured people often make:

• Not seeing the doctor when you are in pain
• Failing to tell your doctor about all of your medical problems after an accident
• Not doing what your doctor tells you to do
• Not keeping your doctor appointments
• Discussing your case with someone other than your attorney or your doctor

Before you make these mistakes, contact an attorney at Broussard & Hart, L.L.C. The personal injury lawyers and staff at our firm are focused on helping people like you who have suffered serious injuries or families who have experienced the death of a loved one. We work to see that our clients recover the compensation they need and deserve.

Follow Our Advice and Your Doctor's Advice

Report Pain: Each time you go to the doctor and report continuing pain, your doctor makes an entry in his records. If you are in pain and you do not see a doctor, the insurance company - and the jury - will have less reason to believe that you really are having pain.

Report Changes in Your Medical Condition: It is important for your doctor to have up-to-date information on your condition. Some clients get discouraged and do not see their doctor, even though they are having pain. This could harm your claim. It is important that your doctor knows how you are feeling.

Keep Appointments: There is never a good reason to miss a doctor's appointment. When you skip an appointment, you are saying to the doctor - and to the insurance company - that you don't hurt and that it doesn't matter that much. If you don't care, the doctor may not care, and that makes it much harder for us to obtain fair financial recovery for your pain and suffering.

Handling Doctor Bills Before Your Case Is Settled

We understand that some people avoid doctor visits because they are worried about medical bills. While your case is pending against the insurance company or the person that caused your injury, we will try to have your medical bills paid by your own insurance company. This could be from the medical payments provision of your car insurance policy, or your health insurance policy, or (if applicable) from workers' compensation insurance.

Please be sure to have all medical bills that relate to your injury sent to our office so that we may forward them to the appropriate insurance company for payment.

Medical Liens

If you were involved in an accident and you had no medical benefits on your insurance or private health insurance, your doctor will expect to be paid by you at the conclusion of this case.

Often the doctor's office will ask you to agree, in writing, to have your attorney pay the clinic directly from the proceeds of your settlement or verdict. State law permits health care providers to file a "lien" against your settlement. If your doctor asks you to sign a "lien letter," be sure to contact our office.

In some cases, it may not be appropriate for you to sign such an agreement. We can advise you on the best action to take to handle your medical bills.

Our law firm handles injury claims resulting from medical malpractice, car accidents, and defective product injuries, among others. If you would like to schedule a free, confidential consultation with one of our attorneys, please contact our office.