After an accident, most people don’t intentionally hurt their case. Most of the time, mistakes happen because they simply don’t know what to do next. In this installment of our Road to Recovery series, Clarke breaks down the most common and costly mistakes injury victims make in the days and weeks following an accident.
The episode closes with a warning many people don’t expect: social media can seriously damage an injury claim. If you’ve been hurt in an accident or want to protect yourself or a loved one from making irreversible mistakes, this video will help offer practical guidance at the exact moment it matters most.
Here’s what we discuss in this episode:
🚫 Talking to Insurance Too Soon
**🏥 Delaying Medical Treatment
****📄 Incomplete Injury Documentation
****🩺 Not Following Medical Advice
**📱 Social Media After an Accident
0:00 – Intro
0:23 – Delaying an attorney
2:12 – Avoiding medical care
3:22 – Proper documentation
7:04 – Not going to doctor
7:51 – Resolving case on your own
9:42 – Posting to social media
10:50 – Final thoughts
Client Links
Learn more about how Speaks Law Firm can help you: https://www.speakslaw.com/
Schedule your FREE case review: https://www.speakslaw.com/our-attorney/r-clarke-speaks/#contactFormTarget
Find us on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R40YMP
Transcript (Click To Read)
Clark: I’m Clark Speaks, the catastrophic injury lawyer. Welcome to the verdict.
Carson Grace Toomer: Hey, welcome back. This is Carson Grace Toomer. I’m here with American injury lawyer Clark Speaks. This is Road to Recovery and we’re going to talk about some of the mistakes that someone can make after an accident. So Mr. M. Speakes, what would you say is one of the largest mistakes that somebody can make following, um, them having an accident?
Clark: So the first thing that comes to mind is, um, people who, uh, they don’t know whether they need a lawyer or they want a lawyer. And they, uh, start off kind of so because they don’t know, they don’t really decide. And when they don’t decide, they really do decide because they don’t have a lawyer. And so then, uh, the insurance suggestor will call them and say, hey, I want to just ask you a few questions for the file. Uh, and then they start answering questions. And before you know it, they have provided a recorded statement that that either substantially reduces or eliminates their claim altogether. And that’s a mistake. What we would rather them do is to call us and say, hey, they want to do this. And this happens all the time. It happened recently to somebody who called us and said, hey, I’m thinking about retaining you, uh, but I just thinking about working with you guys. But, uh, I just don’t know if it’s that serious of a case. And I think when we talk to them, and I talked to them personally and said, hey, here’s what I think you should do. And it was a referral from a friend of mine and the person knew better. Well, they called back the next day and said, hey, I think I do want to talk, uh, to you. And then in the meantime they had talked to, done a recorded statement. Um, and um, this is a smart person. Uh, they should have known better. And they didn’t. And the now it’s going to be an uphill battle. We’re still going to try to help them, uh, but it’s going to be a lot more difficult than it would have been if they had just refrained from doing that and said, let me talk to my attorney first and then I’ll get back with you. And then we could have arranged it, prepared them, made sure they knew what to say and not to say. Not like we’re hiding facts or lying, but just like we prepared them to answer questions so they can answer questions completely and fully and not be sort of manipulated into these responses that are not helpful to their position. So that’s the first thing, uh, the Second thing people do is, um, a lot of times they won’t, uh, this happens several times a week. Somebody will call, they’ve been in a wreck, they’ve been hurt at work or whatever. They don’t get medical care. They think it’s going to get better. Nobody wants to go to the doctor’s office. I get it, you know, who wants to go to the doctor’s office? Even when you’re sick, it’s just like, forget it, man, I’ll probably get better. But if you don’t go document your injuries, then, uh, and a week goes by, two weeks goes by, and then you find out later that you had an injury that’s more serious, a tear, something that’s more serious that you don’t recover from. They’re not going to pay for that because they’re going to say, if you were injured, you would have gotten treatment. And more importantly, you have a duty to mitigate, a legal responsibility to mitigate your damages, to make yourself as better as you can, as fast as you can. And if you didn’t do that, that’s on you. That’s not on us. So they’re not going to pay for that. And so that’s why it’s critical that people get medical care, you know, immediately. Uh, and, um, if it’s more than, if it’s more than two weeks, uh, unless there’s a, something special going on, most firms will not participate in that, uh, type of situation. So it’s important that they get immediate medical care. Uh, the next mistake that people make, I think a lot of times is they, uh, they don’t get proper documentation, you know, um, for example, um, you know, and a lot of times that comes from not having a proper treatment plan. So what comes to mind for me is, okay, let’s say that a person is rear ended on Independence Boulevard in Charlotte and they’re spraying their back, okay? They go to the hospital, they say, hey, my back hurts. Um, ah, they know that their knee and their ankle hurts and their, uh, wrist and their elbow and their shoulder hurts also because they saw somebody coming and they, they braced. And then the energy from the collision goes straight into their wrist, elbow, shoulder, uh, ankle, knee, hip. But what hurts them the most is their back. And so when they’re in the medical, they’re in the hospital, they’re talking about, hey, my back this and my back that. And they don’t really mention because we focus on the thing that, you know, hierarchy of needs, right? Whatever’s bothering us the most. And then after that for their second appointment, they’re on medication, they’re on pain medication, so maybe the stuff doesn’t bother them as much. And so. And so now they’ve been to two different places where they haven’t reported certain, uh, instances, certain injuries. You know, and so then, and so then now maybe they’re taking the medication for a couple weeks or whatever. They come off m. They still. They come off the medication. And then, wait a minute. Hey, now I’m reporting that my knee or my hip or my back, I mean, my elbow or whatever hurts. And that’s a problem. And so what we will tell people under those circumstances is right from the very beginning, you got to sit in a quiet room
00:05:00
Clark: in a dark place and think, go for your body. Head to toe. What is hurts as a result of this accident? Did you hit your head? You know, if you hit your head, is there a concussion? We know more about concussions than we ever have before, um, when, uh, you know, it wasn’t. But, um, you know, a few years ago, when there was very little people would do for concussions. Right. And then now, you know, with the NFL and all this, more and more and more of that has come to surface, and they’re researching this more, and they’re realizing, well, a lot of NFL players, college players, football players, have, and other athletes have serious, uh, medical issues that result from having concussions over the course of their careers, you know, and you think, okay, well, that’s because they’ve collided. Most of the m. Mild car wrecks that you would ever. It’s not from their head necessarily smack into somebody else. It’s from their brain sloshing around inside their skull. That’s how most of these concussions go down. So that’s the same thing that happens in a car wreck or another traumatic event, a fall or something at work or whatever. And so it doesn’t happen every time, but a lot of times it does happen. And so we want people to be. So we want people to, um, have these injuries properly, you know, diagnosed, documented, treated and documented. And so that documentation flows from having a comprehensive treatment plan right from the very beginning, where you go, okay, it’s not just my back that hurts, but it’s also my wrist, my elbow, my shoulder, my knee, my ankle, my hip, and my back. Now I have a treatment plan for each of those things, and each of those things can be evaluated. And maybe none of them require medical treatment. Fine. Uh, but maybe they do. And if you wait and see, the next thing that’s going to happen Is they’re going to say, we’re not paying for that because you weren’t injured or you failed your duty to mitigate. Uh, one of the other things they do is people. People sometimes will not follow. You know, like, when I think of this piece, I think of my brother, who is a wonderful person, fantastic guy, but he. He’s bad about not going to the doctor. You know, uh, you know, you know, he’ll be, you know, I’ll be like, hey, man, you sound hoarse. You’ve been to doctor? No, I don’t. You know, some people just don’t. I probably would be like that except for my wife works in that industry. And so I. So she, like, makes me, you know. But not going to the. Not going to the doctor and following the advice of their doctor is a problem. If your doctor says, you know, your back is injured in this way and you need this treatment and you don’t get that treatment, they’re not going to pay for you because you didn’t do what you were supposed to do to follow the treatment that was recommended. So that’s a problem for a lot of people. Um, a lot of people try to resolve these cases on their own, you know, and they. And they go, okay, well, if I get a bad offer, I’ll just. Then I’ll call an attorney. Well, by the time, you know, know, by the concrete is set, by the time you do all that, right? If you. Insurance adjusters set reserves for cases, so if you’ve presented them the same injuries, but you’ve presented them with this much documentation about this much injury, they’re going to set a corresponding reserve, um, based on that, and they’re evaluated on how closely they can resolve cases to this reserve. So they can go to somebody and say, hey, we got more information. I got to get more. But they don’t like to, and it doesn’t make them look good. So what you want to be able to do is to prepare everything and comprehensively and document it thoroughly so that they’ll set a greater reserve based on that. And also they’re going to set a greater reserve based on who’s sitting beside you. Like if a reputable firm is sitting beside you that they know is good and thorough and, uh, methodical and comprehensive and is capable of trying your cash case and will try your case and is committed to trying your case if you, uh, whether they try it or not. But just that we know these guys can go to trial if we don’t pay them, uh, pay them a fair value for your Claim, then, then that has great value. So to, to start off by yourself and to think you’re saving money is, it’s just like in a criminal case, you know, it’s like, okay, I’m going to start by myself and, and, and I’ll save money. And then you get to the end of the thing and okay, maybe now I should get a lawyer. What? That’s not going to work. Well, it’s the same situation here when you would have been a lot better off and come out a lot better financially and physically and everywhere else, probably emotionally, if you had contacted an experienced lawyer who’s capable and dedicated to helping you. Uh, there’s a sixth thing too, uh, that I see more now than ever before, and that is people post, uh, stuff that’s on social media after an accident, that’s harmful to their position or whatever. You know, we want to, we want to show the best side of ourselves on social media. That’s natural. All of us do. In this
00:10:00
Clark: video, I mean, I’ll parts where I stammer and stumble or whatever, I’ll edit out, you know, um, but so on our social media is no different. Like what we want to, you know, so, so we show ourselves in the best possible light. Well, when you’re hurt, you’re not in the best possible light, but what you’re doing is you’re showing people that at this day, on this time, you’re in this place, you know, physically or emotionally or whatever. And if that’s not true, if that’s not accurate, it sure makes it look like that, that you were not hurt or you were. So you got to be real careful about those kinds of social media posts. TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, whatever. You know, it’s, uh, all those things can be harmful and you got to be cognizant of what’s what, the impression that you’re making and then you’re giving other people if you’re posting on the. Under those circumstances. So those are, you know, six of the biggest mistakes that we see people, uh, make after some kind of, any kind of accident.
Carson Grace Toomer: Right. Well, I think it seems to me like the one, um, just before the social media thing is kind of an all coverage. Because if I don’t try to, you know, resolve my own case, you’re able to tell me not to speak to an insurance adjuster, you know, to obtain proper care medically, um, make sure I document those things and then also to follow, um, the advice of my doctors and then, hey, don’t post, um, stuff of me out Playing volleyball on social media. If I have told everybody that my back’s injured in this accident because despite maybe I was on medication, maybe that was one singular good day, it still could be potentially used against me 100%.
Clark: I think that’s a great point. Like, if you can’t remember anything else that I said, I think you need to contact an attorney who is an experienced personal, uh, injury professional, uh, firm, not just an attorney. I mean, you gotta have teams in order to be able to do this effectively. Like, you know, I used to do this 20 years ago, personal, uh, injury cases. And I was dedicated. I mean, I was serious about doing it. You know, I was dead seriously serious about doing it. And I felt like I was, uh, my commitment was there and my interest was there. My heart was in the right place, but I did not have the experience, the skills, the relationships, the teams, the tools that I have now. And uh. So, um, I think that is important that you find somebody, uh, and that you find somebody that you trust. It makes sense to think that, uh, it’ll probably, you know, it probably costs more than it’s worth, you know, it’ll probably cost too much money. I’ll give you an example, right? So let’s say somebody gets, uh, hurt in a wreck and they like a lot of times they’ll say, um, okay, we’ll give you a thousand dollars plus your medical bills, you know, or we’ll give you fifteen hundred dollars plus your medical bills, you know. Well, in that same case, we’re going to get involved and we’re going to make sure you see all the medical professionals, uh, that you need to see in order to make your. Because again, our commitment is to make you physically, to help you recover physically, financially, emotionally. So, uh, we want to make sure medically that you see all the people that you need to see and that there’s no unresolved. Because I don’t want you coming back at the end of this thing saying, well, my back still hurts, you know, I mean, we can’t control that. And maybe that is the case. But if that’s the case, it needs to be documented that your back still hurts. And the way that’s going to happen is if you don’t just, if you go get quality medical care and we might have to facilitate that relationship. Uh, so that’s an important piece, uh, of this, uh, puzzle is that we want, um, people to have. And by getting that medical care, that’s going to increase the, uh, amount of your medical bills, which is why you want it to be covered by the insurance company that’s going to add to the documentation that’s necessary to establish pain and suffering, and you’re going to walk out even after you’ve paid your attorney’s fees out of proceeds. Better physically because you’re going to be. Have you treated your injuries, better financially because you’re going to get, uh, more money than if you hadn’t done that, and better emotionally because you have the peace of mind of knowing that, hey, whatever, what injury we had has been resolved, or if it hasn’t been resolved, the part that hasn’t been resolved has been quantified and I have been compensated to the maximum extent of the law allows. So for me, I think that, uh, is the way that I would want to handle, uh, being injured, whether it was a catastrophic injury or whether it was something that was, uh, more minor.
Carson Grace Toomer: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaks, for discussing the six biggest mistakes by my auto injury victims.
Clark: Sure. You’re welcome.
Carson Grace Toomer: Um, I’m Carson. Grace Toomer. I’m with Clark Speaks, and we’ll see you next time.
Clark: Thanks for joining us. Don’t forget to subscribe and follow us to stay up to date with our weekly episodes. We’ll see you next time.
