Post trauma stress disorder, also known as PTSD, can be claimed in some situations following an auto accident in North Carolina. Allowance for general damages such as PTSD are considered a form of compensatory relief for mental anguish for ongoing issues with an injury, as the injured party rehabilitates. Some accident victims never fully recover from a car crash, which means that post trauma can be a long-term issue for many. Even frequent reliving of the accident in memory can be associated with a PTSD claim. The degree of severity can range significantly, but even mild cases of post trauma may have some level of financial value in an accident settlement or when car crash law firms take a case to trial.
PTSD is a Common Factor In Most Serious Car Accidents
PTSD Injury Variance
Serious accidents often produce serious injuries from which the injured party may never fully recover. Those who are not fatally injured often deal with emotional stress related illnesses for the reminder of their life. Naturally, injured parties face an uphill struggle with insurance providers as they always want to downplay the seriousness of any mental anguish in order to reduce the amount of any PTSD claim. While PTSD damage levels are difficult to assess and quantify, an experienced car accident lawyer may be able to draw on historic cases of a similar nature and arrive at some agreement on damages either with the insurance company’s legal team, or through a court case when necessary. Emotional Distress In a Personal Injury Case – How Is Compensation Determined?
Why Representing Yourself in PTSD Cases Should Be Avoided
It is very difficult to estimate a financial value for a PTSD injury. And, once an injury settlement is signed by the claimant, the insurance company’s obligation for further medical coverage ends. If they can reduce the general damages component of a claim, they have saved the company money, which is the goal of the claims adjuster when negotiating a claim. Claims adjusters will also request a full release from reopening a claim if the injury worsens in the future, which can easily occur when PTSD stems from actual head injuries. Clearly these cases are complex and require expert knowledge of the law and any established precedents, trying to deal with a claim yourself will almost always result in a greatly reduced settlement for any PTSD component of the claim.
What Car Accident Law Firms Can Do For You
Car accident attorneys have documented evidence of prior cases involving PTSD and thus a valuable knowledge of how PTSD can become worse over time. 
Specific rulings can be cited as examples when negotiating with insurance loss adjusters and used as leverage to arrive at fair compensation for dealing with ongoing PTSD issues following a serious car accident. Your lawyer will be focused on procuring as much financial compensation as possible for you, their client, while also knowing when to and when not to pursue PTSD as part of an injury claim. Part of the case assessment will involve your accident lawyer looking closely at the accident report and other evidence to ensure that should the case go to trial, the insurance company’s legal team will not be able to point to any amount of personal contribution to the accident on your part, hence denying the claim in its entirety under North Carolina’s restrictive contributory negligence law.
Contact Our Law Firm ASAP
Being properly compensated for PTSD is clearly one of the most complicated issues when settling a car accident claim. It exists to some extent in almost every accident, and assuredly in serious accident cases where anyone is catastrophically injured. If your claim for PTSD consideration in a personal injury case has been denied, call our offices and let us put our experience to work for you. Injured accident victims may only have one opportunity for financial justice, and insurance providers know it. Call today and let us conduct a thorough investigation of your claim potential, call 1-800-ACCIDENT now.
