A whiplash injury is one of the more frustrating damages to sustain in a car accident. The pain is often bothersome enough to cause distress elsewhere in your life and may prevent you from completing day to day activities without hurting. If you have suffered whiplash from an auto accident, you may want to pursue compensation from the responsible driver. This may be difficult if the liable driver’s insurance carrier is Mercury Insurance. The insurance company you are dealing with often plays a big role in how fast you receive your settlement and how large the offers are. Fortunately, with the help of an experienced attorney in Los Angeles at the top-rated Normandie Law Firm, you can earn the maximum compensation available under the law for your whiplash injury. Our clients often come to us with questions about their injuries and how to deal with a company like Mercury. They pose questions like:
- What is the average Mercury settlement offer for a whiplash injury?
- What are the average Mercury Insurance settlements for a whiplash injury?
- How much does Mercury pay for whiplash after a car accident?
- How much does Mercury insurance settle a car accident claim for a whiplash injury?
- Where can I find a law firm that’s experienced in handling whiplash claims against Mercury?
Mercury Insurance Problems
Clients who have suffered whiplash injuries and have to pursue compensation through Mercury Insurance should know the difficulties involved in negotiating with the company. First and foremost, Mercury is a business; although it is supposed to operate for its customers and make sure they are adequately covered in the case of accidents, this is not always the case. Mercury wants to retain profits ahead of all else, and in order for it to do that, it has to deny hundreds of claims and refuse to pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlements.
Even when presented with a clear-cut case wherein your whiplash injury was obviously caused by the negligent actions of another driver, Mercury is likely going to deny your claim at first. They may even ignore it and not give it any attention unless an attorney stays on the agent’s case about it. It is a common tactic to delay the case for as long as possible in the hopes that you will eventually get fed up with waiting and take the first small offer they give you or else drop the claim altogether.
It should be known that practices like this are considered acts of bad faith and are punishable under the law. If Mercury Insurance has refused to acknowledge your claim, did not provide you with a reason for its denial, offered you an unreasonably small sum in a settlement, misattributed your damages, or advised you not to pursue legal counsel, you may have grounds to sue the insurance company for acting in bad faith.
Do not let Mercury Insurance get away with not compensating you for your whiplash injury. An experienced Los Angeles attorney to sue Mercury for your damages can be a valuable asset to your claim, and will be able to dedicate more time to helping you be fairly compensated for your damages. It is always advised to seek legal representation instead of pursuing action by yourself.
Whiplash from a Car Accident
Many cases of whiplash are caused by simple car accidents. You may be involved in a rear-end crash, truck accident, or motorcycle accident, and your head may be thrown from side to side or forward and backward. This rapid onset of motion can damage your neck; after all, your head and spine are connected, but your neck is still fragile when compared to the rest of the spinal cord.
Some symptoms of whiplash are confused with other conditions. For example, headaches, fatigue, and dizziness can be signs of any number of sicknesses or conditions, such as mild traumatic brain injuries, pulmonary problems, concussions, and more. It is important that you see a doctor if you have any symptoms of whiplash or any pain in general after a car accident. Many times, victims will deny medical assistance in the wake of a crash, claiming that they feel perfectly fine; however, this is not always wise, as many times the adrenaline rush is simply keeping them from feeling any pain.
If you have any of these symptoms, you may suffer from whiplash:
- Decreased range of motion in the neck
- Stiffness and pain in the neck
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
- Tingling or numbness in the upper arms
- Headaches that start at the back of the head and base of the skull
- Pain in the upper arms, shoulders, and upper back
- Tinnitus
- Blurred vision
- Irritability
- Sleep disturbances
- Difficulty concentrating or remembering
A doctor will be able to assist you in seeking recovery for the injury. Many victims recover naturally within a few months, but you can use prescribed painkillers (whether over the counter or higher strength), ice and heat treatments, muscle relaxants, acupuncture, and physical therapy to relieve pain or increase the range of motion. A neck brace that immobilizes the neck may not be a great idea, as stiffness and muscular atrophy can occur if you do not move the area often.
Compensation
Although a car accident whiplash injury may not seem like the most severe damage you can sustain, it may still warrant a fair amount of medical attention. These medical bills can be covered by Mercury, but you should know some relevant details about these proceedings before you attempt to take legal action or file a claim.
For one, you cannot file a claim with Mercury until all of your medical bills have been compiled and you have fully recovered or reached maximum medical improvement. You must also have a demand letter that will outline your requests and your desire for compensation. An expert attorney with experience in personal injury cases can help you address Mercury and request a settlement for your whiplash claim.
You may be able to earn coverage for medical bills, property damage, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Whiplash Injury Mercury Insurance Settlement Amounts
Unfortunately, those who call us and ask about the average value of a case do not always get the answers they want to hear. This is because there is no surefire way to determine how much your case will earn – there is no settlement calculator that will spit out a payout amount after you input numbers and damages. The average compensation may even be skewed at times due to outlier cases bringing the number up. For instance, a whiplash case that resulted in a $5,000,000 settlement would be considered very rare, but it would also increase the average of all case settlements related to whiplash. The better option is to observe the median amount and judge from there.
However, your whiplash case is worth over $100,000 if you suffered other neck injuries and if the responsible driver is found completely at fault for the incident. The lawsuit is also worth over $200,000 if there were a problem with the vehicle, which could be traced to the manufacturer, who can be sued for negligence. At times, people have trouble proving whiplash lawsuits, so they end up with settlements valued at less than $40,000.
In truth, evaluating other case values would be the most telling information you could acquire. While these cases would not explicitly show you what you will earn for a whiplash injury, they can be used as a comparison to show what you have the potential to earn.
Free Second Opinion
More often than not, clients come to us asking about the average value of a case because they are currently being represented by a lawyer and want to make sure they are not getting the short end of the stick. They want to compare their purported settlement value with the values of other cases to see how their claims stack up. Although this does not usually lead to accurate judgments, an experienced attorney should be able to clarify any information and tell you what your case may be worth.
Our lawyers at Normandie Law Firm offer you a second opinion on your current case. We will discuss your potential earning value and talk about your present lawyer. Sadly, many attorneys sign up multiple cases and refuse to give them proper care; they rush through negotiations and seek to achieve fast settlements for low sums. This allows them to quickly receive their paychecks and move on to the next case, as well as prevents Mercury from taking too much damage. Only the clients lose in these scenarios, and we believe you should be the focus of your lawyer. He should not be concerned with his own income.
Normandie’s Assistance
Call us today if you have been involved in a car accident, truck accident, or motorcycle accident and have sustained a whiplash injury. We can help you sue Mercury for your fair compensation. Our team of expert attorneys at Normandie Law Firm will aggressively work to bring you a settlement for your damages.
A lawyer with experience in whiplash cases will be available to give you a free consultation on your case. You can discuss the legal process, your current attorney if you have one, and what the best options are moving forward. You can also learn more about our zero fee guarantee. You are promised to pay no out of pocket expenses for our legal services – we only get paid if we win your case, and our payment comes out of the settlement we earn for you, ensuring that your savings remain unscathed.
Reach out to our legal team if you need assistance suing Mercury for a whiplash injury.
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