Things Adjuster's Say: You didn't go to the ER

This article is part of a series on insurance company's justifications for paying you less than you deserve. Whether through malice or ignorance insurance adjusters often refer to questionable logic and non-existent laws to award you as little money as possible. A personal injury attorney can ensure that you receive full compensation. The consultation is free, and only one click away.

One of the most common ways an insurance adjuster will try to discredit your injuries is to claim that if you were really hurt your would have gone to the ER. This is a bad habit that carries over to the attorneys insurance companies hire to defend their clients in court. In my experience, this argument falls on deaf ears and can be turned around to show the court how absurd the defense is being.  

If he was hurt so badly, why didn’t he go to the ER?

I hear these words far more often than I should. Why did my client not go to the ER? It depends on the person, but here are some good reasons:

He did not think he needed to
He does not have health insurance
ER’s are very expensive
He had to take his children home
It was 10PM on a Sunday
He’s tough as nails and doesn’t like doctors

Whether or not you went to the ER is irrelevant.

Despite what the insurance industry wants you to believe, it doesn’t matter if you went to the ER or not. There is no requirement that in order to suffer a serious injury you have to ride in the back of an ambulance. Don’t let the insurance company belittle your injuries and disrespect you by saying otherwise.

Some people probably should have gone to the ER, but didn’t.

I have had clients with broken bones, broken vertebrae, torn ligaments, bleeding they could not stop on their own, bruises so bad they couldn’t open one eye, and head injuries that knocked them unconscious not go to the ER.  They probably should have gone to the ER, but for one reason or another they didn’t. But the bone is no less broken because the client did not go to the ER.  

In my experience, courts do not give any credit to this argument.

I had an insurance attorney ask my client why she didn’t go to the ER while she was testifying in court. She replied, “Because I wasn’t hurt enough to wait ten hours in the middle of the night for them to give me a bottle of pills and a bill for $5,000. I went home, went to bed, and saw my regular doctor the next day.” She said it in a smart, matter of fact way. The insurance company’s attorney looked like a fool and my client ended up being very happy with the judgement she received.

If I have a car wreck should I go to the ER no matter what?

According to the logic of the insurance industry, yes. According to common sense, no. You should seek whatever medical treatment you think you need. I always stress to my clients that they only have one body and should never compramise their health for the sake of their case.

Don't be taken advantage of.

An attorney can help ensure that you are not taken advantage of by unscrupulous insurance adjusters looking to line their employer's pockets at the expense of your injuries. Click here for a free consultation.