Today we want to talk about gaps in medical treatment and how it can affect your claim. Especially with Covid-19 going on right now this has been happening a lot lately. Gaps in medical treatment to care for you post-accident injury can tank your claim. This is because it gives adjusters the ability to argue that if there was a gap in treatment, then the injuries weren’t that bad or were pre-existing injuries caused by another event. Therefore, it is very important to be sure you don’t have gaps in treatment.
There are two types of gaps. One is not getting treatment immediately after the accident, for example waiting a month or so because you just keep putting it off thinking to yourself, maybe it will get better. Don’t do that! Go see your primary doctor or go to a hospital if you need to in order to ensure you are checked out. This will show up on the record and will prevent the adjusters from undervaluing your claim. Remember, the argument goes, if you didn’t get treatment, you must not have been injured that bad.
The other type of gap is when you haven’t stayed up to date on your regular care like with chiropractors or physical therapists. Again the adjustor can claim that, well you’d been going regularly and stopped so it must have gotten better, or can’t be that bad. Don’t let life get in the way and prevent you from making your body a priority. Be sure you are getting the treatment you need so that you can heal faster and not give the adjustor an excuse to de-value your claim. Be sure it is continuous and don’t leave gaps.
Now, with coronavirus, a lot of providers aren’t seeing patients. This has given us some lee-way lately, but now that it has let up be sure you can get in to see your doctor or therapist in person. If you are still unable to physically go in, then you should take advantage of telemedicine as strange as it may feel. Yes, it may seem weird doing it over the phone, but this gives you a continuous record and shows that you are still hurting enough to reach out to your provider. This still counts as continuous treatment.
In sum, please do not allow gaps in your medical treatment. It can really hurt your insurance claim and makes arguing with the insurance adjuster that much harder.
