Those who are affected by a motor vehicle collision typically expect insurance to take care of their costs. The party who is not at fault for the crash can generally rely on the insurance coverage carried by the person who caused the wreck for compensation.
There should be coverage available both to repair damaged vehicles and to cover medical costs when people get hurt in collisions. Unfortunately, the injuries that sometimes occur in car wrecks – including costly and consequential traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) – can lead to complicated insurance claims or leave people struggling with insufficient financial support.
The costs can go above what the policy will pay
Every insurance policy is subject to certain limits, and every motorist chooses for themselves how much coverage they think they need. The average policy, even one with more generous bodily injury coverage, may not have enough to fully reimburse those who suffer a serious TBI in a crash.
Sometimes, medical costs can carry multi-million dollar price tags when someone has a TBI, and their lost wages are also a consideration. A brain injury can leave someone unable to work in a highly-paid profession or to perform any kind of paid work whatsoever. Often, people cannot get enough coverage from insurance alone to cover their medical costs and lost wages after a TBI.
Symptom delays complicate claims
Some brain injuries are obvious right after it crash, with people losing consciousness and requiring emergency transportation for trauma care. Other times, the crash leads to someone experiencing bleeding on the brain, bruising inside the skull or tissue swelling.
Those issues may produce slowly worsening symptoms that only show up after several days or possibly even weeks after the crash. If someone doesn’t see a doctor to rule out the possibility of a brain injury, they may have a harder time getting the benefits they need when they start showing symptoms.
Those who obtain a diagnosis as quickly as possible and allow a legal professional to pursue compensation on their behalf may have an easier time coping with the challenges created by brain injuries from car crashes.