Traumatic Brain Injury

Experienced car crash attorney with a wealth of experience guiding complicated TBI cases like yours toward beneficial resolutions.

If another driver’s negligence leaves you with a traumatic brain injury (TBI), you face a very difficult path forward that can leave you with nearly unimaginable physical, financial, and emotional challenges ahead. If this is the situation you find yourself in, you shouldn’t wait to discuss your concerns with an experienced South Carolina car accident lawyer.

Your Injury

An injury to your brain can alter your very sense of self. Our brains house our personalities, which make us unequivocally who we are. Any kind of change to this fundamental part of ourselves is serious and likely to be life-altering. While the physical implications of these injuries are immense, the emotional consequences can be more so.

Your Physical, Financial, and Emotional Damages

The physical, financial, and emotional damages associated with a TBI can be very difficult to exaggerate.

Medical Costs

If your brain has suffered an injury, it is serious, and your medical expenses will reflect this fact. Consider the following:

• Emergency treatment and emergency transportation
• Surgical care
• Medical treatment, care, and services from doctors, specialists, and other medical professionals
• Follow-up care
• Hospital stays
• Rehabilitation
• Physical and occupational therapy
• Prescription meds
• Adaptive physical devices
• Home health care
• Assistance with the activities of daily living

The hallmark of TBIs is that they are completely unpredictable, and it is nearly impossible to say with certainty what medical needs you’ll have in the future – but the recovery process is guaranteed to be lengthy. Further, there are no guarantees regarding the extent of recovery possible when it comes to TBIs. In other words, a TBI can mean a lifetime of medical needs.

Lost Earnings

A TBI can halt your career in its tracks. A less serious TBI, however, may require only time off the job while you heal, but lost earnings are always a distinct possibility. Further, because our brains are so highly tuned, even a relatively minor TBI can alter your ability to do your job, which can mean a decrease in earning potential or even the end of your career as you know it. Because our careers are so closely tied up with our identities, these changes can prove emotionally devastating.

Pain and Suffering

The pain and suffering associated with a traumatic brain injury can be so extreme that it is difficult to assess adequately. A TBI can leave you with the sense that you are living someone else’s life, which is not something that anyone should have to come to terms with. Some of the emotional and psychological consequences commonly associated with TBIs include:

• Increased irritability
• Severe mood swings
• Emotional lability that can include crying jags
• Bouts of depression
• Increased anxiety can include anxiety attacks
• A tendency to self-isolate and push others away
• Fear of getting back behind the wheel
• Accident flashbacks
• Sleep disturbances that can include night terrors
• Other PTSD-like symptoms
• Difficulty concentrating
• Social anxiety
• Difficulty connecting with others
• Difficulty moving forward (a sense of being stuck)

Of all the injuries out there, TBIs may have the most profound emotional component. One of the most difficult aspects of these effects is that they have a tendency to shut the victim’s support system out just when they’re needed most urgently.

The Insurance Company

In order to recover from the TBI you’ve suffered as a result of another driver’s negligence, you’re going to need just compensation that addresses all of your damages in their entirety. While the at-fault driver’s insurance provider is paid to cover these damages, it is motivated by profits, which leaves it less interested in ensuring that you are fully compensated. In fact, the insurance company has quite a few techniques that it may trot out in an attempt to settle with you for less.

Denying Your Claim

If the car insurance company just goes ahead and denies your claim without giving it much consideration, don’t be fooled. The fact is that the insurance company is happy to get rid of claims by whatever means possible, even if it’s out of hopelessness (that is caused directly by the insurance company).

Offering You an Early Settlement

If you receive an early settlement offer, it’s time to take stock. As mentioned, it’s very difficult to know exactly how extensive your damages are going to be in the early days, and the insurance company is banking on you being desperate enough to accept whatever they throw your way. You owe it to yourself to discuss the matter with a dedicated car accident lawyer who is familiar with your claim before even considering signing off on a settlement (which leaves you with no additional legal recourse).

Prolonging the Claims Process

Another insurance company favorite is prolonging and/or complicating the claims process to the point that claimants give up in despair. The claims process is long enough and difficult enough as it is, and this practice can feel especially egregious. It’s important to remember that there are laws that preclude insurance companies from engaging in these antics, and your savvy car accident attorney will help to keep them in line in terms of these legalities.

A final note here is that the insurance company – regardless of what it would have you believe – does not have the final word on the matter. If it refuses to negotiate fairly, your lawyer will advise you to file a lawsuit against the insurance company, which puts the court squarely in the driver’s seat.

Reach out to an Experienced Car Accident Attorney in Charleston Today

The practiced South Carolina car accident lawyers at David Aylor Law Offices are on your side and have the experience, legal insight, and drive to skillfully fight for your claim’s optimal outcome – in the protection of your legal rights and in pursuit of your healthiest future. Your claim is important, so please don’t wait to contact or call us at 843-548-1574 to schedule your free consultation today.