Blog | Dinizulu Law Group, Ltd

Staffing Rates Suffer Even as Nursing Homes Seek Additional Funding in Illinois

July 21, 2021/in Blog/by Yao Dinizulu

CHICAGO, IL – Understaffed nursing facilities and neglect dominate the long-term care industry. Residents are more inclined to suffer from a serious fall, choke on food, or miss their medication due to understaffing issues. Staff who are available are overworked and underpaid, leading to exhaustion and fatal mistakes.

No-Strings Attached Funding

Illinois news coverage has been filled with requests for an increased amount of state funding for private nursing homes in recent months. At the same time, the Health Care Council of Illinois asked for $486 million dollars, and want no-strings attached. The for-profit lobbying group opposes legislation from Governor J.B. Pritzker’s administration allocating some of the money on hiring more staff and eliminating ward-style rooming, where patients can share the same room.

Investigations Show Ongoing Problems

The industry has a myriad of failures: failure in transparency and accountability in how public funds are put to use, failure to hire enough staff, and failure to reduce hazardous overcrowding. In 2019, Illinois ranked last in nursing home staffing levels.

Although nursing home facilities are pleading for more funding, investigations have shown that for-profit nursing homes still make donations to lawmakers and hide their profits by paying enormous fees via real estate companies and vendors that the owners of the nursing homes control.

What Can You Do?

If your loved one is in a nursing home, or you’re thinking of placing your loved one in a nursing facility, you have a good reason to be concerned about potential hazards. The most important thing you can do to protect your loved one is to keep a close eye on the conditions of the facility. Don’t hesitate to contact an experienced lawyer to help you understand whether there are concerning conditions of neglect.

Contact a Cook County Nursing Home Lawyer

If you believe that understaffing in your loved ones nursing home has led to negligent behavior, the lawyers at the Dinizulu Law Group can help you hold the nursing home accountable. We have extensive experience helping victims of nursing home abuse and their loved ones get financial relief and peace of mind. Contact our office for a free consultation today at (312) 384-1920.

What Should I Do If I Delayed Filing My Car Accident Claim?

July 19, 2021/in Blog/by Yao Dinizulu

CHICAGO, IL – The aftermath of a car accident is far from enjoyable. It can be a stressful time full of uncertainty about your health and finances. For one reason or another, you may have put off taking care of your car accident claim. If you did delay your car accident claim, it’s not too late to go after compensation for your injuries.

Reasons a Car Accident Claim May Be Delayed

Many people are confused after a car accident and don’t know what to do, which may hurt their personal injury claim. Many people delay claims because they didn’t know their injuries were serious, didn’t know they could seek compensation, or because dealing with injuries resulting from the car crash has been more important.

You Didn’t Know Your Injuries Were Serious

If you’ve been injured in a car accident, it’s important to seek medical treatment immediately. Many injured drivers and passengers delay contacting a personal injury lawyer because they think their injuries are not worth pursuing. As weeks and months pass, you may begin to realize your pain isn’t going away and your medical bills are adding up.

Injuries resulting from a car collision are a sign that something more serious is happening. If you put off delaying the care you need, it can be critical to your health and personal injury claim. A delay in medical treatment makes it harder to make a connection between the car accident and your injuries when filing a claim.

For example, you may have been rear-ended at a stop light but didn’t immediately seek medical treatment. A year later, you still have shooting pain throughout your back. It will be more difficult to prove that your injury was a result of the rear-end collision.

You Didn’t Know You Could Seek Compensation

You may have relied solely on your own income and resources to cover your medical expenses and vehicle repairs after a car accident. It may not be too late to recover those cost from the person who is responsible for causing your injuries. As long as you can prove what damages caused your accident, you can seek compensation for those costs, as well as pain and suffering. An experienced personal injury lawyer will help prove both liability and how the accident has impacted you.

Dealing With Your Injuries After an Accident

Injuries, whether life-threatening or not, can prevent a victim from pursuing a claim within a timely manner. Your injuries may be severe enough to result in a hospital stay, or leave you in an unresponsive state.

A lawyer’s experience is critical in these types of claims, especially after catastrophic injuries. You will need substantial compensation to assist with long-term effects and future medical bills for severe and chronic injuries.

Statute of Limitations in Illinois

The statute of limitations in Illinois for car accident claims is two years, under most circumstances. This means you have two years from the date the motor vehicle accident occurred to file a claim. So, it’s best to consult with a lawyer immediately.

Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer in Chicago, Illinois

Don’t let your delay of filing an injury claim prevent you from seeking compensation. If you or a loved one was injured in a car accident but didn’t file a claim right away, speak to one of the experience attorney’s at the Dinizulu Law Group, Ltd. We will evaluate your case and let you know honestly if you have a case. If moving forward is an option for your case, we will work diligently to meet the needs of your case and pursue maximum compensation for your injuries. Call us now for a free initial case evaluation at (312) 384-1920.

Concussions from Personal Injury Accidents: Causes, Symptoms, and Complications

July 11, 2021/in Blog/by Yao Dinizulu

CHICAGO, IL – If you’ve been in a car accident, you know how common concussions are. Concussions affect everyone differently, which can make it difficult to manage. Brain injuries, such as concussions, can leave sufferers with long-term challenges and changes that can impact a person for the rest of their life.

Concussions are very common, and people everyday experience events that leave them concussed and left to deal with life-altering symptoms that linger. For example, you could slip and fall in your driveway going to get the mail and suffer from a concussion.

Some concussions are caused by others negligence. It’s important to understand the common causes of concussions, symptoms to look out for, and complications you should be made aware of.

Overview of a Concussion

Concussions are classified as traumatic brain injuries that alter a persons normal brain function. Concussions are normally a result of a violent jolt or force to the head, which causes the brain to slam against the inner wall of your skull.

A person will usually suffer from short-term side effects, including:

Headache
Temporary loss of consciousness
Feeling as if your brain is foggy
Dizziness
Delayed response to questions
Ringing in your ears
Nausea and vomiting
Fatigue
Lack of balance
Problems concentrating

Concussions are divided into three main categories, which are graded by severity:

Grade 1 – Low-Grade: You may experience a headache, difficulty focusing, memory loss, nausea, and dizziness. You can typically return to normal activities within a few days following a Grade 1 concussion, after symptoms have fully passed.
Grade 2 – Mid-Grade: This is a moderate type of concussion that is similar to a grade 1 concussion; however, a grade 2 concussion typically involves a brief loss of consciousness that can last shorter or longer than 5 minutes. This type of concussion requires many days of rest before returning to normal activities.
Grade 3 – High-Grade: A severe concussion is where you can lose consciousness for more than 5 minutes. Symptoms may last for weeks before they begin to subside. You are at-risk of permanent brain damage with a grade 3 concussion.

Causes of a Concussion

Our brains have the consistency of gelatin, in which it is cushioned by everyday jolts and bumps to our heads. A violent blow to your head or upper body can cause your brain to forcefully slide back and forth against the inter walls of your skull, according to Mayo Clinic.

Concussions may lead to bleeding in or around your brain, causing symptoms such as prolonged drowsiness and confusion. You can feel an onset of symptoms immediately or later.

Risk Factors

Activities and factors that may increase your risk of a concussion include:

Participating in high-risk sports, including football, hockey, soccer, boxing, rugby, and other contact sports
Participating in high-risk sports without property safety equipment and supervision
Falling, especially for young children and older adults
Being involved in a motor vehicle collision
Being involved in a pedestrian or bicycle accident
Being a soldier involved in combat
Being a victim of physical abuse
Having had a previous concussion

Complications

Potential complications of a concussion may include:

Post-traumatic headaches: You may experience concussion-related headaches up to 7 days after a brain injury.
Post-traumatic vertigo: Some people experience a sense of dizziness for days, weeks, or months after suffering from a brain injury.
Post-concussion syndrome: A small portion of people have symptoms including headaches, dizziness, and thinking difficulties that persist past 3 weeks. If these symptoms last more than 3 months it’s characterized as post-concussion syndrome.
Second impact syndrome: This is rare to happen, but when it does, this is experiencing a second concussion before signs and symptoms of a first concussion have resolved, as it may result in rapid and fatal brain swelling. Athletes should never return to sports while they still have signs and symptoms of a concussion.

Contact an Experienced Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer

The skilled attorneys of the Dinizulu Law Group are here to help you understand your legal options. A brain injury claim can be filed to help you receive compensation for any losses or damages you accrued as a result of another’s negligence.

The personal injury lawyers at the Dinizulu Law Group are ready to help you navigate through these difficult times. Contact us today for a free case consultation at (312) 384-1920 and to start getting your life back.

How Social Media Can Impact Your Personal Injury Case

July 11, 2021/in Blog/by Yao Dinizulu

CHICAGO, IL – We live in a time where social media is inevitable and we are accustomed to posting details of our life – some that can may be used against us. If you’ve recently been involved in a personal injury case, social media can backfire if you’re not careful what you post.

Celebrating triumphs and venting about tough times are things you typically see on your newsfeed or while clicking through stories. No matter how private your account may be, there is plenty of information on the internet about you – no matter how secure you think your profile is.

Can Social Media Posts be Admissible in Illinois Courts?

Illinois courts considered Electronically Stored Information (ESI) to be admissible under some circumstances. This can include any emails, texts, Twitter direct messages, Facebook statuses, Instagram stories, or other forms of electronic communication.

In order for your electronic communications to be admissible in Illinois courts, the content must meet four criteria:

It must be relevant.
It must be valuable to the defendant’s case.
It cannot be hearsay.
It must be authentic, meaning it was created by or about the defendant.

So, now you know your social media posts can be used against you in court, and by insurance companies to discredit your personal injury claim. Now let’s discuss what you can do to prevent this information from harming your case.

Don’t Post About Your Accident or Case on Social Media

After something traumatic has happened, it’s natural to want to discuss this with friends and family, and post about it on social media. The best thing you can do after you’ve been involved in an accident is not to not share any information about your injuries, accident, or case with anyone.

While it’s important to take pictures and videos of the scene of an accident; however, do not share these on social media. Sharing too many details on social media can be seen as trivializing your injuries. Insurance companies will use anything to discredit your injuries so they don’t have to pay, or lower your settlement, so it’s important to not give them a reason to discredit you.

This gives the defense and insurance companies an opportunity to rethink their approach to the case, and better prepare themselves.

Even Innocent Posts May Contradict Your Claim

The defense can frame your innocent posts to make them contradict your claim. What you may think is an innocent post can look misconstrued to the court. For example, a photo of you at a wedding won’t show that you were actually watching from a chair because you were too injured from your car accident to participate in celebrating, although you had plans to go for months. This type of evidence in powerful in injury cases.

Don’t Let Others Comment About Your Case

Comments from relatives and friends can also hurt your case. For example, lets say you were rear-ended by a semi-tractor trailer and were seriously injured. Your relative comments on your photo asking how you’re doing. You comment back a white lie to not worry your family saying, “Don’t worry Aunt Betty! I’m okay.” This could also seriously damage your case.

In turn, ask family and friends to also not post about you or your case. This can be just as damaging as you posting about it yourself.

Change Your Profile to “Private” and Don’t Post

While you have an ongoing case, the best thing you can do on social media is switching your profile to “private” and not post. This will help prevent your information from being readily available; however, it doesn’t make it impossible for a lawyer to access your profile. Some lawyers can even file motions in court to access your social media accounts.

Find an Illinois Personal Injury Lawyer

If you’re wondering if a post can impact your case, it’s best to not post about it at all. One innocent post can jeopardize your entire case, causing you to not receive the compensation you deserve for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

The skilled lawyers of the Dinizulu Law Group have your best interests in mind. Our attorneys have the knowledge and resources to work to secure compensation for our injured clients. Call for a free consultation so we can help guide you and the steps you should take following a personal injury case. Call our office now at (312) 384-1920 or visit our website for additional information.

What is Considered a Defective Product?

July 5, 2021/in Blog/by Yao Dinizulu

CHICAGO, IL – Research from the U.S. Consumers Product Safety Commission indicates manufacturer defects cause 29.4 million injuries and 21,400 death each year in the United States. Frequent sources of deadly products include automobiles, medications, business construction equipment, lawn sprays, home building components, and more.

Types of Manufacturer Defects that Can Lead to Claims

When identifying whether or not you may have a product liability claim, it’s important to understand there are three broad categories for which defendants can be held liable for personal injury or other damages.

Manufacturing Defect Cause of Action

These are these most frequent types of product liability claims. These are the most common types of claims. This is a type of defective product that was not intended. This assumes the design of the item was reasonable and safe, and the manufacturer deviated from the safe design and produced the good in a defective manner.

Imagine your riding down the street on your moped. You go to brake and realize the brakes are missing and suddenly crash and hurt yourself severely. This is an example of a manufacturing defect, or product liability claim.

Design Defects and Liability Claims

A defective product may enter the stream of commerce because its defectively designed. A defective design means that the product was manufactured correctly, but that there is something in the way the product is designed that makes it dangerous to consumers.

For example, a chair designed with only three legs might be considered a defectively designed product because it tips over too easily.

Failure to Warn Product Liability Claims

Failure to warn in a products liability case is the legal liability that can attach when a product manufacturer doesn’t adequately instruct consumers about how to use their product correctly.

For example, a match book would not be required to come with a warning stating that the matches may start a fire; however, an automobile manufacturer would be liable for failing to warn that the seats in the car might collapse if the driver was overweight.

Determining Liability in a Product Liability Accident

After you and your legal counsel determine what is to be a defective product, you should discuss the parties who can be held responsible for the defective product: the manufacturer, the owner, or the seller.

Manufacturers: Manufacturers can be held liable for a product(s) that contain a flaw in their manufacture or design. This must occur under their control. The defective manufacturing must render the item defective before any use by the consumer for the adequate claim to succeed.

Owners: On occasion, the product defect can be exacerbated by unsafe, unreasonable, or negligent conduct. If someone recklessly used a defective product, you could potentially sue that person and include them in your cause of action against the defendant in your product liability claim.

Sellers: Whoever sold you the defective product could face scrutiny in a similar claim. They must have known about the defective condition, design, instructions, or label prior to the sale and accident for you to succeed in a legal claim.

Talk to a Product Liability Lawyer in Illinois About Your Recovery Today

The attorneys of the Dinizulu Law Group help personal injury victims every day. Our firm has the knowledge, resources, and skills in order to help you hold those responsible liable for your injuries. To receive a free consultation today, please call us at (312) 384-1920 or visit our website for additional information.

Recovering Lost Wages in Personal Injury Cases

July 4, 2021/in Blog/by Yao Dinizulu

CHICAGO, IL – If you’ve been involved in an accident, you know how overwhelming the situation can be – especially if you’ve been injured. The ramifications of a car accident can impact several aspects of your livelihood. You may have suffered catastrophic injuries and be unable to return to work, preventing you to contributing as the main source of income for your family. You may struggle to pay rent or your mortgage, food, utility bills, and other expenses you face.

Whatever the case may be, it may be possible for you to recover lost wages with the help of a knowledgable personal injury attorney. Learning about your rights to compensation is essential when first beginning this process.

Step 1: Assess the Situation

If you have only missed a few weeks of work or already returned, this situation would be pretty straightforward. It will be easy for you to assert your right to compensation. In more complex cases where someone may be unable to return to work for months or years, it’s in your best interest to obtain a personal injury attorney will assess whether you can still file a claim under Illinois’ statue of limitations. It’s possible your attorney could settle the case outside of court to make the process fairly simple for you.

Step 2: Understand What Recovery is Available

Understanding what recovery you could receive for your injuries is the next step. You may receive lost earning capacity, past lost wages, and future lost wages when you have missed work due to an injury after a car accident.

The plaintiff must be able to prove that they were so injured or that their injures will require life-long medical care that a future ability to earn an income is impaired. The court considers many factors when determining if someone is eligible for future earning capacity. These factors may include your current health, life expectancy, age, income level, talents, experience, skills, education, and much more. Furthermore, the court will consider the past income level to determine the appropriate income figure for loss of earning.

The court will add up the number of days from the time of the injury to the date of settlement to determine the total amount of wages that person will be entitled to receive over a period of time.

Step 3: Consider Your Line of Work or Occupation

Depending if you are salary or hourly, this will ultimately impact the amount of compensation that you will receive.

Salaried employees will take the total amount of annual salary that they receive. The court will then divide the total salary amount by 2,080 to determine the hourly rate that will be used when calculating damages. They will then multiply that number by the number of days you have missed or hours you have worked.

On the other hand, hourly employees is much less intensive. The court only multiplies the total number of hours missed from work by an hourly rate. This figure may also include overtime the plaintiff was forced to miss due to injuries.

Step 4: Consider What Other Damages Available

It’s important to consider what other damages may be available to you. This is why it’s important to have an experienced personal injury attorney who can explain the types of damages that may be offered to you.

For example, you may be entitled to receive damages for:

Future medical expenses
Pain and suffering
Mental anguish
Loss of consortium
Loss of companionship
Permanent Disability
Disfigurement
And other damages

Because of how many damages you can collect compensation for, you should contact a personal injury lawyer to help you determine what types of recovery may be available for your case.

Step 5: Settling Your Case in a Timely Manner

If you want to settle your case in a timely manner, you should contact an experienced personal injury attorney. The personal injury lawyer will be able to discuss if you should settle your case outside of court or if it’s best to take it to trial.

The experienced personal injury lawyers of Dinizulu Law Group can assist you and help you find the financial relief that you need. Call our office today for a free consultation at (312) 384-1920.

Medical Malpractice Awareness Month

July 1, 2021/in Blog/by Yao Dinizulu

CHICAGO, IL – Medical malpractice is a huge problem in the United States. Every July is recognized by The National Medical Malpractice Advocacy Association (NMMAA) organizes and promotes National Medical Malpractice Awareness Month. The goal is the raise awareness around medical malpractice and to help end negligent acts of harm caused by medical negligence.

More than 250,000 lose their lives each year because of medical errors – nearly 10 percent of all annual deaths in the United States. More people die per year from medical errors than deaths cause by accidents, strokes, or Alzheimer’s according to John Hopkins School of Medicine.

The NMMAA believes the month of July provides support to the victims and their families who have lost loves ones due to medical negligence, as well as creating a great opportunity to educate the public on the seriousness of medical negligence and advocating for those who don’t have voice.

NMMAA: Advocating for Patients

The NMMAA is a non-partisan organization who’s goal is to promote changes that address the underlying causes of medical malpractice and is dedicated to ensuring those with less power are heard. The NMMAA is also committed to resolving the issue around unreported claims of medical negligence.

The NMMAA plans to address these problems through several initiatives and projects, including:

The Medical Malpractice Right to Justice Project which aims to seek justice for those who have been stripped of their 7th amendment right to court after medical negligence, by bringing up old cases and showing inconsistencies in medical records and testimonies.
Partnership with the Greater National Advocates: After being a victim of a serious medical error, it’s important for victims to work with medical professionals they trust. The NMMAA partners with Greater National Advocates and offers online access to their network of practitioners.
Screening services: NMMAA works with lawyers and physicians around the country, and provides screening services and educational resources to those who are a victim of medical malpractice.

The Standard of Care

The medical “standard of care” is defined as the level and type of care that any reasonably competent and skilled health care professional, with a similar background and in the same medical community, would have provided under the circumstances that led to the alleged malpractice.

How to Identify Medical Errors

When a healthcare provider violates the “standard of care,” they become liable for serious injuries which may include:

Medication and anesthesia errors
Failure to diagnose and misdiagnosis
Surgical malpractice (i.e. contaminated tools, wrong-site surgeries)
Laboratory and medical test failures
Abuse and neglect of patients
Premature discharge
Healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs)
Preventable birth injuries
Emergency room errors

If you suspect that medical malpractice may have played a role in your injuries, our legal team at Dinizulu Law Group, Ltd is available and ready to hear your story to help determine if you have a medical malpractice claim. For more information on how we can help you with your claim, call our office now for a free consultation at (312) 384-1920 or visit our website for more information.

5 Ways Nursing Homes Can Prevent Residents from Getting Bedsores

June 28, 2021/in Blog/by Yao Dinizulu

CHICAGO, IL – Nursing homes have a long history of abuse and neglect. While not all nursing homes are negligent in their treatment towards residents, there is no denying the common issue of bedsores within these types of facilities. It’s important for nursing staff to take extra precautions to avoid unnecessary patient illness, suffering, disease, and neglect.

Many nursing home facilities are understaffed and overworked, often forced to care for more residents than what they can handle. Preventing bedsores is one area nursing homes could excel in their treatment towards residents.

What Causes Bedsores?

Bedsores, or pressure ulcers, form when there is a lack of mobility in residents. The average human only spends about 8 hours a day sleeping in bed, typically moving throughout the night. For nursing home residents who are confined to a wheelchair or their bed, this gives residents little to no mobility on their own and often requiring assistance when transferring from a bed to a wheelchair.

Bedsores can also form from constant pressure on one area and little to no circulation, which deprives the skin of oxygen. It’s estimated that bedsores are the cause of 10,000 deaths per year.

Help Patients Reposition Frequently

Sitting or lying in the same position can be extremely uncomfortable and exhausting. For patients who are able to shift their weight, they should do so every few hours to prevent bedsores from forming. If a patient is immobile and unable to do so on their own, a staff members should help reposition the patient every 2-3 hours.

2. Incorporate More Exercise into Residents Routine

Some nursing home residents may almost refuse to get out of bed. It can be a daunting task for someone who is bed or wheelchair bound; however, that’s what nursing home staff are there for. Staff should help motivate residents and encourage them exercise to keep their blood flowing.

Motion exercises like arm or leg lifts or ankle rotations may be simple, but they are an effective strategy against preventing bed sores.

3. Use Pillows or Other Cushions to Your Advantage

Using a pillow or other cushion to put a pillow under an area of a patient that is constantly under pressure can help redistribute weight and lessen some of the pressure. By putting pillows near the hips, elbows, or ankles of a patient may create a safer situation for patients.

4. Regularly Clean and Dry Residents

It’s important nursing home staff members are consistently cleaning and drying residents. Bedsores are much less likely to develop if the skin is kept clean and dry. Regular bathing residents can help do a lot to avoid bedsores by limiting the growth of the bacteria.

5. Maintain a Good Diet

Maintaining a healthy, nutritional diet can help prevent bedsores based on studies, although they are not conclusive. Patients should received a balanced diet and maintain a good nutrition on a regular basis.

What to Do if Your Loved One Has Developed Bedsores

If your loved one has developed bedsores at their nursing home, it’s important to notify the nursing home administrator or the authorities right away, as this is a sign of neglect or abuse. The experienced nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers of Dinizulu Law Group have the experience and resources to hold those accountable for their negligence. Call our office today for a free consultation at (312) 384-1920.

How Statute of Limitations Impact Sexual Abuse Cases

June 23, 2021/in Blog/by Yao Dinizulu

CHICAGO, IL – A major issue with sexual abuse claims is the statute of limitations, or the legal amount of time you’re allowed to file a lawsuit. In many states, it prevents victims from coming forward unless they do within the time limit set by the state. Many victims of sexual abuse are unable to talk about abuse. Furthermore, they may not remember the abuse until the repressed memories play out in different aspects of life.

The statute of limitations on sexual abuse lawsuits creates a situation that is unfair and harsh to those who have already endured enough. Many states are now changing their laws to allow victims much more time to file sexual abuse lawsuits.

How Illinois has Addressed Statute of Limitations for Sexual Abuse Lawsuits

In January 2020, prosecutors in Illinois no longer faced a time limit on bringing charges for major sex offenses, regardless of the alleged victim’s age.

The new law removed the statute of limitations on criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual assault, and aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Previously, prosecutors had 10 years to bring charges if an offense was reported to law enforcement within three years after occurring.

For a state-by-state guide on the statute of limitations for sexual abuse lawsuits, please click here.

Other States Addressing Statute of Limitations Issues

By the end of 2019, there were 15 states that took some form of action towards victim advocacy and getting them a greater right to sue their offenders.

Victims of sexual assault can sue their abuser, but also the organization that employed or gave the means to the abuser to commit their crime. For example, if a victim happened to be at a bar and was sexually assaulted in a back alley, the victim could hold the establishment accountable.

Financial Impact on Organizations

For many organizations, changes in the law mean that they can face a grave financial crisis from the potential of liability. For example, the Boy Scouts of America and the Catholic Church have a long history of sexual abuse. The new law means that they can be held liable for abuse that happened decades ago. Many organizations have been forced to declare bankruptcy in order to manage some of their liability while continuing to operate.

Reporting Sexual Abuse in Illinois

Any victim of sexual abuse should report this to local authorities, a healthcare provider, trusted social worker, or someone in authority. By law, they are required to act on claims of sexual abuse. Contact the experienced sexual abuse lawyers at Dinizulu Law Group today for a free consultation at (312) 384-1920.

What Not to Say to Insurance Adjusters

June 21, 2021/in Blog/by Yao Dinizulu

CHICAGO, IL – After a car accident, it can be hard to know exactly what happened, especially if you were injured. Documenting the scene of a car accident may not be the first thing on your mind; however, you should document everything you’re able to when dealing with an insurance adjuster.

A few days after the accident, insurance adjusters typically call to get details of the car accident. Be cautious of what you say – you’d be surprised what insurance adjusters can and will hold over you.

Understand the Insurance Adjusters Role

It’s important to understand the adjusters role. Insurance adjusters have a few main responsibilities including:

Prevent insurance fraud.
Settle claims for a low amount.
Settle claims quickly.

Many insurance adjusters don’t have a background in medical or legal training. With a knowledgable car accident and personal injury attorney, you will have a leg up against the insurance company.

Before you say anything, ask the adjuster for their full name, where they work, and what their role is. Make sure to document this so you can go back to reference it whenever necessary. Keep the conversation to a minimum after finding out this information.

Avoid Giving Details of the Car Accident or Injury

It’s natural to be in shock after an accident, sometimes being shaken up for days after. Unfortunately, insurance adjusters take advantage of this.

Do not make any guesses as to what happened. It’s important to never admit partial liability.

Speak to a lawyer before speaking to an insurance adjuster. Your legal counsel will be able to advise you how to handle the conversation and what you should and should not say.

After you’ve been injured in a car accident, you may not realize you’re injured until after you’ve sought out medical treatment. The official medical report may come back that you’re injures are more catastrophic than what doctors originally thought.

For this reason, keep the details of your injury to a minimum when speaking to adjusters. Tell the adjuster that your attorney will write a written report of your injuries and speak to them on your behalf.

Do Not Sign Anything or Give a Sworn Statement

After an accident, you may apologize for things that are not your fault. Unfortunately, adjusters can use this against you and make you look like you are somehow at fault or partially liable.

To avoid this, it’s best to send a written statement with your lawyer and only give them necessary evidence.

Don’t Settle on the First Offer

Most insurance adjusters have a specific amount allocated amount of money for your claim. They will typically low ball you an offer to see if you accept a settlement for much less.

A quick, low stress settlement may seem like a good deal; however, this is why you should hire an experienced attorney who will handle this and take a little stress off your shoulders while recovering from an injury.

Contact a Personal Injury Attorney in Chicago

In short, don’t ever admit fault or apologize because insurance adjusters can and will hold this against you. The best policy is to contact an personal injury attorney who has experience negotiating with insurance companies and adjusters. Contact the Dinizulu Law Group today for a free, no obligation consultation at (312) 384-1920.