Back injuries can happen to anyone, and when they happen, they often happen suddenly. You could be enjoying a walk through the Kalamazoo Mall when you slip on a wet floor in a local shop or driving to the Henderson Castle or the Kalamazoo Valley Museum when another car crashes into you. Whatever the cause of your back injury, you will need some help.
Back injury symptoms include pain, muscle spasms, mobility problems, numbness, tingling, swelling, and bruising. Severe back pain can keep you out of work and interfere with your quality of life. If a negligent driver, business owner, or someone else is responsible for your back injury, you have the right to seek compensation.
Atnip & Associates, PLLC is an experienced personal injury lawyer serving Kalamazoo and the whole state of Michigan. We’ve been representing back injury victims for many years and know what it takes to go up against the insurance companies and win. Contact Atnip & Associates, PLLC, today for a free consultation with a back injury lawyer about your case.
Common back injuries include:
Herniated disks. A herniation is a rupture in the disks that cushion your vertebrae. Symptoms include numbness and pain, especially in the lower back.
Sprained back. Injuries to the ligaments in the back are called sprains.
Symptoms include muscle spasms, swelling, stiffness, and inflexibility.
Strain. Tendon or soft tissue injuries in your back are strains. Symptoms include pain and stiffness that may worsen when bending or spread down into the legs.
Spinal fracture. Vertebral fractures are often caused by compression.
Symptoms include severe, chronic pain and difficulty moving.
Whiplash. These neck injuries are caused by an impact that makes the head whip backward and forward rapidly.
Some accidents cause catastrophic spinal cord injuries that can result in paralysis and require expensive, lifelong treatment.
Sprains, strains, herniated disks, and fractures are the most common back injuries.
You can suffer a back injury while engaged in many everyday activities, including:
Playing sports
Gardening
Lifting something heavy
However, many back injuries are caused by car accidents or slip-and-fall accidents. Whatever the cause of your back injury, you may have a personal injury claim if someone else’s negligence caused the injury.
Negligence is defined by the Eastern District of Michigan District Court as the failure to use ordinary care, meaning that the person who injured you did not do what a reasonable person would do to avoid the risk of injuring someone.
Michigan’s premises liability law requires property owners to maintain their property in a safe condition and warn visitors of any potential hazards. If you were injured in a slip-and-fall accident at a business in Kalamazoo, the business owner could be liable for failing to maintain safe premises or warn you of the risk.
If your back was injured in a Kalamazoo car accident, your first step is to file a claim with your Personal Injury Protection plan. PIP is a no-fault insurance plan, so you don’t have to prove that the other driver was negligent to file a claim.
This plan should cover all your reasonable and necessary medical expenses, although the insurance company may disagree with you and your doctors about which expenses are reasonable and necessary. If your insurer won’t cover a treatment you need, you can take them to court.
If your back is injured in an accident, PIP will only pay up to your policy’s coverage limit. If you have unlimited coverage, that shouldn’t be a problem, but if you selected a different option, PIP may not cover all your medical expenses. In that case, you may need to file an additional claim against the other driver’s Residual Bodily Injury coverage.
If necessary, you can file a lawsuit against the other driver for whatever expenses are not covered by insurance. You can also collect compensation for pain and suffering if you file a Residual Bodily Injury claim or a lawsuit, which you cannot do in a PIP claim. To file a claim for bodily injury, you will have to establish that the other driver was negligent.
There are some important deadlines to be aware of after a back injury accident. According to the Michigan Statute of Limitations, you must file a personal injury lawsuit within three years of the injury, or you lose the right to sue. Considering that you’ll need some time to file an insurance claim and negotiate with the insurance company before you decide whether to file a lawsuit, this means that you should contact a lawyer immediately so you have enough time.
The Michigan Insurance Code gives you one year to file a written notice with your PIP insurer and one year to file a lawsuit against your insurance company if they refuse to cover one of your expenses. This deadline is even tighter than the one imposed by the statute of limitations, so don’t delay. Seek the help of a Kalamazoo back injury lawyer immediately.
In a back injury case, you can obtain compensation for your medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and loss of quality of life. A skilled and experienced attorney can help you pursue the full compensation you deserve.
How can a Kalamazoo back injury lawyer help? By doing everything that might be too overwhelming and too stressful for you to do on your own, such as:
Investigating how you got hurt and gathering all the evidence that supports your claim. This includes requesting police reports, interviewing eyewitnesses, reviewing medical records, and obtaining any relevant video.
Consulting with back injury experts to determine the true extent of your injuries and their likely costs.
Filing your claim with the insurance company.
Negotiating with the insurance company. It’s almost always a bad idea to take the first offer the insurance company makes. We’ll respond to their offer with a reasonable counteroffer that covers all your losses, and we’ll fight tenaciously to get you a fair settlement.
Filing a lawsuit if necessary.
Representing you in court against the insurance company.
At Atnip & Associates, PLLC, we make a point of treating our clients like family. When you sit down with us for your free consultation, we’ll listen to your story and tell you whether we think you have a strong claim. Then we’ll get to work, investigating the facts about the accident so we can present the strongest possible claim to the insurance company. You won’t have to pay us unless we secure compensation for your injuries. Contact Atnip & Associates, PLLC, today.
