Dothan Alabama Personal Injury Lawyer Settles Claim for Client in Wreck with Uninsured Driver
Dothan Alabama Personal Injury and Accident Lawyer Aaron Gartlan of Gartlan Injury Law settled a claim with Progressive Insurance Company on behalf of a good honest retired devoted mother and grandmother for injuries and damages sustained in an automobile wreck through no fault of her own in Abbeville Alabama, which is in Henry County.
The police accident report clearly showed that she was rear-ended by an uninsured driver while stopped at a stop sign on a one-way street. The at-fault driver reported having liability coverage with Safeway Insurance Company. However, Safeway denied coverage, because the at-fault driver did not actually have insurance with Safeway. Accordingly, we sought indemnity through the uninsured motorist and med-pay provisions of her insurance policy.
She presented herself to the emergency room following the accident due to neck, back, shoulder, chest, arm and wrist pain as well as bilateral numbness and tingling in her arms, nausea and headache. The ER doctor prescribed Ultram and Roboxin 750 mg for neck and back pain and referred her to an orthopedic clinic for follow-up care.
She received orthopedic care and she was given Medral and Naprosyn for pain. She made three (3) visits to over a one-month period and was prescribed physical therapy, but she was unable to participate due to personal and financial reasons.
She then sought chiropractic treatment for pain in her neck, shoulders, lower back and a tingling/numbing sensation in her hands and headaches; all of which began following the accident.
Medicare paid a portion of her medical bill and sought subrogation, but we were able to resolve their interest for a lower amount. The chiropractor bill was outstanding, and we were able to take care of and pay with the med-pay claim. This left us with settling the bodily injury claim to compensate her for the physical damage, medical bills and treatment, pain, suffering and mental anguish that she had been forced to endure through no fault of her own.
Obstacles in this case were gaps in treatment, pre-existing conditions and not following the physician’s advice regarding physical therapy. We were ultimately able to overcome those obstacles and obtain a successful settlement of the claim.
We recommend our client follow the prescribed treatment of their treating physician in personal injury cases, and advise them that it will possibly hurt their health, healing and the value of the case if they fail to do so. We also need to know about prior health conditions. For example, if a client complained of headaches after a car wreck and treated with a chiropractor for that, we would want to know that the client was treated by a medical physician and was given an MRI as a result of migraines about a year earlier, so that we can deal with that information the best possible way for the client and look for evidence of aggravation of an existing condition or the development of new symptoms. Further, this case is another example of why we believe everyone should carry uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Otherwise, this woman would have been left with no real legal remedy.
Aaron Gartlan is a graduate of Troy University and the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law who focuses his practice exclusively on representing those injured by the wrongdoing of others. He is member of the National Trial Lawyers Association’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers, Million Dollar Advocates Forum and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. In addition to his legal practice, Aaron teaches Business Law as an adjunct instructor at Troy University’s Sorrell College of Business and serves as a field artillery sergeant in the Alabama National Guard.
