A scary traffic accident unleashes a tremendous amount of force on the drivers and passengers inside the cars involved. The joints in the arms and legs get compressed and the bones involved are often the first places victims take damage.
The feet and legs absorb much of the impact, and that can put an incredible strain on ankles. A broken ankle can take weeks to heal and may even affect a victim’s mobility over the long term.
After a California roadway accident leaves victims with a fractured ankle injury, it’s critical that they seek full financial support from the at-fault driver. At the first diagnosis, there’s little assurance about how long healing could take or how much treatment will eventually cost. That’s why it’s so important to expect the most out of your ankle fracture claim.
Contact a California Ankle Injury Lawyer for a Free Case Consultation
After suffering a serious ankle injury in a car crash or any other personal injury accident, you may have real doubts that the at-fault party will provide what you’ll need in recovery. Insurance companies might fight you over every medical bill you collect as you heal.
This battle is why you’ll need to ensure you’re getting the most out of your ankle fracture claim from the very beginning. You might not know how to do that, but you can take advantage of a fantastic legal resource by contacting Maison Law of California for a free case evaluation.
The consultation comes with no obligation to you. It’s a chance to learn about every benefit available to you and your family after suffering a broken ankle. You’ll also get help in determining how to secure maximum compensation from unhelpful insurance adjusters.
Ankle Fractures in California Accidents
Ankles connect the legs and the feet and play a big role in your stability and your ability to walk. The ankle is made up of three different bones, two of which extend down from your calf.
The tibia is also known as the shinbone. It’s the bigger bone in your calf attaching to the ankle. The fibula is the smaller, outer bone running the length of your calf and into your ankle. The talus is known as the “ankle bone.” It’s the smaller bone that attaches the two calf bones with the heel bone.
These bones can be fractured (broken) in the force of a California traffic accident. These accidents can also involve pedestrians and bicyclists. A trip-and-fall ankle injury as also possible at a grocery store or other business.
You can also break an ankle bone when jumping down from even a minor height, perhaps on an uneven or crumbling stairwell. You could have your foot get caught in a pothole in a WalMart parking lot and have it twisted until it breaks.
Ankle Fracture Settlement Claims in California
In these cases and others, there are at-fault drivers or property owners and operators who can be held liable for an ankle fracture injury. Other drivers owe you a legal “duty of care” to prevent collisions. Store owners must keep their aisles and parking lots free of obstacles that could catch your ankle.
When they are negligent in these duties, you’ll usually need a California Ankle Fracture Lawyer to help prove their carelessness caused your accident. Offering strong proof these parties should be fully responsible for your medical costs ensures you earn the most from an ankle insurance settlement.
Getting as much as you can in a settlement check is crucial because ankle care can be so expensive. What’s more, that care may be necessary for months or even years after a settlement has been signed.
An ankle injury requiring surgery can cost $20,000 or more. An ankle injury just needing a cast can cost $2,500 dollars or more. An ankle injury that refuses to heal might affect mobility over a lifetime and cause long-term pain and arthritis later on in life.
What To Do After an Ankle Injury To Give Your Insurance Claim the Best Chance for Success
Earning the most in support for your ankle injury as has to be a priority for victims. Victims should be able to focus on the healing process, but they also don’t want to recover from an ankle injury only to come home to face a stack of medical bills. Victims deserve to recover physically and financially.
To do this, it’s important to provide as much evidence as you can when filing an insurance claim. Some of the strongest evidence will be found on the scene of your accident.
If your ankle will permit it, try to gather these important details on the scene:
- Call 911. Allow EMTs to fully check over your ankle and any other pain you are experiencing. Go to the emergency room if they think you should. If you’ve been in a car accident have officers respond and give them a full account of what happened. They’ll be preparing a collision report that will prove to be powerful evidence.
- Take photos of the scene. If your broken or sprained ankle won’t let you move, ask someone with you to document the scene. Take pictures of any car damage involved. Show any visible injuries and swelling of the ankle. If you’ve fallen on someone else’s property, show the obstacle that caused you to fall or trip.
- Discuss with witnesses what they observed. Get contact information so your California personal injury lawyer can reach them later.
- Tell a manager or business owner. If you’ve fallen at someone’s business, alert a manager or store operator. They’ll probably need to fill out an incident report on what happened.
- Exchange information with everyone involved.
- Make an appointment with your physician to get your ankle monitored in the days after an accident. Remember that people can often walk on a broken ankle. They may not know they have a fracture until an x-ray or MRI reveals it.
- Keep any damaged clothing and personal items. Don’t throw away the shoes you were wearing.
Do I Need a California Personal Injury Lawyer After an Ankle Injury?
Taking the time to collect evidence on the scene and turning your case over to a skilled California Ankle Injury Lawyer gives you the best chance to prove you weren’t at fault for your accident. Your personal injury lawyer will also be investigating your case and securing medical documents and testimony to make it extremely difficult for insurance companies to deny blame for what happened to you.
Insurance adjusters get paid to shift blame to the victim by whatever means necessary, so they’ll have an excuse to reject your claim. They can also purposely make victims wait on support as their medical bills build and they lose more and more income at work. Once victims are desperate enough, insurance providers will extend a “lowball offer” hoping victims will jump at any amount.
Your personal injury lawyer protects you and counters every tactic an insurance company attempts. When they offer far less than what you need, your attorney rejects the claim for you and fights for more. You should be focused on rebuilding your life, while your attorney fights for fair support.
Contact Maison Law of California After an Ankle Injury
Martin Gasparian, the founder of Maison Law, offers a free case evaluation for all ankle injury victims. It’s a no-risk way to find out what your injury is worth and how to make sure you get the most out of your ankle injury insurance claim. Contact Mr. Gasparian to schedule a no-obligation consultation and talk to a real California Traumatic Injury Lawyer today.
