The dramatic part of an injury claim is over in a week. The part that decides its value lasts months. This is the stretch where people get worn down, skip appointments, go back to work too early, and post something on Facebook that costs them more than they can imagine.
Treat until you are better, or until your doctors say this is as good as it gets
A claim is valued largely on the medical record. Not what you say happened; what your providers documented. Every appointment you keep is evidence that the injury was real and that you took it seriously. Every appointment you miss is a note in the chart that the adjuster will find.
Follow referrals. Physical therapy works when it is done. If a provider recommends an MRI, an injection, or a specialist, the recommendation is in the record whether or not you follow it, and an unfollowed recommendation reads as “the patient was not that hurt.”
If you cannot afford to keep treating, say so. There are options, covered in Part 3. Stopping quietly is the worst one.
Tell your providers the truth, every time
Not better than you are and not worse. If something improved, say so; the record gains credibility when it shows progress. If a new symptom appeared, report it the visit it appears, not three visits later.
Document lost wages as they happen
Keep every pay stub from before and after. Get a letter from your employer stating your rate, your schedule, and the dates you missed. If you are self-employed, keep invoices, calendars, and tax returns; lost income for self-employed people is provable but takes work. If you went back on light duty at reduced hours, document that too. The gap between what you would have earned and what you did earn is a line item in the demand.
Keep the daily record going
The two-line note from Part 3. What hurt, what you could not do, what you had to ask someone else to do. The day you could not pick up your kid. The night you slept in a chair. This is the raw material of the pain-and-suffering part of the claim, and memory does not hold it.
Stay off social media
Insurance companies look. A photo of you at a cookout, smiling, becomes an exhibit titled “claimant enjoying normal activities.” A post about a weekend trip becomes “claimant traveled without difficulty.” It does not matter that you went home and iced your back for four hours. Set accounts to private, post nothing about the crash, the claim, or your activities, and ask family not to tag you. Deleting old posts after a claim is pending can be worse than leaving them; ask before you touch anything.
Expect the surveillance question
In larger claims, insurers hire investigators. They film from public places. Live your life honestly within your restrictions and surveillance has nothing to work with.
When is the case ready
When you have reached maximum medical improvement, meaning your doctors say you have recovered or that what remains is permanent, we know the full picture: the bills, the future care, the permanent limitations. Sending a demand before that point means settling for less than the case is worth, because nobody knows yet what it is worth. For most soft-tissue cases that is a few months. For surgical cases it can be a year or more.
Next: Part 8, the demand package, what goes into it, and how an insurance company actually decides what your case is worth.
This article is general information about Indiana law, not legal advice about your situation. Laws change and every case is different. Talk to a lawyer about the facts of your case.