How To Keep Working After A Major Car Accident

Accidents do happen, so let’s see how you can get back to work after been laid up in recovery. Even when it’s not your fault, you can end up in an unfortunate car accident, and it can leave you injured, unable to work usually. Dealing with insurance and legal issues as well as ongoing convalescence, it’s no holiday. Getting back to work and normality is your focus, and more so if it’s your business!

In this blog article, we consider your options for getting back to work as quickly as possible.

How To Safely Get Back To Work

Your health and wellbeing must come first. Prioritize your medical treatment and recuperation. In an attempt to shortcut your recovery, damage can be done and set you back further, so don’t be like so many people and attempt to go back to “normal” life before you’ve got the all-clear from your doctor.

Use your downtime to get all your records in order so your insurance company pays for all your medical expenses. Shorten the treatment, and it may not only set your recovery back but you may be left paying for it later on.

The treatment required under the recommendations of your medical team would be claimable, so if you don’t do it, you can not claim it. This is a false economy insofar as you may regret it later on when you’re left funding your own treatment for a recurring trouble spot. Therefore while you’re off work, get formal documentation of all your hospital visits, doctor’s appointments, prescriptions, and medical advice together and sent to your insurer.

Work Benefits and Time Off

If you work for yourself or have a controlling stake in your own business, you’ll have full control over how your company operates. However, if you’re an employee, it’s essential to research and figure out which work benefits might apply to you. For example, consider your answers to these questions:

Do you have unused sick days or paid leave days you can use to rest?
Can you take a leave of absence because of your medical needs?
Are there any policies or contingencies in place that can guarantee you a stream of income even when you’re not working?
And how soon do you need to go back to work to guarantee the availability of your job?

Legal Funding

After a car accident, many people find themselves in an awkward financial position, i.e. they live from pay packet to pay packet and with no contingency funds to speak of. So how do they afford the medical expenses, and as we’re talking about America, which is very litigious, also a lawsuit? Legal action can be costly for either party, and some fees just have to be paid before an insurance company will reimburse you for them.

Whats more negotiations and court battles can take weeks, if not months, to fully resolve, so this is why legal funding exists, and it can bridge that gap until you get a payout or you’re reimbursed by your insurer. You can get a loan to pay for all your car accident-related expenses—including compensating for temporarily lost wages. If you win the case, you can pay back the loan immediately with the proceeds, and if you lose the case, you won’t owe anything.

Document and Communicate Your Symptoms and Complications

Next, take the time to document and communicate your symptoms and complications. For example, if you broke an arm in a car accident, there may be several tasks you find yourself unable to do—or at least unable to do as quickly or efficiently as you did before. Communicate this to your supervisors and the rest of your team to know what they can expect from you when you come back.

Don’t forget to mention your other, less visible symptoms. For example, car accidents are a traumatic experience, and for many months afterwards, you may be dealing with post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, or other mental health effects. Try to be open about these symptoms, and be prepared to work around them in the workplace.

Go Back Gradually

Even if you’re feeling mentally and physically fit, it’s not a good idea to jump into work as if you never left. Instead, try to return to work gradually. Start by taking on a handful of easy tasks, working remotely if possible. Work a few hours per day and/or a few days per week, then gradually increase both your workload and your number of working hours. This will make it much easier for you to acclimate to your old working conditions and will alert you proactively if something seems off.

Understand the Possibility of Reinjury or Further Injury

Be prepared for the possibility of re-injury or further injury—especially if your job is in any way physically demanding. Proper recovery requires rest, so if you’re avoiding rest to go back to work, you’ll face an increased risk of delaying your overall recovery. If that happens, you may need to pull back and return to your regular medical treatment. Try to be patient, and avoid getting frustrated if you experience these setbacks.

You may not be able to immediately return to work after a traumatic car accident. Still, you do have options to recover fully, get the financing you need, and return to work gradually. Try to remain flexible and patient, and keep an open mind about your available options, throughout the process.