Minimal Impact Soft Tissue (MIST) Injury Car Accident Lawsuit

Has an insurance company denied your claim on the basis it's a minimal impact soft tissue claim (MIST) or low velocity impact (LVI)?

Being told you don't have a claim because the crash was "minimal impact" or "a low velocity impact" from an insurance company is a slap in the face when you're injured after a car accident. If you were hurt from your car accident, you can still pursue your personal injury claim. The fact is you need to prove you were hurt, not that your crash was of a certain magnitude.

In many jurisdictions, the minimal impact soft tissue / low velocity impact claim denial is an insurance company's policy, not the law. You need to prove that the car accident caused your injuries. That's it.

This makes sense. Imagine if compensation for injuries would be paid based on the amount of damage to a vehicle. This logic would stipulate that if your car is totaled, then you're entitled to greater compensation. However, when there is significant vehicle damage, compensation is not based on the value of vehicle damage.

The fact is, if you're hurt as a result of a car crash, and you can prove more likely than not that you're hurt, then you are entitled to damages for your harms and losses.

Arthur Croft and Michael Freeman [1] in their article "Correlating crash severity with injury risk, injury severity, and long-term symptoms in low velocity motor vehicle collision" conclude that "Property damage is neither a valid predictor of acute injury risk nor of symptom duration...the level of vehicle property damage appears to be an invalid construct for injury presence, severity, or duration."

The trouble is if you have a car accident claim that an insurance company is saying is a minimal impact soft tissue / low velocity impact personal injury claim, then you may have trouble finding a good personal injury lawyer to take your case on a contingency fee basis.

A contingency fee basis means the lawyer's fee is a percentage of the money you receive at the end. This is a good fee arrangement for injured people because you don't need to come up with legal fees before you receive compensation.

Nevertheless, many good personal injury lawyers won't take on MIST / LVI personal injury cases. If your case is a MIST case and you can't find a good personal injury lawyer, you're on your own. Don't worry; you can still build a great personal injury case on your own.

If you're hurt, you're entitled to compensation. Just because a lawyer won't take on your case doesn't mean you can't do the case yourself. With a little information and some guidance, you can methodically build your case and show the insurance company you're serious about your claim and that you're going to present your case thoroughly in court unless they make you good settlement offer.

Keep in mind that if you do your personal injury case yourself, you won't have to split the amount you of compensation you receive. That could result in anywhere from 25 to 50 percent in savings, amounting to potentially thousands of dollars more for you.

If you find yourself hurt from the negligence of another driver and you don't want to pay legal fees or you can't find a good lawyer to take on your personal injury lawsuit, it does not mean you don't have a case or you have to give up. Don't be intimidated by an insurance company saying you don't have a case. Learn how to build, settle, or litigate your own injury case so you don't have to settle for nothing.
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[1] Croft, A, Freeman, M: Correlating crash severity with injury risk, injury severity, and long-term symptoms in low velocity motor vehicle collisions. Med Sci Monit, 2005; 11(10):RA

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