Most Champaign personal injury attorneys have seen cases where their client was accused by the insurance company of “malingering,” that is, exaggerating or distorting their symptoms in order to make their personal injury claim seem more credible or worth more money, or for some other secondary gain. Insurance adjusters are always on the lookout for claimants who are doing this, and will sometimes ask a claimant to take a test with a doctor in order to establish the legitimacy of their symptoms.

What are the Problems with These Tests?

In theory there should no problem with a test designed to prove that your claims are valid. However, in practice these tests, when ordered by the defense and administered by a doctor chosen by the defense, can have problems.

• The doctor might be unwittingly or inappropriately helpful to the patient taking the test. If it is a mental test in order to establish brain damage, the doctor might prompt the patient or provide additional clues instead of letting the patient answer on his or her own, thus leading to a higher score than is really accurate.
• The test might be scheduled during a date or time that is likely to have an effect on the patient’s state of mind or cognitive abilities, such as after several days of other medical tests tiring the patient out.
• The test might be given incompletely or leaving some of the more difficult questions out, skewing the results.
• The doctor might use an older version of a test whose scores are lower on an absolute basis than the scores of more modern, updated tests.

Call a Champaign Personal Injury Attorney

For more information on what you can do if the insurance company accuses you of malingering, contact Champaign personal injury attorneys at McCarthy Rowden & Baker. Call 800-373-6050.