Whenever possible, insurance companies seem to like to classify car accident claims as “MIST” cases. They define these as Minor Impact Soft Tissue injuries. Basically, the wreck wasn’t “that bad” so the injured party should not be injured “that bad.” Traditionally these cases were accidents that occurred with vehicles traveling under 8 miles per hour and the property damage less than $1,500 in repairs.

I’m seeing more and more insurance adjusters giving cases the “MIST” treatment. It doesn’t matter if the wreck was high impact or not. One of the main problems with people that have been injured in lower impact cases is that their damages aren’t as high. Here’s a quick example:

Someone is rear-ended by someone that is going 25 m.p.h. They go to the doctor and get followup treatment for their back and neck sprain. Their total medical bills are about $6000. The insurance company will often offer less than the actual medical bills to settle the claim.

Guess what happens if the claimant accepts the offer? They still have to pay their doctors, so they end up being out of money for an accident they didn’t cause. The insurance company has little incentive to offer a reasonable amount until an attorney gets involved. If a lawsuit is filed, a doctor will need to be able to testify about the plaintiff’s injuries. Doctors typically charge $1000/hr for this type of thing. You can easily run up a bill trying a case.

The simple fact is that people can get injured in minor impact collisions.