Personal injury claims have unfortunately become something which we have to prepare ourselves for. These types of events can happen on the job, at a public location, or even at a private residence. At its core, personal injury is a legal term for an injury to the body, mind, or emotions, rather than an injury to property.
Examples for such types of injury include spinal injuries, rotator cuff injuries, meniscus injuries, fractures, traumatic brain injuries, amputations, and wrongful death. The term “personal injury” is most commonly used to refer to a type of tort lawsuit. These are the types of lawsuits in which the person bringing the suit has suffered harm to his or her body or mind.
To receive full justice and compensation for suffering through any of these aforementioned injuries, a person will want to hire a personal injury attorney from a reputable law firm and file the best personal injury claim that he or she can. Only by filing a proper injury claim can a person ensure that they will better able to possibly benefit financially from the negligence caused by the other parties involved. Here are a few tips on how to file a personal injury claim.
1. Seek out medical attention immediately.
This is first and foremost. You want to ensure that first, you are receiving the proper care needed to get better. Don’t worry about getting immediate legal advice at this moment. Your body has been subjected to a form of physical, or even mental trauma. It’s best that you do your best to find treatment so that your injuries don’t get worse. In addition to that, you need to have some form of official documentation from a licensed medical professional which gives an idea of the personal injury which you have suffered. If you fail to seek out medical attention immediately, there’s a good chance that you can sometimes reduce the number of damages you are able to receive.
2. File a police report.
As a person goes through the process of filing a personal injury report, keeping solid records of what happened will be key. Filing a police report is crucial to this process. It’s best to keep an official record of what happened on file with the authorities, so filing a police report allows you to do just this in an official capacity. At the end of the day, it’s best to watch your back in the case of going through the personal injury claims process, and a police report will help you with doing just that.
3. Be aware of what you say at the scene of the accident.
Saying too much at the scene of an accident can possibly be detrimental to you when filing your personal injury claim. You don’t want to overshare, as you discuss details with the other parties who were involved in the accident. Wait to provide as much information to your personal injury attorney. According to an Orange County injury lawyer who specializes in such cases, its best to wait to discuss such matters in full with only your personal injury attorney. You don’t want to make the situation more complicated than it already is.
4. Keep accurate records of all costs and expenses related to the injury.
Records keeping seems to be the name of the game when dealing with catastrophic injury claims and personal injury lawsuits. In the case of filing a personal injury claim, you want to keep track of everything cost and expense related.
Let’s say that you have pictures taken of the accident, and of yourself by a professional photographer to best capture how you were affected. This even involves these pictures being uploaded for safety and security to a private picture sharing service that has to be paid for. Another example would be if you have to take the extra step of trying to find the other involved parties in the personal injury claim.
After answering the question of how to serve papers to someone you can’t find you’ll find that certain costs including having to hire a sheriff, marshal, or constable to find the other involved parties will crop up. Other examples of such expenses might include medical expenses, auto repairs, property damage, medical bills, physical therapy costs, mental therapy costs, and legal fees. It’s best to document all of this as you go through the personal injury claims process.
5. Be cautious when dealing with insurance companies.
You’ve got to work with insurance companies when dealing with personal injury claims. This is a must. What you don’t want to do, is to go into such relationships without having your guard up. At the end of the day, you and your personal injury lawyer are the only ones who have your best interests at heart when dealing with a personal injury claim. Insurance companies aren’t the “enemy,” but they sure aren’t the ones you want to look towards for peace of mind as you complete your next step in the personal injury claim process.