If there’s one thing in life everyone can agree on, it’s that getting hurt sucks! No one likes suffering an injury or being involved in an accident. It’s unpleasant, it’s painful, and it can lead to all kinds of extra problems and stresses after the incident itself.
If you’re dealing with a serious injury caused by someone else, you likely have plenty of worries regarding your health, your ability to work, and more. In these cases, there are a few key things you need to do to ensure your rights are protected and you get any financial reward you deserve. If you’ve been injured and need some advice, read on to find out how to deal with serious injuries in the right way.
Report Your Injury
It is vitally important that post-accident you report your injury through the proper channels – depending on where you are. If you were at work when the injury happened, you should make sure your boss is made aware, while reporting it through proper HR or incident reporting channels. The same applies if you were injured on the roads or in a public place, let the police or any other relevant authority know about the incident. This can be crucial later when it comes to making claims, so don’t skip this step.
Seek Medical Attention
Whatever happens, you must make sure you seek the medical attention you require. You must have medical records to detail the injuries. This, again, could be vital for insurance purposes. However, it’s also simply important to get checked out by a doctor just to be safe. Your health is important. Leaving an injury unchecked or untreated could lead to far more severe issues later on.
Find an Attorney
At this point, you should seek the assistance of a lawyer or legal firm. You need to find a lawyer who specializes in helping people who have suffered a personal injury. These lawyers have the experience and the knowledge of how this sort of law works, meaning they are the right people to advise you moving forward.
Injury lawyers often meet you for free to discuss your case with no obligation to sign with them, allowing you to meet with multiple attorneys and find a specialist who you like and trust. It’s also worth noting that you may not have to pay anything upfront at all, as many injury lawyers take payment from your insurance claim or settlement, meaning you can start your legal process without being out of pocket.
Evidence Collection
Once you have settled with a legal team, the next step is to build your case. A key part of any claim is evidence. As mentioned earlier, you’ll need to keep a record of your medical treatment and all related expenses, as these will form a big part of your claim. You’ll also need to gain access to any of those initial reports made regarding your accident.
Your legal team will, of course, help with gathering all the necessary evidence. They may also seek to access CCTV footage of your incident or seek eyewitnesses to help strengthen your case. Having worked on so many of these sorts of cases before, great lawyers know exactly what evidence to collect and how to do so.
Insurance Claims
Depending on where your injury occurred, there will almost certainly be insurance to help cover your losses. If you were injured in a public space, there may be liability insurance. At work, you may have workers’ comp. Whichever is most suitable, your legal team will advise you on how to proceed with a claim.
Settlement Claims
Sometimes, though, insurance payouts just aren’t enough. You may want to sue whoever caused your accident to help you cover long-term losses, emotional damage, and other special damages. For example, if you are likely to miss a lot of work due to your injury, you may want your wages covered for 6 or 12 months. Again, your legal team will advise you on just how much they think your claim is worth.
They will then reach out to the defendant to seek a settlement. Between yourself, your legal team, and the opposition legal team, an agreement should be reached on a settlement amount. If you are unsatisfied with their offers, you can take your case to court. However, only about 5% of injury claims end in a court case.
Following these simple steps will help you get through the aftermath of a serious personal injury. A settlement may not fix your injuries, but it can go a long way to helping you out while you recover.