With 39.5 million visits to a doctor every year in the US for unintended injuries (and 24.5 to the emergency room), it’s clear that injuries are a common problem.
With any luck, the injury won’t be too severe and won’t affect your life too badly.
However, this isn’t always the case. Injuries can be severely detrimental to someone’s life, and if it’s happened to you because of someone else’s negligence, you should ensure you get what you’re owed.
If you’ve been injured because of someone or something else, these are the steps to take for financial compensation.
1Consult a Lawyer
The first thing you should do is consult a personal injury lawyer.
They know what they’re doing. They’re experienced in the cases and know how to get you the best compensation for pain and negligent behavior from someone else.
Make sure you give them every detail about the incident that you can remember and answer all their questions honestly. You should also provide any medical bills incurred.
2Investigate the Incident
Your account of the accident may be extensive, but it’s often not enough. For proof of what happened, a personal injury attorney will make sure they collect as much evidence as possible.
This might include taking statements from witnesses who were there, or checking camera footage from businesses or personal footage.
The more evidence that can be collected, the better for your personal injury lawsuit.
3Issue a Claim
Insurance companies can be difficult to deal with on your own, when not experienced with them, but your attorney will be used to this and put together a comprehensive account of what happened along with evidence.
They will also decide the financial compensation they believe you’re owed and tell the insurance company what they believe should be paid.
4Negotiate
Chances are, the insurance company will return with what’s called a settlement offer. They may have issued this before you even managed to contact them.
A settlement offer is an amount of money they hope you will accept after the incident. It is likely lower than what your attorney proposed.
You can counter-offer an amount you would settle for or take their offer.
If you want to and feel strongly that you’re owed it, you can keep insisting on the full amount in your claims package that your attorney put together.
5Court
This step is often avoided, but if you and the insurance company can’t come to an agreement together, it might need to be settled in court.
A judge can issue the final ruling on a claim. Your attorney’s help, if it gets to this stage, will be invaluable.
You Deserve Financial Compensation
The process to get financial compensation for a personal injury can seem like a lot of effort, but it’s important to remember that it’s worth it. You deserve to be compensated for what happened to you, and not be out of pocket because of missing work or having to pay medical bills.
Make sure you hire a good attorney and you’ll get the compensation that will help you.
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