The world is an unpredictable place full of many good moments and bad accidents. Some of those bad accidents might cause you to become injured, giving you a personal injury and a giant mess to deal with. If you are a victim of a car accident, slip and fall, dog bite, or other accidents caused by another party, it’s important to know how to build your claim for the injury so you can receive compensation for the injuries sustained.
Here at Fed Help Medical Centers, we are dedicated to helping you through your personal injuries, both physically and financially. Here is a list of what you need to build your claim and what your next step should be after that.
Step 1: Report Your Accident Immediately
This step might seem like it is in the wrong place, but it isn’t. The moment your accident and injury happens, you need to call the police and report it. The sooner you do this, the better because not only does it protect you later on in the claim process, but it’s also a state requirement to report your accident within a certain time limit. Should you miss that deadline, you might not be eligible to collect any compensation that you would have previously been entitled to. That’s why you need to report the accident immediately, or as close to immediate as possible.
Step 2: Seek Immediate Medical Attention
Even minor injuries can become more serious if they aren’t treated immediately. So don’t delay in seeking and getting immediate medical attention. Getting immediate medical attention will not only help you heal faster, but is also documentation for your personal injuries claim to show that you were in fact injured and needed treatment. A delay in medical treatment could lead the responsible party’s legal representation to argue that your injury isn’t serious or that it doesn’t exist at all.
Step 3: Keep Records of Everything
When building up a personal injury claim, it is important to keep documentation for everything. The initial report, any medical records or examinations that have taken place, copies of your medical bills from the injury, etc. Just keep records of everything to do with your personal injury so if anything is needed, you can provide the information with ease. The easier it is to access all your information, the better it will be for you to recall facts and prove the validity of your injury. These records could also play a crucial role in deciding how much compensation you will receive, so make sure to keep detailed records of everything for your benefit!
Step 4: Don’t Miss Any Appointments
After an accident, there will be lots of visits to the doctor, meetings with your personal injury attorney, and other important appointments as well. It is important to keep each and every one of those appointments because if you miss an appointment, the claim can be made that you’re not as seriously injured as you claim. If that doubt starts to creep in, then your entire claim can fall apart and you could lose the compensation you so rightfully deserve!
Step 5: Avoid Social Media
This one might seem like a no-brainer, but the amount of people who go to social media with any little thing is insane! Remember the saying “Anything you say can and will be used against you?” Well, there is definite validity to that! The responsible party will do anything they can to discredit your claim, so this means having their insurance company or legal representation look over your social media profile for any discrepancies in your personal injury lawsuit.
For example: If you were in a car accident that caused you a serious bodily injury, like a broken leg and you are required to use crutches or a wheelchair, they will try to find photos of you not using your crutches or wheelchair. So when going out, be mindful of what you’re doing and of photos being taken of you. Because if someone takes a photo of you getting out of a car before you can grab your crutches, the responsible party could make the claim that you’re faking your injury. And with a picture being worth a thousand words, at least 500 of them will be true and 500 of them will be false.
When building up a personal injury claim, the best thing you can do for yourself is to keep documentation of everything, keep any and all appointments, be mindful of what you post on social media, and be honest about everything. If you are filing a personal injury claim and need help, the team at Fed Help Medical Centers can guide you through the process. So don’t delay, give Fed Help a call today!
