April 22, 2021 | Personal Injury
An accident or personal injury can be a traumatic event for numerous reasons. In addition to physical pain and suffering, you might also experience emotional distress and mental anguish. Also, the financial burden can be devastating for your family.
If another party caused your injury due to negligence, you could be entitled to compensation for your damages. However, you have the burden of proving the other party is liable for your damages. The steps you take after an injury can help or hurt your case.
Steps you can take to make sure you get compensated for a personal injury claim include:
Gather Evidence
The strength of the evidence proving fault can help you recover maximum compensation for your damages. While you wait for police officers and medical services to arrive, take photographs of the accident scene and make a video using your cell phone. Also, ask eyewitnesses for their contact information.
Do not admit fault for causing the accident or injury. Also, do not discuss the accident with anyone at the accident scene, except for the police officers.
Seek Immediate Medical Treatment
You need medical records proving that your injuries were caused by the accident. Delays in medical care could lead to allegations that you failed to mitigate damages. That means you did not take reasonable steps to limit the harm caused by the accident.
Delays in medical care could also lead to allegations that you are exaggerating your injuries or that the accident did not cause your injuries. The insurance company for the at-fault party uses a lack of medical documentation to deny and undervalue personal injury claims.
Hire an Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer
Navigating the claims process to recover compensation for an injury claim can be complicated. The injured victim must prove their case by a preponderance of the evidence. Therefore, knowledge of the law is essential.
Furthermore, the victim is battling against an insurance company with endless resources to fight a claim. Therefore, they need an attorney with the skills and resources to go against the insurance company. A skilled lawyer defends victims against allegations of contributory fault, which reduces the money a victim receives for their injury claim.
An attorney understands economic and non-economic damages and how to calculate your case’s worth. Hiring a personal injury attorney with experience handling cases similar to yours gives you a better chance of receiving a fair settlement amount.
Do Not Discuss Your Case or Post Online
Insurance companies search for online content victims post to use against the victim. Do not use social media or post information online during your personal injury case. Photographs, comments, and other information could be intentionally misinterpreted and twisted to argue you are not severely injured.
Be Patient and Follow Your Lawyer’s Advice
An insurance adjuster might make a quick settlement offer after your injury or accident. In most cases, initial settlement offers are lower than the value of your case. The purpose of the settlement offer is to get you to sign a settlement agreement.
A settlement agreement resolves your claim. It releases all parties from future liability for your claim. Even if you discover additional damages, you gave up your right to pursue legal action when you signed the settlement agreement.
Understandably, you want to settle your personal injury case quickly. However, it pays to be patient. You need to wait until you complete medical treatment to negotiate a settlement.
If you sustained permanent impairments, you could be entitled to compensation for future lost wages, ongoing care, and decreased quality of life. However, until you reach maximum medical improvement, you cannot accurately value your injury claim.
Get Legal Advice Now to Avoid Missing a Deadline
Most personal injury claims have a two-year statute of limitations in Oklahoma. However, there are exceptions to the rule. An attorney evaluates your case to determine the deadline for filing claims.
Missing the filing deadline means you give up your right to hold the person responsible for your injury liable for damages. Additionally, waiting to talk with a lawyer could result in crucial evidence being lost or destroyed. The sooner you hire a lawyer, the sooner the attorney can begin building a case for full compensation of all damages.
Oklahoma City injury lawyers offer free consultations. Therefore, it does not cost you anything to get legal advice. Take advantage of the free case evaluation to learn about your legal options to make sure you get compensated for personal injury.