After sustaining a catastrophic injury, you may want to get adequate compensation or justice. The personal injury law gives you the right to file a claim seeking compensation from the at-fault party for the damage you may have suffered due to the accident. These include paying for your hospital bills and compensating you for the pain, loss of earnings, mental anguish, loss or destruction of personal properties, and the like.
While that’s the case, sometimes receiving adequate compensation might not be easy. First, the party responsible for your catastrophic injury will try as much as possible to reduce your injury claim. And secondly, you may not be aware of the proper steps you need to take to file your claim and maximize your compensation.
The good news is that this post has got your back. It details the crucial steps to follow when filing your catastrophic injury claim. They include the following:
Table of Contents
Find An Accident Lawyer
One of the most effective strategies to help succeed in your catastrophic injury claim is to find an accident or a personal injury lawyer. The hired partner will help you in various ways.
For instance, the lawyer will file the case on your behalf, thus enabling you to focus on medication. As such, there’ll be no delay in filing your claim, which could hurt your compensation.
You must also understand that bringing together all the elements of your case and computing total compensation can be daunting. However, you can streamline the process by partnering with an accident lawyer. They can calculate your total damage or connect you with financial experts to help you with the task. That goes a long way in ensuring you receive proper compensation for your injury.
Another reason you’d want to hire a personal injury lawyer is to help interpret some complex laws guiding your case. That ensures you remain compliant with the state’s laws throughout the process.
Keep note that, apart from being legal experts, accident lawyers are professional negotiators. Therefore, hiring one will help negotiate for better catastrophic injury compensation. You can browse online to learn more about the necessity of hiring a lawyer for your case and how to find one.
Visit A Hospital
Your health should be a priority after suffering a catastrophic injury. For that reason, you should consider visiting the nearest hospital for medication. That helps enhance your healing and recovery process.
Going to the hospital isn’t all about promoting your health. It can help maximize your injury compensation too. For instance, the health officer will write a report which you can use in the courtrooms as evidence of your injury. Besides, the doctor will give you official medical bills, which are necessary to compute the total compensation amount.
Find Witnesses
You can’t ignore working with witnesses when filing a catastrophic injury lawsuit. These are people who were there at the accident scene and can talk about it. They provide additional evidence for the case.
Therefore, immediately after the accident, look around to see if you can find a few people who can testify in your case. Upon finding them, take their contact details like names, home locations, phone numbers, etc. Doing so helps you or your lawyer to locate them when the court hearing sessions begin.
Take Photos Of The Accident Area
The success or failure of your catastrophic accident claim majorly depends on the amount of evidence you produce. You need to provide enough evidence for the case to maximize your compensation. That’s why you need to take photos of the accident.
You can take pictures of many things to help document your evidence. For instance, you must take photos of the two cars if the injury was caused by a car accident. And if it was a slip and fall, take pictures of the ground where you fell. All these will help judges know precisely how the scene was at the time of the accident.
Besides, you must take pictures of the injured parts of your body. That’s necessary since, with suitable medication and care, your wound will eventually heal and the authorities may not find good ground for ruling in your favor. Yet with photos, you can provide evidence of your injuries even decades after the accident. You won’t be worried even if your case takes ages to settle since you can always provide proof of it. And that helps maximize your compensation.
Takeaway
The best way to deal with a catastrophic injury is to file a lawsuit for compensation. The law requires the person responsible for the incident to compensate you for the damage you may have suffered due to the accident. Ensure you follow the steps above to file your lawsuit and receive the proper compensation.