Are you suffering from a serious personal injury due to another person’s negligence? If you are lodging a personal injury claim against that person, there are certain things you should keep in mind so as not to hurt your claim. Keeping these things in mind will improve your chances of getting all the compensation you are eligible to receive.
Remember—as an injured claimant, it is your responsibility to take the time and effort to understand your entitlements under the Workers Compensation Act. Since you cannot expect your insurance company to tell you everything you need to know to receive fair compensation, knowing your rights as a claimant should be a good place to start. In addition, if you happen to be hurt in NJ then get counsel from an expert New Jersey Personal Injury Lawyer and file your claim. Here are the things you shouldn’t miss when making your personal injury claim:
Seeking medical attention
After sustaining a serious injury, the first thing you need to do is to have yourself treated by a licensed physician. In most cases, it would be impossible to file a claim without a medical report summarizing the details of your injury. If you don’t seek immediate medical attention after being injured, the insurer might think that your injury is not severe enough to warrant immediate care or came as a result of something else. As the person injured, no one else is liable to prove your injuries but you.
This isn’t always the case, but there are instances where the claimant ends up not being compensated just because he does not have a medical report to support his personal injury claim. So before you even think about how much compensation you will get after your injury, make it a priority to see a doctor and get all the necessary treatments. Never lie to you your doctor about your situation because insurers will establish the authenticity of your injuries after obtaining your records. If they discover that you are lying, you might end up with an unsuccessful claim.
Keeping the details of your case private
If you are the type of person who loves posting every detail of your life on social media, then you have to take extra caution when you have an ongoing personal injury claim. As you may know, everything you post out there leaves an online trail that authorities can access even if you limit your audience to people who are close to you. If you share on social media any information about your case that is not supposed to be there, then the insurer might take that against you. Don’t rely on your own judgment when it comes to posting updates, photos or comments related to your case—it is best if you just don’t at all. Remember, social media is one of the mediums that insurance companies use to look for any information they may use against you so don’t take the risk.
Keeping records
One common mistake made by most claimants is failure to keep records relevant to their claims. When you have an ongoing lawsuit, it is not enough to just document everything—you also have to keep every piece of record that can help support your personal injury claim. Examples of records that you can keep are photographs of the injury you got after the incident, any personal property damaged by the incident if there’s any, and the scene of the incident itself. Such photographs are crucial in proving that you were not the one at fault and that your injury was a result of the defendant’s negligence.
It is also important to get the details of the people who witnessed the incident so you can get a written statement from them to support your case. Remember that in a case like this, the defendant can always make up stories to keep you from receiving compensation. But if you have witnesses, photographs, and other documents to establish the truth behind your claims, you get to deny them the opportunity to twist the truth.
Hiring a personal injury lawyer
Making a personal injury claim is not an easy thing to navigate. When you fight your battle without any knowledge of the law, you run the risk of draining yourself out only to be denied of your entitlements at the end of the day. Regardless of your case, it is always best to work with a trusted personal injury lawyer to represent you in your claim. With lawyers like personal injury lawyers in Adelaide, you will know what compensation you are entitled to, which steps to take to get your compensation, and where you stand in your case.