If you are injured and it is somebody else’s fault, then you may be able to make a claim. Personal injury claims are designed to allow you to be fairly compensated if you are injured in an accident that you weren’t responsible for. This is usually to cover your medical expenses, and making up for lost earnings and potential earnings. How much you may be entitled to will depend on a lot of factors including the severity of your injury. To make a successful claim, however, you will need to provide evidence of both the damage, and the fact that another person or entity was responsible for you getting hurt.
This means that the steps you take after being injured can be very important. Here are three things to do when you first are injured, if you believe you may want to pursue a personal injury lawsuit.
Take Pictures
These days, since everybody has a camera on their phones, it is expected that you are likely to be able to take photographic evidence. This may mean taking pictures of your own injury, or taking pictures of the hazard that caused it, for instance if you tripped over something. Make sure you take pictures of your injuries at the very least, as things like severe bruising can fade quite quickly and it is important to capture how severe the original injury was if there are visible signs.
Get Details of Witnesses
If people saw you get injured, then you will want to get contact details for them in case this will be helpful in your case. If, for example, you are injured at work, or in a public place, there may well be other people around who will be able to verify that the accident was not your fault.
Have a Consultation with a Personal Injury Lawyer
Most law firms that deal with personal injury will offer a free consultation where they can help you decide if you want to pursue the case or not, and also make an assessment of what you would need to do next. They may want to recommend that you have certain medical examinations, for example. It is a good idea to contact a good personal injury lawyer like Charleston Law as early as possible. While personal injury lawsuits can sometimes be raised quite a long time after the accident took place, you will have a better chance of obtaining the evidence and medical opinions needed to prove your situation is deserving of compensation the closer you are to the time when you got the injury.
Of course, if you are very badly hurt or are not conscious, you may not be able to take any action on the scene of the injury, but if you can, then it is a good idea to do what you can by way of gathering evidence as early as possible. You may also want to think about doing these things for somebody else if you happen to witness an accident where they are not able to take pictures or talk to witnesses themselves.
