Any injury, large or small, can be life changing. Whether you suffer a serious injury that disrupts your way of life or you suffer a minor injury that causes you to lose time from work, you still experience some sort of inconvenience and loss in your day-to-day life. If your injury is the result of someone else’s fault, you may have an injury claim. Taking your injury claim to a legal office may be able to help restore your losses, and ease some of the pain associated with the injury.
It can be difficult determining if you have an injury claim. There are many ins and outs to injuries and often it feels that the blame and liability fall on the injured’s shoulders. Let’s take a closer look at the three basic requirements needed to file, and win, an injury claim in a court of law.
Identify a Careless Party
One of the easiest ways to ensure you have a viable injury claim is to identify a careless party. This means that an accident or injury occurred as a result of someone else’s negligence. This could be anything from a store failing to perform basic maintenance to the interior that has led to a slip and fall, or it could be as serious as a truck driver running a stop sign and hitting your car. In both scenarios, the store owner and the truck driver could be labeled as committing negligent acts that further led to an injury.
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Careless Party Led to Injury
The next step when trying to determine if you have an injury claim is to build the bridge between a person’s negligence and your injury. If you have already identified a negligent act you have half the battle won. The key detail is to relate the negligent act to your direct injury. Individuals and companies commit negligent acts every day, but the difference is that they do not directly relate to an injury.
To further illustrate this example, let’s take a closer look at the above example with the truck driver. The truck driver’s negligence caused him to run through a stop sign, striking your car. Because your car was struck by the truck, you sustained a serious whiplash injury. Had your car not been hit by the truck, you would not have been injured. Therefore, your whiplash injury can be linked back to a careless party, and the truck driver’s negligence.
Measurable Losses
The last step to determine if you have an injury claim is to evaluate your losses. In many cases, injuries are small and unmeasurable, which means they do not make a good candidate for an injury claim. Other, larger injuries though, can be included for an injury claim. Remember too that losses can be measured in several different ways which can include:
- Lost Wages – This could be because you physically are not able to work, must attend medical exams, or physical therapy as a result of the injury. Lost wages can include the actual dollar amount that you have lost because you were not able to work or the time that you have lost due to the injury. Be sure to provide an exact calculation of your lost wages to your legal team.
- Medical Bills – In the event of a serious injury, medical bills can start to pile up. This often leads to an attorney asking, “how costly was your injury?” Even though your health insurance may cover a portion of the bills, there is still the chance that medical bills as a result of a negligent accident may not be covered. Keep all of your medical records in one place and be sure to give your attorney every bill that has accumulated as a result of your injury.
- Pain and Suffering – While this claim is a bit more clouded when it comes to financial compensation, it is a real and integral part of many injury claims. Pain and suffering can be largely compounded if the injury has resulted in a change of lifestyle. Talk to your attorney about any lifestyle changes you have encountered as a result of your injury. Examples of pain and suffering can include modified mobility, the inability to continue your line of work, or ongoing suffering such as migraines as a result of the injury.
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How an Attorney May Be Able to Help
Any time a serious injury occurs it can be a difficult, confusing, and frustrating time. It can be difficult to figure out if you do have a legitimate injury claim. Luckily, there are trained professionals that specialized in injury claims that can help you. A trained legal professional can help you understand the circumstances and situation that has led to your injury and decide if you have a personal injury claim.
If you have been injured and would like to speak to a professional, reach out to the team at Terry Bryant today. As a leading personal injury lawyer, Terry is a professional, detailed, and caring. It is always our goal to help make you whole again following an injury, and we will do everything in our power to help you regain your financial footing following an accident.
