Personal Injury Claim Basics
Yesterday, we talked about how frequently there are accidents in the U.S. While a great many of these do lead to personal injury settlements, some do not, if there is no cause for a settlement. Basically, if someone else is at fault for your injury, there is cause for a settlement. If you were the cause of your own accident then you are not eligible for a personal injury claim.
Additionally, the severity of the injury has to come into play. If a product scratches you, this is not a reason to file a claim. A personal injury claim should be filed when there is gross negligence on the part of a manufacturer or individual that results in dramatic physical harm, requiring medical attention and payments.
With any personal injury claim, it is important to have as much evidence as possible. Wounds heal, so it is a good idea to take any relevant pictures of the incident and the results. Filing a police report is also important, as this will come up during the claim. An emergency room or doctor’s visit is paramount to have a professional medical assessment as part of your personal injury claim.
You should even think about writing down as much as you can remember about the experience. Your memory will fade with time, and a traumatic experience can often lead to memory loss and/or distortion, so quickly record what happened so you can reference this material later.
These are important steps because you will likely go through these steps before you even meet with a San Francisco personal injury lawyer. A lawyer will no doubt ask you to take these steps, but in the case of medical attention, a police report, and photographs, it is important to document these things as soon as possible. If you are unable to document the process due to injury, have someone you know complete the process.
