What Evidence Is Important To Prove My Personal Injury Accident Claim?

When attempting to prove a personal injury accident claim, it’s important to have several pieces of evidence. You’ll need photographs of the damage caused to the vehicles. Photograph inside and out.  Oftentimes there is evidence of the severity of the impact shown by photographs taken of the inside of the vehicle. For example, in a rear end collision, the impact can be so great that it bends the seatback. It can cause things on the dashboard, such as the radio or the glove compartment to be disengaged. These things help show the severity of the impact. Sometimes the property damage to your vehicle will be very unobservable due to stiff bumpers or those designed to rebound.   However, substantial damage to the other vehicle could show impact and that vehicle is going to be removed from the scene. Because of this, you’ll want to take a picture of the other vehicle, before removal.

Photographing scratches and bruises on your body while they still exist is also important. The most important thing is to make sure that you are examined by a physician who can document what your complaints are and describe his findings.

What Type Of Damages Might Be Available To A Victim In An Auto Injury Claim?

There are different types of damages available to the victim in an auto injury claim. In Louisiana, the Civil Code requires that whoever causes harm to another, must return that person back to the condition they were in before the accident. This means that all damages caused by the accident have to be compensated for whether they be property damage, medical expenses, pain and suffering, or loss of income. Whatever the damage caused by the accident, it has to be compensated.

Why Is It Important To Follow Doctor’s Recommendations In A Personal Injury Claim?

It’s very important to follow a doctor’s recommendation in a personal injury claim. If you don’t see a doctor immediately after the accident the argument used by the insurance company is, “you’re not really injured from this accident. If you were, you would have immediately sought medical attention.” If you do seek medical attention immediately and a doctor says, “You have a soft tissue injury. I think it’s going to heal up over time but I’m going to prescribe some physical therapy for you.” If you don’t then attend your physical therapy visits regularly or don’t see your doctor as often as they’ve requested, then the insurance companies will point to that gap in your treatment. They will point to that long delay between office visits as proof that you are not hurt enough to go to physical therapy. The insurance company will argue that you’re not in pain and are not entitled to any compensation.

It is important to see the doctor as prescribed. If a family emergency or work requirement will not allow you to take hours off to see the doctor, or any other event prevents you from seeing the doctor, then those should be documented when you do get back to the doctor. This way, the doctor can put in his/her notes that you were still having pain during the period; but you were unable to physically see the doctor. Make sure the doctor knows why you were unable to attend to your physical therapy.

The key to recovering your actual damages is documentation.

Why Does Someone Need An Experienced Auto Accident Attorney To Handle An Injury Claim?

There are several reasons to have an attorney experienced with automobile accidents handle an injury claim. If liability is clear and the offending vehicles insurance company is willing to pay all of your property damage, and provide a rental car for you then it seems like everything is going fine and you’re not going to have a problem. It’s not too difficult to get an insurance company to pay when they have the facts in a police report that their client rear-ended you. However, where you start having problems with the insurance company is if there’s a lot of damage that was caused to a vehicle that is not apparent from the visual inspection. Some damage won’t be visible without breaking the car down and starting the repairs. Many times you can have frame damage to the vehicle that is not apparent until the repair shop commences the repairs.

Problems can start arising to your car’s computer system (or in the electrical system) that weren’t a problem before the accident. Oftentimes, your car is in the middle of being repaired and you will get into an argument with the insurance company about whether this was really related to the accident and they won’t authorize the repairs. Then the repair process shuts down and they refuse to pay anything further for a rental car. Now you’re in the middle of a dispute with them over your property damage while your car is unfinished. You have no vehicle, no rental car, and now you’re heading for an attorney’s office. It’s better to let the attorney handle everything from the beginning so that the repair process goes smoothly.

You don’t hire an attorney just because you could have a problem during the repair process. The real reason to hire an attorney is to navigate the personal injury part of you claim. In a personal injury case you don’t know the extent of your injury, what the cause of it is, if it’s going to require a surgery, whether it’s going to last three months or be permanent. You need the expertise of the medical professional and an attorney to properly present and evaluate the information necessary to adequately compensate you. This is done through legal research on similar cases with similar injuries and, while the insurance companies know what those values are, the general public does not. Insurance companies will not offer the actual value of a personal injury claim without being required to do so either by the demand of an attorney or a lawsuit.

How Long Does It Take To Receive Funds After A Settlement Is Reached In A Personal Injury Claim?

In Louisiana, once a settlement is agreed upon in writing, the insurance company has 30 days in which to get the funds to you. If they do not get the funds to you in 30 days, they can be subject to additional penalties and expenses for not doing so.

For more information on Evidence To Prove A Personal Injury Claim, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (504) 332-8188 today.