10 Tips to Help You Maximize Your Compensation During a Personal Injury Case

Going through a personal injury case can be a severely taxing time in life. You’re dealing with a lot of new information that is hard to keep track of. On top of that, you’re obviously dealing with an injury that can be affecting you both physically and mentally.

 

It’s not an easy time, and even if you were injured in an accident, please know that you’re not alone. Here’s some information that will help you sort out what needs to happen as you move towards a personal injury case to get the most out of any potential compensation you’ll receive.

1)    Keep Evidence

Obviously, as we start out with #1 on the list, this is one of the most important things you can do during a personal injury case.

 

Your case isn’t decided based on feelings, emotions, or anything made-up.  Cases are decided based on the evidence you have on file. While you may have a lot of emotions, that doesn’t go very far with a jury or when trying to make a settlement.

 

This includes things like photos or witness statements right away when addressing an injury. The more you do right away, the better your recall will be. At the same time, don’t just take a bunch of evidence down at the first instance of injury and quit. You will get rusty on the details and it may seem like you’re being insincere.

 

You need to treat evidence as a serious issue and be documenting things all of the time. The worst thing that can happen is you document something and it’s not important. Okay, so what’s the loss there? A few minutes of your time.

 

Failing to document something serious can lead to much bigger problems, so it’s always better to do too much as opposed to not enough.

2)    Go Through Medical Treatment

This might seem obvious, but if you’re going through a personal injury, you’re probably in need of some medical treatment.

While it is a good personal policy to seek medical treatment when injured, it also could affect your settlement as well. If you’re being paid on damages, then it would stand to reason that medical treatment is a part of those damages. If there is no medical treatment, it’s going to be quite hard to be awarded for services that you did not receive.

Doctors and medical staff can also help you document injuries accurately and can give you a bigger picture about what’s going on with your body. They might find symptoms or problems that are definitely related to your injury that you may be unaware of or you may think are a completely separate issue.

 

Don’t be stubborn just to stay away from the doctor – if you’re having a difficult time, you need to get help.

3)    Investigate Different Claims

As mentioned above, you may be entitled to different claims based on different circumstances. Even if you think a personal injury is completely physical, it may affect you in ways that you are unaware of.

 

Most people don’t think about emotional damages when it comes to a physical personal injury. And while I get why that might be and I am not advocating for trying to tack on ridiculous claims, mental health issues are absolutely real and are coming to light more and more in our current society.

 

Don’t try to hide anything or keep it in the dark. You deserve what you should receive based on evidence and medical findings. Make sure you look into these claims so you know that you didn’t leave any stone unturned.

4)    Don’t Settle Too Soon

Speaking of leaving no stone unturned, a major mistake that many people going through the personal injury compensation process is settling too soon.

 

Just because an offer is on the table, doesn’t mean that a good offer is on the table.

 

Turning down a check is a huge mental barrier, especially for people who are going through a tough time or may simply just need some financial help. That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to accept any offer that comes your way.

 

Many injury lawyers can help you in this process and can use their expert knowledge to help you decide whether it’s a good idea to accept an offer early in that process. Many times a 2^nd or later offer will give you a lot more compensation when the other side realizes that you’re quite serious about your claims.

5)    Show Your Side

Essentially, during personal injury negotiations there are two sides. It can feel like you’re in a “me vs. the world” situation.

That’s not exactly true, but you do need to be firm when presenting your information. If you do decline an offer from the other side, you need to be clear and provide documented evidence about why their offer isn’t good enough.
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Be firm but be professional and use facts, not opinions or emotions, to document your findings. At the end of the day, you need to believe in what you’re presenting and if that’s the case – show them what you’ve got going on and they will believe in you a lot more than you think.

6)    Think Ahead

Many people do actually think of this category, but your life isn’t over at the very moment you get a personal injury.

 

As a matter of fact, future damages are an extremely important part of compensation for those personal injuries. People are working later and later in life and if you don’t think about future damages, you may be selling yourself short.

 

Medical professionals can probably help you document what’s happened to you and explain to you what problems you may face in the future as a result of this personal injury, and lawyers should be able to help you understand the financial ramifications of that information.

7)    Be Ready

Some people can tell the difference between someone who’s ready and someone who’s bluffing.

You don’t want to be caught doing the latter. If your case is completely unprepared, the other side may be able to feel that out and will absolutely risk heading to a trial. Did we mention that’s the trial you’re unprepared for?

 

You can maximize your compensation by being completely prepared and documenting injuries and effects at all times. Preparing a case makes you look serious, which is a great look to have.

8)    Move Fast

There are statutes of limitations on certain personal injury cases. You will want to know your individual circumstances for what that means for you, but there’s no reason to delay dealing with the personal injury compensation process.

 

As evidence gets older and older, you may have a worse memory about what happened and that may start to weaken your case. It can be scary and frustrating to try to deal with a compensation process that feels like it moves slowly and make even seem tilted against you. Solider on and move fast because you will give off a much more serious vibe if you attack your problems right away.

9)    Don’t Betray Yourself

Please be aware that everything you post on the Internet can be seen by everyone else on the Internet. This could even be extended to include emails and texts. There’s no reason to put anything in writing that could hurt your case.

 

Even if you’re on social media and joking around with friends – it’s not a good idea to put conflicting information anywhere out on the web.

 

If you need to blow off some steam, consider getting together with friends in real life as opposed to a lengthy Facebook chat.

 

The main idea here is that you need to take things seriously. If a doctor says that you need to be resting at home, it’s a good idea to listen to that advice. If you betray yourself and go out each and every day right after a doctor tells you that, you’re going to come off as ignoring their advice, and in turn that will make your injury look quite silly. You want to take every part of the process seriously, so don’t go out and betray yourself.

10) Be Professional

This is a good rule of thumb at all times when dealing with a process that is unfamiliar and frustrating to you.

 

However, when you’re dealing with a personal injury specifically, you want to be professional towards the other side. Turning this process into a dramatic fight where the other side wants to beat you doesn’t do you any favors.

 

I’m not saying you have to show up to negotiations with gifts or anything like that, but it just doesn’t do you any favors to be petty or standoff-ish.

 

You can be respectful and still be quite serious about getting the appropriate compensation that you deserve.

 

Conclusion

It’s important to take things seriously when dealing with personal injury compensation. You should always seek medical attention when needed and don’t settle too soon at the negotiating table.

 

One of the most important parts of maximizing your compensation is making sure that everything you do is documented. Take the process seriously but show respect and be professional. You will get through this time and with this information you can take the steps you need to maximize your compensation.