When you have suffered physical injuries in an accident, you are dealing with many different impacts that can change your life in the short and long run. These effects will both cost you money and your sense of well-being. When these injuries were the result of someone else’s negligence, you can receive a settlement check or jury award for them. Before that point, you will need to file an insurance claim or lawsuit against the responsible party. Then, you will either need to negotiate compensation or argue your case in front of a jury.
The insurance company knows that they can get away with certain tactics when they are dealing with someone who does not have a personal injury attorney on their side because there are no repercussions for them. An attorney can obtain the compensation you are owed. They will not let you be intimidated by the insurance company.
Hiring a personal injury lawyer puts you on an even footing with the insurance company and takes away any natural advantage they may have over you. A personal injury attorney will handle your case from beginning to end, making it their work to get the monetary recovery you are owed. They may use a variety of their own tactics to pressure the insurance company, which can ultimately yield a settlement that fully pays you for your injuries. Otherwise, you will be putting yourself in a position where you are trusting a for-profit business that does worse financially when it fully pays you every dollar you deserve in compensation.
Personal Injuries from an Accident
An accident can cause harm to your body in a number of ways. It can cause a sudden and violent motion, which is entirely unnatural for your body. You can also endure an impact with a hard surface, which can cause injuries.
Common types of injuries that you can suffer in an accident include:
- Fractures and broken bones
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Head and neck injuries
- Back injuries
- Soft tissue injuries
- Internal injuries
- Burns
- Cuts and lacerations
- Amputations
You must take care of your own health and seek immediate medical treatment. Then, you must follow up with your medical care and listen to every one of the recommendations that your treatment provider makes. Both your health and your legal case may depend on your vigilance in obtaining and sticking to medical care.
Your Physical Injuries Could Cause Financial Impacts
When you have suffered any type of physical injury in an accident, it will impact your life in many ways. You may have already experienced these effects, and you can be living with these challenges so long as you have not fully recovered from your personal injuries. You have a legal right to be compensated for all of these impacts when you can prove that there were one or more negligent parties. They will have a legal obligation to make you whole, using money as a measure of your damages.
Your physical injuries can result in what will be a potentially crushing financial burden that you must bear. Even if you have health insurance coverage, you will still likely be paying some money out of your own pocket. You will have copayments and deductibles that you need to meet. Any money that you must pay can be a large burden when you are already in a financially precarious position.
Not only may you owe money for the medical care you have already received, but you may also have a continuing obligation to pay as you are treated in the future. You will still have to pay this money, even as your financial situation deteriorated from having to live with your injuries for an extended period of time.
Lost Income from a Personal Injury
In addition to the medical bills you need to pay (and are piling up), your financial situation may be worsened by the fact that you may be unable to work. You were relying on the money you earned from your job to pay your bills and keep the roof over your head. You will not want to use your limited money on continuing to pay mounting medical bills.
Even if you can continue working to an extent, you may be unable to perform the exact work you were able to do before the accident. You may lack the physical capacity to do the same job, or you may need to take extended time off from work to receive medical treatment. Your earnings capacity may have been sharply reduced at the time that you needed the money the most. Even though you may be struggling financially from missing work, you should not let financial desperation get in the way of fighting to get the settlement check you deserve. There may be options that you can avail yourself to that could help you stay afloat financially until you are able to be paid for your injuries through a settlement check.
You Can Suffer Impacts to Your Mental Health and Well-Being
Financial costs are far from the only effects of the injury you will need to contend with over time. Your physical injuries will have many different impacts on your life. Two people may deal with the same physical injuries in different ways. It is entirely possible for you to be in a worse situation than someone else who has suffered the same exact physical injury.
Your physical injury will likely cause you pain and suffering in a number of ways. Physical pain is the most obvious effect of your injury. Depending on the severity of the injury that you have suffered, you may be in pain for large parts of your day. The pain can persist until you have reached the point where you finally recover from your injury. Physical pain takes away from the quality of your life, especially when it cannot be managed by your doctor. There are some injuries that will leave you in constant pain no matter what type and how much medication you are taking.
You Can Suffer Anxiety and Depression as a Result of Your Injuries
Your physical condition can affect you in other ways. Having to deal with physical pain can cloud your mental health. Being in a constant state of discomfort can cause you to be in a state of depression. Physical and mental health feed off each other. The worse your mental health is, the more it will cause your physical health to deteriorate. At the same time, your precarious physical health can take away from your mental health.
Your physical health can also cause you to develop anxiety. You may be worried about what the future holds for you in light of your medical condition. You may find that your personal relationships are affected, and you can be dealing with a number of other stressors in your life that cause anxiety. Harm to your mental health is a part of your pain and suffering from your injuries, even though they may not cause you physical pain.
The accident may have caused you to suffer emotional distress. The trauma of the accident itself, or your memories of the immediate aftermath, can result in post-traumatic stress disorder. Your life can be affected by PTSD. It can keep you from having productive human relationships, and you may be unable to sleep and eat.
If you have suffered from any emotional or mental health impacts from your accident, you should seek treatment and have them documented. These facets of your injuries are subjective by nature, and you cannot expect the insurance company to take your word for anything if it means that they will have to pay you money. It is only when you have treatment records from a mental health provider that the insurance company may even consider paying you for what you are claiming.
Your pain and suffering can consist of a number of other elements. For example, you may have suffered permanent scarring and disfigurement from your accident injuries. Your appearance can be completely changed, especially when the scarring is in a prominent place on your body. The change to your appearance can even reduce your earnings capacity because you may not be able to get a job when you look different.
Your accident injuries can also cause you to lose the enjoyment of the life that you had before your accident. You may have partaken in hobbies you previously enjoyed, and your physical injuries can keep you from engaging in them in the future. The loss of your hobbies and the things that you enjoyed can leave a cloud over your life.
Obtaining Financial Compensation for Your Personal Injuries
The first step in any type of personal injury claim is to prove that there is someone else who owes you money. There will be a party whose actions were responsible for your injuries. You must show that the other party was negligent to be eligible for financial compensation. The responsible party can be an individual or a company – the result is the same. They will have an obligation to pay for all the damages you have suffered from their conduct.
Your personal injury compensation can consist of the following:
- The actual financial costs of your injuries, whether they are bills that you had to pay or money that you will have earned but did not
- The subjective non-economic damages that go along with your physical injuries, including pain and suffering and emotional distress
It is very rare that you will be able to receive punitive damages, but a jury can order them to be paid if you go to trial and win. Punitive damages are reserved for instances in which the defendant engaged in grossly negligent conduct, or they acted recklessly.
You will only have a chance of receiving full financial compensation for your injuries when you hire a personal injury lawyer to stand up and fight for you. The first thing that a personal injury attorney can do is work for you to be in a position where you will have a legal right to compensation. They can do this by investigating your accident and collecting evidence proving that the other party departed from the duty of care that they owed you.
How Your Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help You Be Compensated
Even if you had conclusive evidence that shows someone else was at fault, it may only be the start of your legal battle. The insurance company may easily concede liability because even they may be unable to deny reality in the face of overwhelming evidence that their policyholder was to blame. They may reserve their hardball tactics for the time when it comes to discussing the actual damages that you will receive. Then, the insurance company may be as difficult as they can to wear you down in settlement negotiations.
When it comes to your actual compensation, a personal injury attorney can do the following for your case:
- Review your evidence and documentation to come up with a number that you should seek in your claim
- Work with expert witnesses as necessary to reach the value of your case
- Gather vital evidence and build a case that can prove your damages, whether it is included as part of your claim or comes out in the deposition phase of your lawsuit
- Negotiate with the insurance company to reach a settlement agreement
Negotiations with the insurance company are not as easy as they may seem. They may try to drag their feet to gain an advantage over you in settlement negotiations. Your personal injury lawyer’s utility is that their mere presence will show the insurance company that you mean business. The insurance company will know that you have the ability to file a lawsuit, which is the last result they want. While insurance companies want you to fear them, they have their own anxieties, and one of them is litigation.
Hire A Personal Injury Attorney For Best Results
If you or a loved one has suffered injuries in an accident, you should always seek the assistance of a trusted personal injury attorney to account for all your losses and maximize the compensation you are owed. Call today.
