Experienced a Car Accident Injury? Do These 3 Things Immediately
Imagine you are driving one day and the next thing you know, somebody hits your car, and you end up hurt and out of work. It is not a scenario anyone wants to think about, but there are unfortunately about 6.75 million car accidents per year in the United States.
If you end up with a car accident injury, you may have questions like how long after a car accident can you claim an injury? What steps do you need to take from there?
Well, these are three things you should do as soon as possible.
1. File a Police Report
The first thing that you should do after a car accident is file a police report. This allows a third party to take each driver’s side of the story of how the accident happened.
Once both drivers give their accounts, the police can gather the evidence and decide who was at fault. It can be useful if your insurance does not cover accidents where you suffered an injury through your own fault, and it allows you to collect more evidence needed to prove your injury claim is legitimate.
Along with this, it is suggested that you take your own photos of yourself and the damage to your car to help with the police report.
2. Collect Medical Records
If your injury was serious enough, then it is recommended that you receive medical attention to get treatment for it. However, not only does that help with your healing but also, you can use it as evidence to support your injury claim.
Let’s say you leave a car accident with a head injury. You may not even realize how serious it is at first but if you go to a doctor, they can end up telling you that you suffered a concussion.
In that situation, they would put that in your medical records and you would receive treatment for said injury. Other common car accident injuries can include a broken arm or a broken leg that can keep people out of work for weeks.
Legitimate medical records can support a claim for compensation for missed work and medical bills.
3. Hire a Car Accident Injury Lawyer
Finally, if your insurance is giving you a hard time with your car accident injury, then you need to seek out a car accident injury attorney like Bottari and Doyle. Lawyers who specialize in car accident injuries will know exactly what you are entitled to and what evidence you need to win your case.
In some situations, a lawyer may even be able to help you get a higher settlement by taking factors such as missed time from work because of your injury into account.
Take Care of Your Car Accident Injury
If you suffer a car accident injury, you need to take these steps to ensure you get the compensation you are entitled to. It can be a scary and frustrating experience but with the proper preparation, it can be managed.
For more information, check out our other articles on personal injury.