It takes more than proving negligence to get the compensation that you deserve for an injury. While that is of course a key component, what you do after the injury can either bolster your case or detract from it. For example, if you delay seeking proper medical attention for a few days, a defense lawyer could say that you failed in your duty to mitigate (lessen) damages. Learn more about how to avoid hurting your own personal injury case.
It should be noted that if a defense attorney can say that you did not take the right steps to care for your injury, that this cannot fully rebuff your case. If you can prove negligence, then you will likely still be entitled to compensation, but it will be a lesser amount than you asked for. This is true even if the other person is entirely at fault for the accident. Why is this? A defense lawyer can say that because you waited too long to get help, or because you turned down a job, that you are entitled to less in damages for medical bills and lost wages. He or she can say that the delay in medical treatment caused your injury to get worse, which needlessly jacked up the price of your medicals bills, expenses that the defendant is not responsible for. Then if you turned down a job, for example, a court may very well take the salary you could have earned at that job, and reduce your compensation for lost wages by that amount.
It is all too common for people to miss out on the medical treatment they need when they need it. Take a car crash, for example. When an ambulance is not called in, the people in the crash have to decide for themselves whether or not to go to the emergency room, or whether to visit a doctor later. Many people report feeling fine the whole day of the accident, not realizing that this was because of the pain-concealing adrenaline and endorphins streaming through their system. When these go away after a night's sleep, they feel the full effect of having collided with a multi-ton vehicle. Soft tissue injuries, such as sprains and tears do not appear until after a day or two. Internal injuries, even internal bleeding, can take a while to detect. Concussions may not be apparent for a while either. You cannot afford to ignore symptoms such as a long-lasting headache, stiff limbs, numbness, or dizziness. Many seemingly simple warning signs turn into serious conditions, which means you could be on the hook for expensive medical treatment.
The sooner you get medical help, the better. Not only will this help you along the road to physical recovery, and lessen the pain you endure as well, but this is also vital to financially recovering after an injurious accident. You need medical records that clearly delineate the physical suffering you have undergone due to someone else's negligence. Without these, or with delays, insurers are not likely to think your injury is serious enough for compensation.
Another way you could be implicated as failing in your duty is if you do not follow your doctor's instructions. Whatever regimen you are prescribed, follow it thoroughly, otherwise a defendant might say you failed to lessen damages by not taking care of yourself, either making your condition worse and more expensive, or proving that your injury is not that debilitating after all.
Finally, you need to make sure that your medical records are accurate. Make sure the doctor did not put down any pre-existing conditions that you never had, and make sure that they outline the accident and your symptoms precisely as well. You want to make sure that accounts of your injuries are consistent.
For more tips on how to win your personal injury case, get the help of a legal expert. Call a personal injury lawyer today!