Were you injured in a car accident, bitten by a dog, or burned by a dangerous product? Accidents can happen at any moment, and they aren’t pleasant experiences. If someone else caused your accident or is somehow responsible for what happened to you, it could be possible to hold them civilly liable for your damages.
Filing a personal injury claim could result in a financial settlement for you. The settlement is intended to pay for all the financial and non-financial damages you are dealing with because of your accident. Personal injury claims are not always easy to win, so many people will call a Richmond personal injury lawyer for help.
A lawyer can help you win your claim, because they know all the steps, they know what types of evidence to use to prove a case, and they have litigation experience.
What Are the Steps?
Do you want to know what the steps to the personal injury claims process are? Here are the main steps.
Investigate
Investigate the accident to find out the cause. You can’t just point a finger at someone at random and accuse them of causing your accident. You will have to investigate to determine what happened. If you can’t do the investigating yourself because of your injury, you may need to have an investigator handle this step for you.
Some accidents will be investigated by others. For instance, the police may investigate a car accident. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate a plane accident.
Collect Evidence
Next, you will have to prove what happened and prove who was to blame. How do you prove fault? You use evidence. Gathering evidence is a key step in the personal injury claim process. Without evidence, you likely won’t win your case.
Some types of evidence commonly used in personal injury cases: statements from witnesses, police or accident reports, physical evidence, photo evidence, video footage, logs, and medical evidence.
Calculate Your Claim
Then, it’s time to calculate your total damages. Damages can be financial and non-financial. For instance, you could have suffered lost income, medical bills, mental trauma, and pain and suffering. You want to make sure you get an accurate calculation of all your damages so you can receive a full and fair settlement.
Send in Your Claim
Finally, it’s time to put your claim together. Gather all the evidence you have, put your demand letter in, and send the claim to the insurance company of the at-fault person. The insurance company will then start a negotiation with you related to your settlement demand.
If you and the insurance company can reach an agreement, you could receive a settlement check. If you aren’t able to reach an agreement, your lawyer could help you take your case to court.
Now you know the steps to the personal injury claim process. You don’t have to handle this process alone. An attorney can help you with each and every step and be by your side so you know you aren’t on your own.
