Many people injured in an accident, a slip and fall, or a medical malpractice incident concern themselves with the specific types of injuries they have suffered. While there are specific requirements governing who can file a personal injury lawsuit, the nature of injuries sustained isn’t among them.
Negligence Must Cause Your Injuries
While personal injury law doesn’t specify the nature of the injuries suffered, there may be regulations requiring that the injuries must be sufficient enough to cause financial loss. First, the injury-causing accident must be the result of the negligence of another person or company. It’s important to be able to show that the person or business had a duty to prevent the injury and that their negligence created a breach of that duty. For instance, there might be a spill left on the floor in the grocery store. If the owner of the store doesn’t act to either clean up the spill or cordon off the area, he has acted negligently and has breached his duty.
Your Injuries Must Cause Financial Loss
While there aren’t any restrictions on the types of injuries you suffer from the incident, they must be severe enough to cause financial loss. You can demonstrate this through your medical bills and treatment records. Additionally, your injuries may have forced you to miss work. You can seek damages for that missed work time and receive compensation for those lost wages. If your injury is severe enough to cause a permanent or long-term disability, you may also be able to seek compensation for a loss of your situation. In that case, damages would take into account the salary you would have earned in your lifetime if the accident hadn’t occurred.
Getting Help with Your Claim
Personal injury laws are complex, and the defendant will have skilled insurance adjusters working on their behalf. For that reason alone, it’s important for you to retain an experienced attorney to represent you. Personal injury lawyers work on a contingency, or a percentage of the settlement, so you can rest assured that you won’t have to pay his or her fee up front. This helps you focus on your recovery and on your case instead of worrying about another financial burden.
Your attorney will try to seek a fair settlement from the insurance company while protecting your rights. If a settlement can’t be agreed upon, you will already have an attorney capable of moving forward with a legal action. An experienced legal advocate may be able to help you obtain more in compensation than you would be able to recover on your own.
Author Harper Harmon is a freelance writer and blogger who focuses on business, health and other various topics. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communication from UCLA and currently resides in Santa Cruz with her dog, Sassy.
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