A personal injury settlement case is a time-consuming process, which is why you must be patient and stay on top of several things to boost your chances of winning your case. Personal injury settlements are long procedures, which is why you must remain patient, follow the strategies given below, and allow your attorney to build your case from the ground up.
Avoid Posting on Social Media About Your Case
If you want to reach a higher settlement, you have to be careful about what you post on social media. The insurance company or the insurance adjuster of the at-fault driver is keeping tabs on you. They are watching what you are posting on social media. Suppose you have a serious personal injury claim. In that case, the at-fault driver’s insurance company might go to the extent of hiring a private investigator to follow you around and communicate with the very people whom you have been meeting and talking to on a regular basis.
We know that this might sound a bit scary – but these are the tactics that insurance companies can use to build up a case against you so they don’t have to pay you the amount that you rightfully deserve.
Leverage All the Available Benefits
Exhaust all of your options about benefits that you have available. The thing is that many people feel uncomfortable about filing a claim with their own uninsured or under-insured auto coverage. Yes – you read this right. We are referring to your auto coverage, where you might think that your rates might go up.
The thing is that there is almost no guarantee that your rates aren’t going to go up, and in most cases if you’re not the one at fault, you are going to be fine. Additionally, you might have other types of coverage that you can benefit from. For instance, you might have medical coverage that can help with covering about five thousand dollars of your medical bills.
So, to make the most of your personal injury case, it is in your best interest to exhaust all of your available options.
Keep The Bigger Picture in Mind
Another thing that you must do is to focus on the future and keep the bigger picture in mind. If applicable to your situation, you must focus on your future medical expenses. Also, keep an eye on any potential lost wages that you might have in the future. More importantly, focus on permanency. Now, what this means is that if you have been in an accident – you might have a scar for the rest of your life. You might also have a limp for the rest of your life, which is a permanent injury.
If you are bitten by your neighbor’s dog, you might have a scar on your face for the rest of your life. This aspect refers to a permanent disfigurement, which in itself can cause serious pain and emotional suffering.
These different aspects are hugely compensable, which is why you must focus on the future if you want to make the most of your settlement.
Collect Evidence
Of course, you will be working very closely with your personal injury lawyer to reach the highest settlement for your personal injury case. On that note, it is in your best interest to hire an attorney, such as Prochaska, Howell & Prochaska right away instead of delaying it. If you are too injured to call a personal injury attorney, you can ask a trustworthy loved one to do what is needed so that the lawyer can work on your case and collect evidence as soon as possible.
Speaking of evidence, you must preserve as much of the evidence as possible. So, make sure to take pictures of the crash site as well as your vehicle and the vehicles of all of the involved drivers.
How to Take Pictures
Taking pictures is a great way to store evidence, and when it comes to taking pictures, you should start at the accident scene, your injuries, and everything else to the end of the treatment. Believe us when we tell you that photographs can make a tremendous difference between winning a small personal injury settlement and a large personal injury settlement.
Record the Severity of the Impact
If you have been the victim of a car crash, you must record the severity of the impact, too. This aspect is a crucial thing that insurance companies and personal injury attorneys look at while dealing with a personal injury case. For instance, in the case of a minor car accident, the at-fault driver’s insurance company might argue that there is no possibility of severe personal injuries. In such a situation, the severity of the impact is really important.
So, to strengthen your case, the best thing you can do is to take good pictures of your car to demonstrate the severity of the impact.
Document Everything
To increase your settlement compensation, you can consider writing in a journal as a way to document everything that you are going through. The amount of your personal injury case is not limited to the car damage and your medical bills alone. You are eligible to receive compensation for your emotional and mental pain and suffering, too.
For instance, if you have sustained an injury that prevents you from picking up your child, you must document it. If the injury has seriously impacted the quality of your life that you no longer feel joy, make sure to document it, too. Also, document when you couldn’t sleep at night due to the pain.
When you go to trial, you might not be able to remember all of the discomforts that you went through because chances are that it might take twelve months or more for your case to go to trial. The journal will help you refresh your recollection of the events.
Final Thoughts
Document all of the interactions that you have with the insurance company, too. Insurance companies have a notorious reputation for being very difficult to deal with. The interest of the insurance adjusters is definitely not your interest, which is why you must keep following up with them with facts. But be sure to document everything, including following up on a call with an email so that you have evidence.