5 Tips to Maximize your Personal Injury Settlement
You’ve suffered a serious injury or car accident as a result of someone else’s negligence. Your life has been turned upside down. Now what? How do you go about receiving the compensation you deserve?
It’s difficult to put a dollar value on an injury that can replace what you have lost in your life. However, these 5 general tips should help you maximize what you may be entitled to through your personal injury claim:
1. Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer who has Experience in Personal Injury Matters
Do not try to handle a personal injury claim on your own. The insurance company will likely try to take advantage of you if they know you have no lawyer. They might offer to settle with you for an amount well below what is considered fair in the circumstances. You will need a lawyer to help you with your claim and to maximize results.
You must also make sure you hire an experienced personal injury lawyer, not someone who has limited, or no, experience with such claims.
Keep in mind that most personal injury lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, which means they don’t get paid until you settle or win your case. This means typically that your lawyer will fight for you and won’t stop until your claim is settled, and only then will your lawyer get paid.
2. Be Mentally Ready for the Claims Process
A personal injury case takes time and effort. Your personal injury lawyer should take care of most things throughout the claims process, but you will have to be ready to personally attend certain events, such as Examinations for Discovery, Mediation and the Pre-Trial.
A personal injury case can settle early on in the process, while others can take several years. You will have to be ready for both scenarios.
3. Continue to Get Treatment
After you have sustained an injury, continue to follow up with your doctors and other treatment providers. Be sure to attend all treatment sessions and appointments to the best of your ability. This will help you recover from your injury(s), as well as help build up and support your personal injury claim.
4. Collect all of the Relevant Documents
Another tip to getting as much compensation as possible in your personal injury claim is making sure you have all of the documents, records, photographs, evidence, paperwork, and reports in order, available and ready to provide to the defendant’s lawyer or the insurance company.
Generally, the more medical records and other documents one has, the stronger the case.
Other documents that will assist include proof of lost work and bills/receipts for anything you paid for that are related to the accident.
Your personal injury lawyer will likely collect the majority of documents on your behalf.
5. Make a Proper Assessment for Settlement
Make sure you provide your personal injury lawyer with a listing of all of your losses attributed to your accident, together with all receipts you might have available.
Each case if different, but you could be entitled to compensation for: pain and suffering, loss of income or opportunity, health care expenses, loss of housekeeping capacity, out-of-pocket expenses and many other types of damages.
The ultimate key to maximizing the compensation you receive is to have an experienced personal injury lawyer review and assess your case.
Our Personal Injury Lawyers in Ottawa can help you with your Personal Injury Claim.