Being injured is not something that anyone wants, but being injured at the fault of another person is especially difficult. It can be hard to determine what a personal injury case consists of and what injuries might be compensated with a personal injury claim. Knowing what injuries you can claim on a personal injury suit is a must, and an Indianapolis personal injury law firm can help.
What is a Personal Injury Case?
A personal injury case is a dispute or legal proceeding that occurs when one person suffers injury or harm at the fault of another person and can be held legally responsible. A personal injury generally happens on another person’s property, at a store, or in another public place, and it has to have an element of responsibility that can be placed on someone other than the person injured.
In a personal injury case, there are four things that have to be proven by the person that is filing the claim and their legal team. You first have to prove that there was a burden or care. This means you have to prove that the owner of the place where you were injured, the person that was with you when you were injured, or the person that you are suing had a burden of care to make sure you made it out of the given situation safely and intact. A good example would be a store. The store owner has a burden to ensure that you make it in an out of their property without any major injury.
The next thing you must prove is that the burden of care was breached or broken. This means that you were not protected, and as a result, you were injured. Sticking with the store example, say you go into a grocery store expecting to be able to get your groceries and go home safely. You are shopping, and a shelf falls and hits you, resulting in an injury that requires you to go to the hospital for care. The burden of keeping you safe while you shop was broken as the shelf was not secure, and you were injured.
After that, you have to prove that the injury resulted from a breach of care. This means that you have to be able to prove that the injury was the result of that breach of care. For instance, the wound on your head was the result of the shelf falling at hitting you on the head, not you falling at your own home because there was something that you tripped on.
The last thing that has to be proven is the damage. This means that you and your legal team are going to have to put forth the damages that need to be paid. This means paying your medical bills, paying for the time off work, paying for any pain and suffering, and paying for any other issues you might have as the result of the injury and breach of care.
Your lawyer and law team is going to spend time talking with you about your options, they are going to work with you to create a great case with all the elements in place, and they will help you make sure your case is foolproof. It will be necessary to work with your team to create a great case and be transparent with them. This means sharing all the things you need to, ensuring you are working with them, and working to ensure that you help with your own case.
What Types of Injury Can be Claimed as Personal Injury?
There is a huge range of things that may be considered to be personal injury cases. The first is, of course, the example that we have already discussed. If you are dealing with an injury, you sustained while in a public place, you will certainly be able to file for a personal injury case. You need to be certain that you are taking the time to get the reports that are filed, you are going to need to collect any eyewitness reports that might exist, and you are going to need to get any information that is going to work to help prove that you have a personal injury case on your hands.
Another type of personal injury case you may be able to file is the case of a car accident that was not your fault. This means that if you got into the car with someone, say a ride-share driver, and that driver got into an accident, you will be able to file a personal injury claim regarding the injuries you sustained in that accident.
You may also be able to file personal injury cases if you are injured at the home of a person that you are visiting. Say you are at the home of someone you know. You are going to be able to file a personal injury claim if you are injured at their home as a result of something that they either did or did not do to protect you.
You can also file personal injury claims for nursing home abuse. If you have a family member or yourself in a nursing home or care home and they are either abused intentionally or injured at the facility as a result of negligence or breach of the burden of care, you can file. This can be nearly any injury. This can be a fall in the facility because it was not safe, abuse at the hands of a caregiver, neglect, or even injury that was the result of medical malpractice.
You can also file for product defect injuries. This means that if you bought a product with the expectation of it working and being safe, the product either does not work properly, and you were injured, or something else happened. A good example would be a charger for a phone or other electronic device, and if you have a charger that works for a time and then catches fire and injures you, this is a personal injury claim.
There are a few other instances; assault is one of them. If you are assaulted, and it was not due to something that you did or something that you started, this is a good case for a personal injury claim. This is going to be a bit harder to prove as you do also have to file a police report, and that report can help you with your personal injury claim.
The last instance that we are going to discuss is workplace accidents. If you are injured at work, you are injured while at work; this is going to count as a personal injury case. In this case, you can file for a personal injury claim as well as a worker’s compensation claim. You need to ensure that you are getting the right reports filed and taking any accounts from other people who may have also seen the accident.
How to File a Claim
The first thing that you need to do is to take the time to get the medical attention that you need. This will be crucial not only so that you can recover and start to get better but also to get the necessary reports to help prove your injury and document your journey. You need to get the reports from the initial accident, the reports from the emergency services if you sought emergency care, and the reports from any follow-up care that you had associated with the incident.
In most cases, your lawyer or law team will be able to backtrack and get those reports from the facilities that you visit, and they will also be able to get the reports that were filed by the place where you are injured. It is important that if you feel you might be injured, you take the time to file those reports and to take the time to visit a medical professional immediately. You are going to be far less likely to be able to get a personal injury claim if you do not file a claim or make a report at the time of the injury, as the further away you get from the event, the harder it is going to be to prove that the event is what caused the injury.
Your team will be able to help you get the reports you need and the information that is crucial, and they will be able to talk to the people who can help you build your case. They are going to be able to advocate for you and help you get the care you need and the compensation you deserve for your injury.
What Damages Can You Get?
There is a range of damages that you can collect as a result of a personal injury accident and subsequent claim. The first is the coverage of any medical bills that you have resulting from the accident. This means that you will be able to get the money back from any bills that you may have paid, get any remaining balances paid off, and get the money for any follow-up medical care that you might need as a result of the accident.
The next thing you can get is money for any time off work that you have to take during recovery. Say you are injured and have to take three months off work to get better and get back to a healthy state. You can get compensation for the three months you have to take off and until you can get back to work.
You can also get compensation for any pain and suffering that you have. If you were in a car accident, for instance, and you now have nightmares about driving that make it impossible for you to go and drive, you can get compensation for it. You can also get compensated for any lasting pain or for any lasting effects that the accident may have had on your daily life and on how you are able to function.
These damages can be argued and negotiated for you by your lawyer and your team. They will work with you to get the best overall settlement and to help you get the money you need to return from your accident.
How Can a Lawyer Help?
Though you might be hesitant to hire a lawyer, a lawyer will be your best bet when it comes to getting a larger settlement and getting that settlement so that you can start to recover. A lawyer is going to be necessary if you are unsure how to proceed if you are at all hesitant about your case, and if you want to ensure that you understand the whole proceeding.
Your lawyer will be your advocate, and they will fight for you and help you get the best settlement possible. Though you might be hesitant, a lawyer will be your biggest help with your case and ensure you get the settlement you deserve. They will also be able to help you understand what is going on and the entire process overall.
You may not be proficient in legal jargon, and a lawyer is going to be able to help you understand what is going on and what is happening with your case so that you are sure about where it is going, no matter what. The right lawyer can help you get a better settlement, and they can help you feel better about the entire process. It can be so difficult to come back after an accident you may not even know how to proceed, but a lawyer can help.
Taking the time to find the right lawyer can help you get the settlement you need, and they can also help you feel better about your case and the potential for your settlement. Personal injury is always difficult, the right lawyer can make it a bit easier to deal with.
