Personal injury plaintiffs are required to mitigate their damages by seeking medical treatment and following medical advice.
Maximize Your Compensation in These Five Steps
Once you have decided to pursue a personal injury claim because of injuries you sustained in an automobile accident, do everything you can to maximize your potential for compensation. These five important steps can help you make the most of an injury claim.
Document the accident scene.
While you are waiting for law enforcement and medical personnel to arrive, be sure to document the accident by taking pictures and videos of the scene, your injuries, damage to your car, and damage to other belongings, like laptops and cell phones. The police will generate an accident report and collect statements from witnesses. Make sure that you obtain a copy of this information, and also ask any witnesses at the scene for their statements. But never admit fault to anyone.
Obtain medical care.
After assessing the circumstances of everyone involved in the accident and rendering aid as needed (and as you can), be sure to get medical attention for yourself.
Do so even if you believe that you have not been injured. Some soft tissue injuries, like whiplash and concussion, may not be apparent immediately — may in fact take days or even weeks to manifest themselves. And medical records are crucial evidence in a car accident case. Delaying treatment or failing to obtain it at all may enable an insurance company to effectively downplay your injuries.
Follow your treatment plan.
A personal injury plaintiff must seek to mitigate or reduce the effects of his injury. The main way to do this is to promptly seek medical attention and, if your doctor recommends a specific treatment plan, to carefully follow it. If you neglect to do so, you could lose the right to recover damages that might have been avoided had you followed your doctor’s advice. Some examples of failure to mitigate include refusing to take prescribed medication, choosing to skip a recommended procedure, and pursuing alternative treatments like holistic and homeopathic remedies instead of accepting standard medical treatment.
Keep a journal.
As time passes, you may begin to forget important details about your accident. To keep your memories alive and document any complications or new symptoms, keep a journal that reports on the accident, your injuries, your treatment, and your recovery. Feel free to share your journal with your attorney. But never publish details about your case on social media, where they will be public and could be used against you if your case goes to trial.
Retain an experienced attorney.
You can do only so much to build a case on your own. To obtain maximum compensation for your injuries, hire a personal injury attorney who specializes in auto accidents and is experienced in negotiating with insurance companies and filing a lawsuit for an injured plaintiff if a settlement cannot be reached.
Contact an experienced Colorado personal injury attorney.
If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, contact the Law Offices of Daniel R. Rosen online or call 303-454-8000 or 800-ROSEN-911 to schedule your free initial consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney today.