The Importance of Documenting Injuries for Personal Injury Claims

Personal injury lawsuits are a way for injured people to obtain compensation after an accident. Car wrecks, truck accidents, and slip and falls leave people in considerable pain. These incidents also cause large medical care expenses and lost income. With a personal injury claim, you can seek financial compensation from the person or business entity responsible.

However, it’s critical to document your injuries. By the time your case comes to a close, your injuries will probably have healed, so you will need documentation of their severity. You should also document the less visible aspects of your injuries, such as bodily pain and emotional distress. Call Surasky Law if you need assistance. We offer free consultations to anyone hurt in an accident with our Aiken, SC personal injury lawyer.

Take Pictures of Your Injuries

As soon as you can, take photographs of your injuries. These will serve as graphic reminders of what your wounds looked like immediately after a wreck. Ask a friend or family member to get photographs of all bruises, cuts, abrasions, and burns.

Remember to check the lighting to make sure your injuries are visible. You should take pictures from varying distances—close-ups (especially on the face) and medium distance.

Remember not to smile. Some people automatically smile when a picture is taken, even if they are in serious pain, and you don’t want a picture showing you happy.

Preserve Copies of Medical Records

Your records will help everyone understand the scope of your injuries. You should receive copies of all records and lab results. Keep them to show your legal team.

What happens if you can’t find them? Your lawyer can request records from all providers, so share a list of all doctors, clinics, and hospitals from which you received treatment. The more records you have, however, the better.

Hang Onto Medical Bills & Receipts

You deserve compensation for all medical care you receive to treat your injuries. But it’s up to you to prove the cost of this care. You can’t provide an estimate. Instead, you should collect and hold onto all medical bills, insurance statements, and receipts for things like prescription medication.

You can put everything in a giant folder and then share the contents with your attorney. Those who are feeling ambitious can scan all their documents to ensure they have a digital copy, although that’s not required.

Keep a Journal

Accident victims in South Carolina can receive financial compensation for pain and suffering, as well as emotional distress. These general damages do not have a market value in the same manner as medical care. There’s no receipt that you can provide that shows how much your pain and depression are worth. Instead, these are subjective losses.

Nonetheless, it’s your obligation to come forward with evidence of how the accident has affected your life. For example:

Do you lie awake at night feeling pain?
Has your scarring or injuries made you withdraw from friends and family?
Are you depressed, or do you relive the accident over and over?
Are you unable to enjoy activities with your friends and family, such as walks at night, golf, or going to a child’s sporting event?

Ideally, you can keep a journal where you record daily how you are feeling. Write down where you feel pain and its intensity. For example: “shooting pain in my hip all day” or “sharp pain whenever I turn my head.”

Ask Friends & Family to Speak to Your Lawyer

Witnesses are a critical part of any personal injury case. They provide a fresh perspective on the effects of an accident. You can ask friends and family to speak with your lawyer and paint a vivid picture of how the accident has altered you.

For example, a bad car accident could have completely flipped your marriage upside down. You are in so much pain that intimacy has dried up, and you are usually irritable with your spouse. Likewise, a serious back injury could prevent you from playing with your young children.

This evidence can help flesh out the negative impacts of the accident. In our experience, it is persuasive evidence for juries and insurance claims adjusters.

Document the Accident

This is somewhat different than documenting your injuries. You also need to prove who is at fault for the accident. To bring a successful personal injury claim, remember to document the accident in detail:

Get a copy of the police report. You should have called the police after a traffic accident, and the responding officer will create the report.
Write down a list of people who witnessed the accident. We might speak with them to figure out what they remember. Witnesses often help us recreate what happened so we can assign fault.
Photograph the accident scene. If you fell due to a hazard in a store, try to get a few pictures of it. These photos help us document that a hazard really existed. Pictures after a car accident are also essential, as they show how the vehicles came together.

You should also hire a lawyer as soon as possible. We can start looking for evidence to support your claim. As an example, there might be video evidence of the incident that injured you. You can certainly go to nearby businesses and ask if they have security cameras that capture the incident, but you might be in too much pain. We will gladly look for you.

Schedule Your Free Consultation

Surasky Law Firm has obtained settlements and court verdicts for our clients. You deserve the help of an experienced legal advocate. Our personal injury lawyer in Aiken is accepting new clients, so call to schedule a consultation with us today.