How Taking Notes Can Help Your Personal Injury Case

Being involved in any type of accident can cause a ripple effect that can have serious repercussions, especially if you find yourself in a situation where the party at fault refuses to pay fair compensation for your damages. It’s common to expect the best-case scenario, and that the driver responsible’s insurance company will be covering your medical bills, car repairs, and more, but unfortunately, that is not always the case. Insurance companies will not always pay for the damages in full. This is why, taking notes and keeping a record of all events after an accident, can benefit you and boost the strength of the insurance claim.

If you do find yourself in this situation, and before you consult with a personal injury lawyer, you can make sure you write down everything you remember about the accident. If you were able to take pictures at the scene or talk to a police officer, that will help, but writing down, or recording any time you come in contact with an insurance company can also help. Legal experts say, having notes will help because if you do file a lawsuit, months later, you will have to think back and recall a lot of details that you may have forgotten, thus the notes will make your claim stronger. Here are the notes you might want to focus on after your accident, and how to keep track of important details.

 Accident Details

Every accident is different, so don’t rush to take notes if you were seriously injured, however, when your head is clear enough, write down everything you remember about the accident. Start from the beginning, what you were doing, where you were, and where you were going. If you were with anyone, also write that down, in addition to the time and the weather. After that, you also want to go into each detail of what happened during and after the crash. This includes any feelings you had, if you felt dizzy or lost control of the wheel, etc. You can also include any witnesses or anyone you spoke to when the accident happened.

Injuries

Once you have described what happened before and during the accident, it’s essential to write every pain you felt after the accident no matter how minor it might be. Even if it’s a minor headache or soreness, write down any discomfort you experienced after the crash that you didn’t have before. Discomfort can also include, loss of sleep or anxiety. The more details the better because unless you seek medical care, you may forget the effects the accident had on your body if you have to make a statement months later. These notes can also help your doctor diagnose you if you do decide to seek medical assistance. Many times, injury symptoms may have a delayed reaction, but if you wrote down symptoms that you thought were not related, that can help your doctor make an assessment on what exactly your injury was. Delayed injuries commonly include, brain injuries, whiplash, or back injuries.

Vehicle Damage or Economic Losses

In a car accident case, economic damages are included as part of your settlement, so these details are very important to include. In addition to pictures of the damages to your car, you want to jot down how the accident affected your life. Did you miss work because you were on your way when the accident happened? Did you need to hire help because you couldn’t pick up your children, or watch them because of the accident? All of these details are crucial to write down. Economic losses can also include, missing classes, or events disrupted by the accident. Damages to your vehicle are also economic losses because you need to go and get it fixed, or if your car was towed, and wasn’t working for some time, you want to make note of what other responsibilities or extra purchases you had to make because of your accident. If you are a one-car household, you want to note how this also affected your family and your everyday life.

Conversations with Insurance Adjusters

Lastly, take notes during any conversation you have with your insurance or the other driver’s insurance adjuster. Note the date, time, and important details given by the person you spoke to. Whether the conversations happened in-person or over the phone, remember to take notes during each time you come in contact with them. Also, if there was no contact made, or if a lot of time lapsed before hearing from insurance companies, take note of this as well, you never know how it could come in handy. You should also try to take note any time you speak to someone about your accident, which includes medical professionals, witnesses, or passengers.

What’s Next?

Depending on the details of your case, having all of these notes will help you whether you decide to follow through with a personal injury case. Speaking to a legal professional and having these notes will be extremely beneficial and will subsequently help you have a stronger case. Of course, in addition to these notes, any other documents about the accident should be included. For example, pictures, police reports, doctors’ notes, etc. If you need more information regarding legal actions, speak to a local injury attorney, and check what your options are.