Injury Quick Start Guide
If you have been injured in an accident in New Jersey or Pennsylvania, taking these steps can help protect your right to seek financial compensation for your medical bills and other losses.
Following a vehicle collision, fall, or other serious accident, it is important not to make mistakes that could jeopardize your legal rights. If another person or a large corporation is responsible for your injuries, you could have a claim for significant financial compensation. With the life-changing losses that often stem from a serious accident (unfortunately, most people do not realize the full extent of their losses), protecting your claim can be essential to making a full physical, emotional and financial recovery.
This Injury Quick Start Guide is intended as a resource – a sort of “first stop” – for individuals who have been injured in accidents in New Jersey or Pennsylvania. For advice specific to your personal circumstances, we encourage you to contact us for a free consultation.
- Collect Evidence to Support Your Claim - If you are physically able to do so, following an accident you should try to collect as much evidence (or potential evidence) as possible. Ask any witnesses for their names and phone numbers and take lots of photos (you can never have too many) of the accident scene, vehicle damage, and any visible injuries. In an auto accident, you should also be sure to obtain a copy of the police report as well.
- Seek Prompt Medical Attention - You should see a doctor, even if you think you feel fine. The adrenaline from an accident can often mask serious injuries – injuries that can get worse without prompt medical attention. To protect your health and your claim to financial compensation, see a doctor as soon as possible after the accident.
- Follow Your Doctor’s Advice - Just as important as seeing a doctor is following your doctor’s advice regarding treatment. Returning to work too soon or blowing off a physical therapy session can harm both your physical and financial recovery.
- Avoid the Insurance Companies - The insurance companies want to settle your claim quickly and for as little as possible. Unfortunately, if you aren’t experienced in dealing with insurance adjusters (and most people aren’t) it is easy to make mistakes that can negatively affect your claim. Avoiding these mistakes is simple: Don’t talk to the insurance companies. Let your personal injury lawyer deal with the adjusters on your behalf.
- Stay Off of Social Media - Finally, resist the urge to post photos or talk about the accident on social media. There is a strong chance that the insurance companies and defense lawyers involved in your case will be monitoring your accounts for information they can use against you. Along with ill-advised posts (such as an admission that you were speeding at the time of the accident), even something like a photo of a trip to the beach can have damaging effects if you are supposed to be at home nursing an injury.