Did you know, according to the Centers for Disease Control, auto accidents cost Americans $99 billion a year in medical expenses and lost productivity in the workplace? Luckily, most injuries are not terribly severe. Whiplash, sprains, and the like are very common injuries. However, every 10 seconds an American driver has to go to the emergency room so that they can be treated for serious injuries. This latter category is the main driver behind people filing accident injury claims.
If you’ve been injured in a car accident and your repair and medical bills are mounting, you should consider filing a car accident injury claim. You won’t necessarily have to secure the services of experienced injury lawyers, but you need to at least file an auto accident injury claim with insurance providers if you want to recoup your losses. To do so successfully, you should keep the following in mind.
Nobody is Going to Take Your Word for It
The thing you need to realize immediately is that no judge or insurance agency is going to take your medical claims seriously without documented proof of the accident and your injuries. That’s why GEICO recommends you get both a police report for your accident and records from your doctor proving that you are in fact having trouble. Without either document, your chances of receiving recompense for your accident injury claim drop significantly.
You Don’t Have Unlimited Time to Make a Claim
As NOLO.com writes, you don’t have forever to decide whether or not you’re going to make a claim to recoup your medical and repair expenses. Each insurance agency has different policies on the statue of limitations for filing a claim. Likewise, each state places limitations on how long you can wait to file a personal injury suit. Some states will allow you up to a year to file an accident injury claim, while others have shorter or longer periods.
Document Your Expenses
Beyond seeking damages for your medical injury, if you want to recoup all of your financial losses following an accident, you need to keep detailed records of all your resulting expenses. AllLaw.com suggests keeping track of your receipts for medications, rehab appointments, repair bills, and the like to present a strong case in court. Doing so, you have a chance to be reimbursed for those expenses.
Realize That You Don’t Have to Go Right to Court
The U.S. has earned a reputation of being the land of frivolous lawsuits. We sue for everything, but as any personal injury accident lawyer worth their salt will tell you, the first step in an accident injury claim shouldn’t be a lawsuit. Try and have your bills covered by the at-fault party’s insurance agency before deciding to go to court.
Filing an accident injury claim is important to getting on with your life. However, you need to follow these tips if you want to be successful in your endeavors, whether you wind up needing to go to court or not. Learn more: St. louis auto accident attorney