An injury can change your life in an instant, but a single mistake can also prevent you from getting the compensation you’re entitled to through a personal injury claim. There is no guarantee that every injury lawsuit will have a favorable outcome.
These three mistakes could hurt your personal injury claim.
1. Neglecting Medical Care
You claim that your injury has impacted your everyday live. You can’t work, your family has been affected, and now, you’re experiencing anxiety and depression. But you don’t have any medical documentation to back up your claims. In fact, you only saw a doctor once after your injury.
If the injury had a significant impact on your life, you’d have seen a doctor multiple times throughout the treatment process. Successful personal injury claims typically have well-documented care, diagnosis and treatment.
Perhaps you did see a doctor and documented your treatment, but you failed to:
- Comply with medical advice
- Undergo the recommended procedure
- Follow up with the recommended care and treatment regimens
One of the key most important factors to winning a personal injury settlement is ensuring that you follow the doctor’s advice and document the treatment of your injury.
2. Failure to Preserve Evidence
No personal injury claim can succeed without evidence. Whether you go to trial or settle out of court, you’ll need to prove that the defendant’s actions caused your injury and that your injury has caused you damages.
Evidence can include:
- Photos of the accident scene
- Photos of your injury
- Record of your symptoms
- Contact information of witnesses
- Copy of a police report
The more evidence you have, the better. Failing to preserve crucial evidence can hurt your personal injury claim.
3. Posting on Social Media
Far too often, injury victims make the mistake of posting too much information about their case and injury on social media. Social networks make it easy to post updates on your life, but those updates can and will be used against you.
Let’s say that you claim to be in horrible pain, but you’re posting photos of yourself hiking or smiling and laughing with friends at a party. You may have been in pain while hiking or left the party early because of your injury, but that incriminating photo will paint a very different picture.
Be cautious about what you post on social media, and ask your friends to do the same. If possible, you may want to avoid social networks entirely until after your case is settled.
