If you have suffered a personal injury, you will probably want to know how to claim compensation. Personal injury, in legal terms, is any kind of injury or accident that was somebody else’s fault. This could be anything from medical malpractice to a construction site accident. In some cases, you can even claim when there was no fault, but that would depend on the correct insurance being in place.
In most cases, it is best to hire a lawyer to handle your personal injury case. However, sometimes you might want to know how to claim compensation for yourself. This can be the best way forward for a small claim, or if you cannot find a lawyer who will take your case.
So how do you set about claiming compensation for personal injury cases? Here are some of the steps that you need to cover.
1. Talk To Witnesses
At the time of the accident, you or someone with you should have taken contact details for anybody who witnessed the accident. Now is the time to talk to those witnesses and find out what they are planning to say. Usually if you tell witnesses that you are planning to claim compensation, they will want to help you out. It is important that you reach the witnesses first, so that the other party does not try to persuade them around to another point of view. Prepare a statement of the witness’s evidence and have them sign it.
2. How To Claim Compensation From Insurance Company
The next step is to find out whether the person or company that injured you is covered by insurance. If they are, you can probably claim from their insurance company. But note that sometimes, if the claim is small, somebody who is insured will prefer not to claim from their insurance because of the higher insurance costs that might result. In that case they will try to negotiate with you themselves, at least in the beginning.
Your opening letter to the insurance company just needs to inform them that an incident leading to a claim has taken place. You should state the name and address of their customer (the person or company who is insured with them) and the date and location of the accident. Then tell them that you are writing with regard to a claim for personal injury that you suffered in an accident involving their customer. Give your own contact details of course.
And that is all you need to say at this stage. You do not have to give any details of how you were injured. You do not even have to say that you plan to claim compensation.
If the other party was not insured or you do not have the details of their insurance company, you will need to write to them. The letter is the same except that you can also ask them to notify their insurance company.
3. Avoid Making Statements
The insurance company will contact you and may ask you to make a statement, either written or tape recorded. Be very careful about this, because you can easily be trapped into admissions that will hurt your case. Avoid tape recorded interviews completely. If you have to make a statement, ask the investigator to give you the questions that you need to reply to and then write your statement in your own time. Think about the implications of everything that you say before you send it in, and maybe discuss it with a friend or adviser who may see problems that you had not seen yourself. In short, when you know how to claim compensation in the best way, you will not let the investigator interview you for a statement, either in person or on the telephone.
