Each personal injury claim will have a different outcome, even if you suffer similar injuries under similar circumstances to another victim. Many factors can contribute to the compensation you may recover for your injuries. However, most people will claim the same general elements of compensation as they manage their personal injury claims. o Compensation for your medical bills. After a serious accident, you may find yourself dealing with substantial medical bills. Unfortunately, those medical bills may continue to grow as you undergo considerable treatment for your injuries. The more treatment you need, the more medical bills you may have—not just your immediate, emergency medical bills, but also the cost of long-term hospitalization, procedures, and surgeries to help treat your injuries, and the cost of therapy to aid in your recovery. Track all medical costs associated with your accident so that you can more easily include them as part of your personal injury claim. o Compensation for lost wages. It may take time before you can go back to work after your accident. Many serious injuries, from broken bones to traumatic brain injury, can prevent you from completing your usual work tasks. You may have a hard time doing any lifting, dealing with customers, or even maintaining the focus necessary to handle your job duties. Your boss may not want you to come back to work until you have moved further through your recovery, due to potential liability issues the company can face if you remain on the job while healing. Those lost wages can leave you in a financial bind during a period when you may already have substantial issues to deal with. Fortunately, you could claim compensation for those injuries through a personal injury claim. o Compensation for pain and suffering. When it comes to medical bills and lost income, you can point to tangible dollar amounts: specific amounts you lost because of your injuries. When it comes to pain and suffering, on the other hand, it can take more effort to prove exactly what you have suffered. An attorney can help you detail your suffering and give you a better idea of how to include it in your personal injury claim. In addition to your losses related to the accident, the party that caused your accident, and the insurance policy that covers that entity, can impact the compensation you may receive for those injuries. Consult an attorney to learn more about that insurance policy and the coverage carried by the individual as well as how those elements may impact your personal injury claim.

At Emscot Law Group, we will start with a free consultation to go over your injuries and your claim and assess the compensation you may deserve. Then, we accept many of our clients on a contingent fee basis. Instead of requiring payment upfront for your legal fees, we would take payment from a percentage of your personal injury claim. For many clients, this payment method makes legal assistance much more affordable in the aftermath of a serious accident, during a time when you might have more trouble with your finances due to increasing medical bills and the inability to go back to work.

A lawyer can offer advantages to your personal injury claim. First and foremost, an attorney can help you better understand the compensation you really deserve for your injuries. Often, people who sustain serious injuries have no idea how much compensation they should pursue, which can make it difficult for them to make decisions about settlement offers and the compensation they deserve. At Emscot Law Group, we work with our clients to help ensure that they fully understand their legal rights when filing a personal injury claim. Next, an attorney can help investigate the accident and identify all parties that may share liability for your injuries. In many personal injury scenarios, more than one party ultimately bears liability for the accident. Sometimes, that can increase the compensation you may receive for those injuries. Finally, an attorney can help support you throughout the process, from putting together a compelling claim to dealing with the insurance company that covers the liable party on your behalf. At Emscot Law Group, we focus on making sure that our clients receive support and guidance as they move through their personal injury claims. We help reduce the stress often associated with the serious injuries our clients have suffered and provide them with guidance as they make vital decisions about the next steps in their claims.

Most of the time, personal injury claims will settle out of court. Going to court can substantially increase the overall costs associated with the claim, and many insurance companies will try to avoid that added expense if at all possible. Unfortunately, in some cases, you may still need to go to court to receive the compensation you deserve. This is more likely if the insurance company wants to contest liability in the accident. If you do need to go to court to settle your claim, having an attorney on your side can be vital.

You should expect it to take some time to reach a settlement agreement regarding your personal injury claim. First, both your attorney and the liable party’s insurance company will need to conduct a full investigation into the accident, including taking a look at your injuries and the suffering you have faced because of the accident. Sometimes, your attorney may recommend waiting until you have a full assessment of what your recovery will look like and what your long-term medical bills will cost before moving forward with a personal injury claim. Next, you may need to go through several rounds of negotiation with the liable party before arriving at a reasonable settlement agreement. Each round of negotiation takes time as you and your attorney work to maximize the compensation you can receive for your injuries.

Often, the liable party’s insurance company will get in touch with you shortly after your accident to issue a settlement offer. That offer may look incredibly tempting, especially as your other bills continue to add up. Unfortunately, the insurance company may be trying to take advantage of your lack of legal experience and try to convince you to accept a low settlement offer. Talk to a personal injury attorney before accepting a settlement offer. An attorney can help go over your accident, the insurance policy, and your right to compensation and give you a better idea of how much compensation you should really expect for your injuries.

Insurance companies may attempt to use a variety of tactics to reduce the compensation you can receive for your injuries, especially in the case of severe accidents and catastrophic injuries, which may have much higher overall costs. In addition to issuing a low settlement offer immediately after the accident, they may: o Try to pressure you into taking a settlement offer fast. The insurance company may try to insist that you have a limited amount of time to accept a settlement and that you need to make a fast decision—often one that will not give you time to consult with a lawyer. You may even fall under pressure to accept an offer immediately, rather than having time to think through the compensation you deserve. An attorney, however, can help prevent you from feeling as much pressure from those tactics, providing you with a better overall understanding of the law and your rights. o Attempt to prove that you caused the accident. In some personal injury claims, the insurance company may try to establish that your negligence, rather than the negligence of your client, ultimately caused the accident and your injuries. Instead of admitting fault, the liable party may try to show that you committed actions that resulted in your injury or that you deliberately caused your own injuries. o Try to show that you did not suffer as much as you claimed from your injuries. The insurance company may attempt to prove that your injuries do not cause the limitations you claim or even that you did not suffer the injuries you actually sustained in your accident. By working with an attorney, you can avoid many of these tactics and help increase the odds that you will ultimately receive the compensation you deserve.

The statute of limitations will define how long you have to file a personal injury claim in Florida. However, several conditions could change the statute of limitations in your specific claim, from the need to file a claim against a government entity to needing to file a claim for a child who suffered serious injuries in an accident. Talk to a personal injury attorney as soon after your accident as possible to get a better idea of how long you may have to file a personal injury claim. An attorney can help start the claim process and help ensure that you do not miss out on the compensation you deserve because of your injuries. By contacting an attorney as soon as possible after your accident, you can also make the claim investigation easier. Often, evidence can prove more difficult to find as more time goes by after the accident. Witnesses no longer have the same sharp memory of the incident. Premises owners may redo the property to remove potential hazards or erase the signs of an accident. Even video footage can disappear quickly, especially if you do not take the time to secure it. An attorney can start working to collect and keep that information shortly after your accident, which can help protect your right to compensation.

The actions you take immediately after your accident can, in some cases, have a serious impact on the compensation you can ultimately claim for your injuries. Even if you do not follow the right steps immediately, however, doing your best to follow these steps can make a big difference in your legal right to a personal injury claim. o Prioritize medical care. Any time you have an accident due to another party’s negligence, let a doctor look you over and evaluate the extent of your injuries. A doctor’s care will both help establish that you do not have further injuries and provide evidence of when your injuries took place. o Report the accident. If you have a car accident, report the accident to the police. If you have an accident in a store or at work, report it to the relevant entity. Reporting the accident provides a record of when the accident took place. o Take pictures. If possible, take pictures of the accident scene, from what led to your accident to your specific injuries. Do not put yourself in further danger to collect evidence, but do try to document the scene. o Contact an attorney. As soon as possible after your accident, get in touch with a personal injury attorney. An attorney can help you learn more about your right to compensation and aid you as you file a personal injury claim. Contact Emscot Law Group today to get started.

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