What to Do When You Have a Personal Injury Claim

An auto accident creates a confusing situation for everyone involved. At a time when you most need to be able to think clearly and operate fully, you may be physically impaired, emotionally stressed, or mentally strained. In our attorney’s experience, many San Antonio residents simply do not know where to begin dealing with the cost and personal demands that can develop in an accident.

We do not blame anyone for reacting this way—even as lawyers and professionals who know what to do after an auto accident, the experience can still be upsetting and disruptive. That is why we believe every person injured in a San Antonio car accident deserves to have an experienced San Antonio personal injury claim lawyer that understands what they are going through and knows how to walk them through what to do when you have a personal injury claim.

The first steps you should take after an accident are to record as many facts and as much evidence as possible. Our impulse as humans is to rely on our recollected version of events as proof of how what happened really happened. While it is true that any San Antonio police officers who arrive at the scene will take a statement from you, the other driver, and any witnesses, insurance companies, as well as juries, typically view such testimony as inadmissible, due to the way our sensations of time and space are altered when we are in danger. While our attorneys cannot do much to alter this legal precedent, we can use our extensive knowledge of personal injury law to corroborate and support your statements with other cases showing similar circumstances.

Be sure to take as many photos of the accident as possible—the more information we have, the better prepared we can be to argue for greater amounts of compensation later. Also keep track of every document you are handed and make a copy of each. This includes receipts for medication, taxi fare, bandages, iodine, pre-made meals, phone calls and texts, doctors appointments, etc. Our lawyers want to make sure you do not pay a single cent towards your recovery that is not covered by your compensation.

As silly as keeping track of the cost of a bottle of hydrogen peroxide might seem, it is the evidence of spending, rather than the amount, that helps convince a San Antonio court to award you a greater amount of damages. In other words, categories of spending and the evidence to back up said categories can be more important than the amounts spent.

After the dust has settled somewhat and you are ready to continue the process of what to do when you have a personal injury claim, contact the law firm of Carabin Shaw. Self-representation might seem like a good way to save yourself some money, but after more than two decades advocating for the rights of auto accident victims, our attorneys have rarely seen such cases do more than cause a lot of headache for the injured party.

Insurance companies are expert at denying individual claims on a number of bases. Their most-used and most-effective practice involves stringing the legal process out for as long as possible, causing most plaintiffs to give up. There is no reason for you to try to go it alone, especially under what are almost certainly difficult circumstances for you physically, emotionally, and mentally.

If you are at all unsure of what to do when you have a personal injury claim and need someone to help you sort through your options, call Carabin Shaw to set up a free consultation today at 800-862-1260.