1. If you have had an accident or somehow suffered an injury, then your priority must be your own wellbeing. Seek help and treatment fast.
2. Even if your injuries do not seem severe, it might still be a good idea to seek medical attention. This will serve two purposes. Most importantly it will help to ensure that you receive any treatment that you need. It will also help to record and document the injuries and how they occurred.
3. How injuries and the cause of them are recorded in the very earliest medical notes often proves very important if a claim is later made. Any inconsistencies or inaccuracies can harm a potential injury claim.
4. After making sure first that your wellbeing is being addressed, think about gathering and securing evidence. Are there any witnesses, is there any CCTV, is there any physical evidence, like a damaged vehicle or damaged work equipment that could be photographed? Try to secure this evidence, or, if you are not in a fit state to do so, ask someone you trust to do this. It is a good idea to have this permanently recorded somewhere; perhaps written down or saved on a phone or camera.
6. Record also the injuries suffered, the treatment received and where that treatment took place.
7. Keep details of all financial losses suffered. If you are in doubt about what losses or expenses might or might not be accident or injury related, then record them all anyway, just in case.
8. I often advise clients to keep a diary to record all of the treatment, events and expenses at the time that they are happening. Trying to remember all of this months or years later is difficult unless it has been captured and recorded.
9. If there is any investigation after the accident/injury, perhaps by an employer or the police, the HSE etc, then keep details of that investigation and keep any papers or emails that relate to it.
10. Time limits apply to the making of any claim, so if you want to know if you might have a claim, call a specialist lawyer as soon as you feel well enough to discuss what has happened. The lawyer should be happy to speak to you for free at the outset, we certainly do, so feel free to call me, John Ibbotson, or my colleague Rebecca Wood, on 0113 3571165.
11. Another reason for talking to a lawyer pretty soon is that it is possible that bringing a claim can help with your treatment and rehabilitation. In strong claims, especially where the injuries are serious, the insurers who might be meeting the claim are often prepared to fund treatment, rehabilitation and support in addition to the standard treatment that you are receiving.
If you have any questions or would just like a chat about an accident or injury that you have suffered then please just give me, John Ibbotson or my colleague, Rebecca Wood a free call on 0113 3571165
