What is an Injury Claim
Though no concrete definition exits for Inury Claims, but Inury Claims can be described as a compensation demanded for injuries caused to you due to any accident, like that due to negligence of the employer in the office, or due to any other hurts or unintentional injuries. The main thing to note here is that you, as a claimant of the Inury Claims, have to be the victim and must have suffered some injuries, else you loose the eligibility for making an Inury Claim.
What are the different types of Injury Claims?
Injury claims can be made for many types of injuries. It can be as simple case as of you slipping while walking in a pavement or can be a serious case of you meeting an accident at the factory site due the negligence of your coworkers or your employers or say you visit an amusement park and there you get hurt or injured while walking up a damaged ramp. All these qualify for Injury Claims. As available on the various sites on the internet and print media, here are some broad categories and types of Injury Claims
• Slip, trip and fall accident
• Factory based injuries
• Driving based (work related) injuries
• Heavy machinery/equipment related injuries
• Office based injuries (again workplace)
• Retail based injuries
• Warehouse based injuries
What proof or evidence is required to make Injury Claims?
Here is a simple rule - The more you have, the better. Collect as much evidence as possible. Evidence can be in the form of pictures (taken from your mobile phones), videos, and most effective ones - the eye-witnesses. Let's take a simple example: You are walking through an underground pavement and you slip on the stairs and hurt your leg because there no proper light in the pavement.
What evidence can be collected here? First, if you are accompanied by anyone like a friend or relative, that will be great as he/she can provide proof for you as an eye-witness.
In case you are alone, then first take care of yourself and your injury, because if due to any delay in treatment of injury, you may end up in a much worse situation then having the pleasure of getting compensation through Injury Claims. So make sure that you take care of your injury first instetad of running after collecting proof.
Then, once you are ready to collect evidence, start looking for substantial evidence which can prove failure of lightening in the pavement. Say you may use your camera equipped mobile phone to take photos or video of the bulbs that are not functioning and also take pics of bulbs that are on, so as to prove your point with a comparison. A more effective proof will be take a video through your mobile phone, if it has the facility.
In case you slipped in the pavement due to improper path or garbage not being cleaned up, then take pictures of the affected areas filled with garbage or having a slippery path. If you accidently hurt your arm by brushing againsted a rusted iron gate or railing, then take pics of the same.
Then, if someone is kind enough to help you once you are injured, ask them politely if they can volunteer to be witnesses for your injury. Take their names and contact details and that will be immensely helpful in proving your point while making an Injury Claim.
After you have collected everything you believe is sufficient for evidence for Injury Claim, make sure you WRITE DOWN the things on a paper. It is possible that you may forget many things and omissions of those may make you ineligible for Injury Claim.
What to do for Injury Claim after collecting evidence?
First, take care of your injury. Go to a hospital or doctor and ensure that you get the required treatment. After you get the necessary first level treatment, make sure you take a certificate from the doctor or hospital mentioning the cause of injury, how it was treated and also take receipts of all the expenses incurred while taking the treatment - all these will form the basis of your Injury Claims. The doctor's certificate should clearly state the type and extent of injuries suffered.
Also, take an estimate from the hospital or doctor about the total expenditure to be incurred in complete treatment of the injury. Also ask him to provide the no. of days it will take to cure the injury. Ensure that you add all of these up to come up with the claim amount. The no. of days for treatment can also enhance your claim amount if you can prove that the injury forced you to take leave from work and hence you should be compensated for your loss of leaves or work-days.
Next, Go to the nearest police station or government community center and register your case.
Then hire a solicitor for your case against the concerned party. You can add the fee of the solicitor to the injury claim amount. Best will be to hire a solicitor who can work on a no win no fee basis.
Do I really need a solicitor for injury claim?
That depends and is not sure. Most of the injury claims are settled on mutual consent, i.e. out of court, so once you hace collected enough evidence, you can directly complain to the concerned authority or organization. Do not forget to mention that if they do not respond, you will be taking them to the court. If they show interest in having a settlement out of court, that's well and good for you as both the parties can save time, effort, energy and money for solicitors.
Sometimes, it is better to go for free legal counseling before approaching a solicitor as these legal counsel can also help you without a fee and get you your injury claim amount.
However, some people are of the opinion that even if the concerned party is willing to go for out of court settlement, then also you should visit a solicitor because he can help you get the maximum claim in the best possible way. His fee can also be claimed as a part of Injury Claim. So it remains a personal choice.
Anything else about making an injury claim?
First, take care of yourself if you are injured or hurt
Second, dont be greedy, its a claim for your injury, not a lottery. Remember, the more you claim from a public organization or authority, the more you will cause them to loose for public services.
Three, always volunteer to be a witness if you find someone else being hurt and requires your help for the Injury Claims
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