Personal Injury - Frequently Asked Questions
If you have been injured because of someone else's conduct, you may have a personal injury claim. Once you've been injured, what do you do? First, take care of yourself and your injuries. You may go to the emergency room and leave the same day, or you may spend several days or weeks in the hospital. Soon after your accident, you might be contacted by a claims adjuster to provide a statement of the accident. An attorney can help you decide whether you should provide a statement and can even be present when you give your statement.
The days and weeks after your injury is a critical time to obtain evidence, such as speaking to witnesses and taking photographs of the accident scene. Witnesses may move or die before your case goes to trial and the accident scene may be changed, in some cases almost immediately, from its post-accident condition. You can bet the insurance company you'll be fighting against is talking to witnesses and taking pictures; an attorney can put you on equal footing early in your case.
Once you are released from the emergency room or hospital, or even if you saw your primary physician days after the accident, you may have subsequent treatment for your accident-related injuries. This treatment may be intense and expensive. If you have health insurance you may think your health insurance company will pay for your accident related treatment. Depending on where you are, this may not be true. In Maryland, if you were in a car accident, your own insurance may pay a portion of your medical expenses and your lost wages. See, Maryland Insurance Code 19-505. You may, however, have waived your right to PIP coverage when you bought your auto insurance. An attorney can help you figure out whether you can recover from your own insurer.
After your accident, you might feel overwhelmed and frightened. Consulting with an attorney can help you feel better emotionally and allow you to focus on recovering from your injuries. Many attorneys offer free consultations and can discuss options regarding your possible injury. You may think you can navigate the insurance payments, medical expenses and negotiate a settlement by yourself, but personal injury is a complex area of law and, if you make a mistake, you may prevent yourself from ever bringing a lawsuit and recovering money that is actually owed to you because of someone else's actions.
What to do next?
