After a severe accident or injury, working with an attorney may likely be the last thing you want to do. We get it. Hiring a legal team and providing the required information, evidence, and paperwork can seem like another hassle to add to your worries. You may even consider filing your injury claim without an attorney. While this is legally possible, it comes with plenty of hoops to jump through and protocols to understand.

The Injury Claim Timeline

Before you or someone you know decides to take on their own personal injury case, it’s best to know all the steps first. After an accident, you need to move fairly quickly to file your claim. A rough timeline may require the following:

Calculate ALL the damage: To ensure you receive the proper compensation, you need to include all the damages caused by the accident, such as past and future medical bills, missed wages, emotional distress, property damage, and more.
Determine who is responsible: You must identify who is actually responsible for the accident. This can be a person, a company, or another entity.
Collect all your evidence: Proving your claim is one of the most critical parts of the process, and you need to have all the evidence at your disposal to justify it.
Write your demand letter: A demand letter includes all the information about the accident, injuries, treatment, and official request for compensation.
Review your settlement offer: If all goes as planned, the insurer will provide you with a settlement offer. Examine the request carefully and ensure it is enough to cover your expenses.
Negotiate, if needed: Is the offer not enough? Then, you will have to counter the offer and continue negotiations. If both parties cannot settle, you must go to court.

Not every injury claim progresses the same, but this timeline outlines what you can expect. Of course, in each of these steps, there’s plenty of room for errors that can cost you your settlement. Poor evidence, the statute of limitations, and underestimated damages are common mistakes people make when representing themselves.

With the Harmonson Law team, you never have to undergo this journey alone. We want to take all the stress off your shoulders so you can focus on healing and recovery. If you or someone you know has recently experienced an accident or severe injury, call (915) 233-6427.

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