A personal injury might not sound like a legal case since the word personal implies otherwise, but it is actually one of the more common types of legal case. That is because personal injuries occur frequently throughout the country and the people who suffer those injuries will end up having a lot of expenses that need to be taken care of. They include medical expenses, repair bills if they experienced any property damage, and lost wages due to missing work while they recover.
However, a personal injury case needs to have very specific elements before it can legally be considered a personal injury. If you do have a legitimate personal injury case, then you need to contact a personal injury attorney to help you. Experienced attorneys, such as those at 1800injured.care, recommend this because an attorney can help the injured person file their injury claim, negotiate with the insurance company, and file a lawsuit if that becomes necessary. So be sure to contact a personal injury attorney if your claim has all of the elements laid out below.
The Perpetrator Had to Exercise a Duty of Care
A duty of care means that a person has to behave the way a reasonable person would in a similar situation. That means they must exhibit care and concern for the safety of others especially in potentially dangerous situations. That means, for example, a driver must obey all the traffic laws and keep their attention on the road. In the case of a store owner, they must make sure that their store is safe and free of hazards; if a hazard does occur, then they should either fix it or provide a clear warning so that customers can avoid it.
The Perpetrator Breached Their Duty of Care
A breach of the duty of care means that a person failed to exercise reasonable care and caution in a situation that could cause harm to another person. That could mean a person who is texting while they are driving or a doctor who fails to give a patient the proper follow up care after treatment. The breach of duty does not have to be malicious, it simply has to be that the person who needed to exercise their duty of care was negligent in doing so.
The Breach of Duty Led to an Accident
A breach of the duty of care is bad on its own but that breach must have led to an accident that caused an injury. The person who caused the accident does not have to be 100% responsible for the accident occurring, but their negligence must have contributed to it in a significant way. The reason is that some states award damages based on a person’s contributory negligence for the accident. So if the person who suffered the personal injury is deemed to be 25% responsible for the accident, then they will receive 75% of the damages they would have received if they had no fault at all.
The Accident Caused Losses
This simply means that the accident caused damages like medical expenses, repair bills, or lost wages. If a person did not suffer any injuries, or only suffered minor injuries, then they do not have a valid personal injury case.
Contact an Attorney if You Suffered a Personal Injury
If you have been in an accident that contains all four of the elements of a personal injury case, then you need to contact an attorney as soon as you can. You will need compensation to take care of the expenses caused by the accident and a personal injury attorney can help you to get the payout that you deserve.