If you are injured due to another party’s negligence, you may be entitled to a monetary award that pays your medical bills and compensates you for your pain and suffering. A personal injury lawyer in Long Island from our firm could help you seek fair compensation for your injuries and other damages.
A favorable outcome in these cases is never guaranteed, which makes it crucial that you do everything possible to increase your chances of a fair award. The following tips for getting the best personal injury settlement could put you in a position to secure the compensation you deserve.
Preserve Evidence From Your Accident
Whether you were involved in a motor vehicle collision or injured in a fall on someone else’s property, it is important to preserve as much evidence from the scene of the injury as possible.
The window of time that you have to investigate the scene of your injury is usually short. If you are injured in a car accident, the vehicles could be moved from the roadway in a matter of minutes. In a fall case, the owner or occupier of the property could clean up the cause of your fall in a matter of minutes.
Preserving evidence related to the cause of your injury could strengthen your case and help with settlement negotiations. Photos of an accident scene, contact information for a witness, or video of the hazard that caused a fall are all good examples of important evidence.
Seek Immediate Medical Treatment for Your Injuries
Your health should always come first after an accident. Seeking immediate medical treatment could not only protect your health, but it could also strengthen your potential injury case, as well.
Seeing a doctor following an accident creates a record of your effort to address your medical needs. It could also result in the vital medical records needed to establish your personal injury case.
What’s more, seeing a doctor and following up with the treatment plan could help you avoid any claims that you failed to mitigate your damages. In other words, it could bar the insurance company from alleging you made your injuries worse than necessary.
Do not Jump at the First Settlement Offer
Insurance adjusters are trained to minimize what their employer pays on personal injury cases. For that reason, their initial settlement offers are rarely reasonable. Insurance adjusters are known for pushing lowball offers early in the process with the hope that you will settle for less than you deserve.
The problem is that you only get one chance to resolve your personal injury case. Once you accept a settlement, you cannot seek additional money from the other party.
If you discover you have settled your case for less than you require, your remaining medical bills are your responsibility. Instead of accepting a settlement offer right away, allow your legal counsel to negotiate for what you deserve.
Avoid Any Unnecessary Delays
It is important to avoid any delays in pursuing your case following an injury. A delay could work against you in different ways. For starters, a strong personal injury case requires a comprehensive investigation by your attorney. The longer you wait to contact legal counsel, the more difficult it could be for them to develop evidence in your case.
A delay could even cause you to miss out entirely on your chance for financial compensation. Like all states, New York has a statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits.
Governed by CVP § 214, you generally have three years from the date of your injury to file a lawsuit. If you file your case late, the court could dismiss your lawsuit forever.
Do not Discuss Your Case on Social Media
The insurance company will look for any reason they can to diminish your settlement or deny your claim outright. Given what is at stake, it is crucial that you take the necessary steps to avoid harming your injury case.
Don’t post about the accident on social media. In fact, any social media use could work against you during the settlement process.
Insurance companies are known to scour social media, looking for evidence that plaintiffs are faking their claim or are not as hurt as they claim. Photos of you engaging in physical activity or posts claiming you feel fine after your accident could be used against you.
Secure Help From Our Lawyers and Get the Settlement You are Entitled to
Few tips for getting the best personal injury settlement are more important than your choice of a lawyer. The Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe, LLP is prepared to serve as your advocate following an injury. Our firm will work tirelessly to help you pursue the compensation you deserve.
From gathering evidence to negotiating with claims adjusters to fighting for you in court, if necessary, we will do everything we can to see justice served to you. To get started, call (516) 358-6900 for a free consultation with a compassionate team member today.
For a free legal consultation, call 516-358-6900
The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information and may not be applicable in your jurisdiction.
