Why It's So Important To Document Your Claim

A picture is absolutely worth a thousand words when it comes to winning injury claims. Photographs of the accident scene, the damage to the vehicles and the actual injuries are crucial in every case. Pictures help the attorneys, the insurance adjusters and the jury to understand how the accident happened, as well as the nature and extent of the injuries. While memories always fade, photographs last forever and really help illustrate exactly what went on.

Like memories, bruises fade over time and photographs help document what bruises looked like in the time right after the accident. It's also very important to document your injuries as time goes on with photographs so as not to limit yourself to a few photos taken in the week right after the accident. For example, scars change in complexity and nature and should be photographed periodically. Also, you might be in a cast, on crutches or in a wheelchair for a period of time after your accident. That can be a miserable time in your life and photographs of you in such condition will be very helpful later on to show others just how bad your situation was.

More often than not, injured parties look perfectly healthy when they walk into a court room. It might be two years (or more) after the initial accident before a jury finally gets to see the injured party. By then, the casts are removed, the crutches are stored away and it's hard to tell that the victim was ever even in an accident. Photographs will certainly help paint a picture of what really went on during the painful recovery period.

It's equally important to keep up with all of the paperwork relating to your claim. Most of the paperwork has to do with your medical bills. The paper trail will help make sure that your attorney is able to later document all of your medical expenses. Keep a copy of any document the doctor gives you regarding missed time from work or work restrictions. There's a chance this information will not be recorded in the doctor's medical chart. Papers or notes like these might very well be needed to support, or legitimize, any lost wages that you incur.

At initial meetings with our clients, we give each client a folder and tell them to use it to keep every piece of paper even remotely related to their claim in it. We also tell them to call our office if the folder gets full and we'll send them another. Then for each client meeting, they bring their folder to the meeting and we make copies of everything we need. That way, we're assured our office has all of the relevant documentation to help win the case for each of our clients.

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Contact the Anderson Law Firm online, or by calling 817-294-1900 for a free consultation on your rights.