Do You Deserve Compensation After An Injury – After suffering from an injury, the last thing on most people’s minds is compensation. They are not so worried about the financial impact of the injury as they are the actual recovery. As long as their health isn’t too badly affected, most people won’t claim for an injury they suffer. But is this always good news? Well, it’s good news for the person who caused the injury because they get off scot-free. But what about you, the victim? Unfortunately, the answer is most likely no.
What If You Don’t Claim?
Do You Deserve Compensation After An Injury – If you don’t claim on an injury, you probably have assumed it hasn’t affected your life too much. You can move on without compensation. After all, it’s not like it meant that you couldn’t work. It didn’t even leave you with expensive medical bills that you couldn’t afford. Legally, there might not be any damages that you can see at all. However, you need to be careful with this assumption. Injuries are tricky, and the true effects often present themselves years after the incident.
Let’s imagine that you fell in a shopping mall and hurt your back. You slipped on a wet floor that wasn’t clearly marked, or you had an accident in your work environment. In the TV shows when this happens, there’s always a lawyer standing by to hand the victim a card. Reality doesn’t work that way, and the first thing that will happen is someone will try to make it look like your fault. They may even attempt to make you admit guilt or liability. They’ll try to make you forget that it’s their fault for not warning about the wet floor.
But let’s say that you get up and don’t feel or see any sign of injury. In fact, since you don’t feel like there’s anything wrong you don’t even go to the doctor. There’s a worse case scenario to take into consideration. You could have hit your head when you fell, suffering a concussion. A few days later, you die, and no one is sure what happened. Best case scenario, a few weeks later you start to feel a pain in your back. You take meds, but it doesn’t fade or disappear. Instead, it becomes chronic to the point where you find it difficult to work. Now you do need compensation for that injury. Unfortunately, though, you have no way to prove that’s what caused your pain.
Always Explore The Possibility
Do You Deserve Compensation After An Injury – This is why you should always think about making a claim after an accident, even if you feel fine. You might feel great like nothing could harm you, it doesn’t matter. The effects of the injury could present themselves later.
If you speak to a doctor first, they’ll tell you if there is any reason to be worried. Until you have taken an opinion from a medical professional, don’t dismiss the possibility of a claim. Once you have that opinion, you should always speak to a lawyer. A personal injury lawyer will tell you if you are entitled to claim for any damage caused. However, if you want to make a claim, you will always need evidence. That’s why you can’t think about the possibility of the accident. You need to start considering the possibility as soon as the incident occurs.
This might sound like money grabbing behaviour, but it isn’t. You will be protecting your interests just as the person who caused the injury will be protecting theirs. You won’t realise this, but as soon as the incident occurs, the person accountable will be looking for ways to avoid paying. They might hide evidence, or they may change the scene to make it look like safety measures were in place. They will certainly put up a wet floor sign before you’re even up off the ground.
In this situation, you have to think the worst of people. Otherwise, you’ll lose any chance of claiming compensation that one day, you might need.
Worried About Court?
Do You Deserve Compensation After An Injury – There’s a good reason that a lot of people avoid claiming on compensation. They don’t want to end up in a courtroom arguing their case. If you feel that way, it’s completely understandable. No one wants to end up in a courtroom being forced to defend themselves. But in most cases, you won’t have to. Personal injury lawsuits rarely ever get to trial. Most are settled outside of court with a fair amount of compensation agreed between the two parties. This is particularly true when the defendant is a business rather than an individual. They would rather pay up and avoid the bad publicity.
As you can see, there are important reasons to make a compensation claims. The injury could have affected you more than you realise.
Ingrid Maldine is a business writer, editor and management consultant with extensive experience writing and consulting for both start-ups and long established companies. She has ten years management and leadership experience gained at BSkyB in London and Viva Travel Guides in Quito, Ecuador, giving her a depth of insight into innovation in international business. With an MBA from the University of Hull and many years of experience running her own business consultancy, Ingrid’s background allows her to connect with a diverse range of clients, including cutting edge technology and web-based start-ups but also multinationals in need of assistance. Ingrid has played a defining role in shaping organizational strategy for a wide range of different organizations, including for-profit, NGOs and charities. Ingrid has also served on the Board of Directors for the South American Explorers Club in Quito, Ecuador.
