Often when people are injured in an accident of any sort, they find themselves surprised, confused or otherwise bewildered. It’s often not so easy to remember the proper steps to take to protect your rights and preserve your ability to collect compensation for your injuries and other losses.
One thing that is very important to remember is to notify those who may be responsible for your injuries of your intent to file a personal injury claim. The notice is important because the responsible party may not always be aware that an injury that they may be responsible for even occurred.
Say, for instance, a restaurant delivery truck driver turns a corner and accidentally clips a pedestrian in the intersection in the process. The pedestrian falls and breaks their wrist but the driver was unaware that an accident even occurred and kept driving to their destination. It would be important to notify responsible parties if your intent is to pursue damages to remedy your injuries.
Notifying responsible individuals in writing simply documents that the defendant is made aware that an accident occurred and that injuries resulted. It is not necessary that that notice entails a great many specifics about the accident or even discusses fault or injuries. It is only important that notice be given to those who may be responsible and that that notice is given shortly after the accident. You simply do not want a defendant to be taken by surprise by the personal injury claim.
Now, it may not always be easy to identify the responsible party in accident cases. And sometimes there are multiple parties that need to be notified. Premises liability cases involving slip and falls, commercial trucking accidents, dog bite cases are all complex and depending upon the circumstances may involve more than one individual (e.g. being bitten by a dog walked by a dog walking service may involve notifying the dog’s owner, the dog walking service owner and the dog walker).
It’s also important to know what damages you may be eligible for. Damages are not always limited to medical fees (see our blog post on possible damages in personal injury cases). That’s one reason it is important to obtain the counsel of an experienced personal injury attorney like those of Bizzieri Law Offices in Chicago. Our practiced accident attorneys are skilled at protecting your rights to compensation: identifying all possible damages in your case; preserving evidence; documenting injuries and medical treatment; and identifying responsible parties to ensure we recover the highest awards possible for our clients.
If you’re looking for an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer to help navigate your personal injury claim, we will fight assiduously for your right to the compensation you deserve. Call Bizzieri Law Offices at 773.881.9000. The case evaluation is free, and we never charge a fee unless we recover damages for you.