How Can I Contribute to My Truck Accident Claim?

If you’re planning on filing a truck accident claim and you’ve decided to enlist legal help, you’re off to a great start. While injured parties have every right to represent themselves during such proceedings, they have enough to worry about without having to investigate the wreck, log the resulting damages, or correspond with the opposing party.

Just because your attorney will handle virtually all the logistics of your case, however, doesn’t mean you can’t support their efforts. To bolster your claim—and ensure you can pursue the maximum payout possible—try to do the following:

1. Follow All Medical Advice

As a personal injury claimant, you have an obligation to mitigate damages. Put another way, you’re expected to take reasonable measures to reduce the losses you incur because of your condition.

This generally starts by seeking prompt medical care and then following all your doctor’s orders once you’re released from the hospital. If you were to ignore your physician’s advice and you ended up suffering complications, the opposing party could probably shift some liability your way. This, in turn, would decrease the amount of compensation you’d be entitled to recover.

2. Preserve Documentation of Damages

Truck accident victims may only pursue compensation for the damages they can prove they actually incurred. As such, you’re going to want to save all the receipts, invoices, and statements that correspond to your injury-related expenses. If you’re unable to work, you should also log every missed shift, so you can include lost wages in the settlement negotiations.

3. Keep a Low Profile on Social Media

Once your claim is underway, the insurance adjuster will probably monitor your online activity. The easiest way to avoid giving them any cause to challenge your credibility is by staying off social media entirely. If that’s not possible, at least be judicious about what you post. Additionally, remind all your friends and loved ones of your pending claim, and ask that they refrain from including you in their own content.

4. Write in a Daily Journal

When it comes to proving the extent of non-economic damages like pain and suffering, detailed journal entries are one of the most widely accepted forms of evidence. Truck accident attorneys encourage victims to start writing in a personal injury journal as soon as possible after the wreck. If you’re not sure what to record, start each entry by recounting:

Any doctor’s appointments you attended that day,
The progress of your recovery,
Your mental state,
Your physical state, and
Hurdles you faced as a result of your condition.

Call 772-266-5555 to Speak with a Truck Accident Attorney in Stuart

If you want to file a truck accident claim in Florida, you can count on Donaldson & Weston for strategic legal counsel at every stage of the proceedings. Our seasoned team has represented hundreds of clients in personal injury and wrongful death actions. Along the way, we’ve secured more than $100 million for accident victims and their loved ones. Call 772-266-5555 or fill out our Contact Form to set up a free case review with a truck accident lawyer in Stuart.